Card guide

Every chaos card and every sabotage, in plain words. Kings are immune to every card. Numbers here are for a 5-minute game.

Move card · The card is your whole move.

If the first move gives check, your turn ends there. No legal second move? Your turn ends after one. One clock increment.

Move card · The card is your whole move.

Can’t give check, and pawns can’t land on the first or last rank. Can’t move a frozen piece or a Shy Queen. A rook moved by Swap loses its castling rights.

Move card · The card is your whole move.

Both squares must be empty. Never reaches the last rank and can’t give check. Works under Lazy Pawns, and never allows en passant.

Boost card · Play it, then make a normal move.

Lasts for its owner’s next 2 turns. A frozen piece still attacks, captures and gives check. A frozen rook can’t castle.

Boost card · Play it, then make a normal move.

Blocks every capture, even en passant, until the end of their next turn. The shield moves with the piece.

Boost card · Play it, then make a normal move.

Takes 5% of the game’s base time. Never leaves them below 1 second, and you gain only what you took.

Boost card · Play it, then make a normal move.

They see only their own pieces, and your move is hidden. Wrong tries bounce. Waiting past 10 seconds brings the lights back and costs them 10 more.

Attached card · Played together with a normal move.

Played with a promoting move. The copy lands on the nearest empty square that doesn’t give check. Not in check, and not with 32 pieces on the board.

When you can play a card

  1. From your 4th move. The first three moves each are plain chess.
  2. One card per turn, and never on two of your turns in a row.
  3. Not while you’re in check: answer the check with a normal move.
  4. Not on a blind turn after the opponent’s Lights Out, even once the lights are back.
  5. Only if you can finish the turn legally. A locked card says why.
  6. A card turn can never checkmate or stalemate.
  7. Once per game, cycle a card you can’t use for a new one, then move.

Sabotage: the handicaps

Your opponent picks a package for you, and you pick one for them. Every package costs exactly the picker’s budget: 4 points plus their Tilt. If you’re in check, or your handicaps would leave you no legal move, they’re lifted for that move.

HandicapPointsTypeWhat it does
Demoted Queen4SetupYour queen starts as a rook on its square. You can still promote to a queen.
Lost Knight3SetupOne of your knights is removed, named in the package. Its square stays empty.
Lost Bishop3SetupOne of your bishops is removed, named in the package. Its square stays empty.
Short Clock2ClockYour base time is halved: 2:30 instead of 5:00. The increment stays.
Pawn Tax2SetupTwo of your pawns are removed as a pair: Open King (f and g), Hollow Centre (d and e) or Queenside (b and c).
Glass King1SetupYou can’t castle.
Shy Queen1RuleYour starting queen can’t move until your move 12, not even by a card. Promoted queens move freely.
Lazy Pawns1RuleYour pawns can’t make a double step. Pawn Rush still works.