How to play:

What can the pieces do in Raindropchess?

The chess pieces can make the same moves as in regular chess.

Where can you place the pieces?

The queen, rook, bishop and knight can be placed on any free square.
White pawns can be placed on any free square in rows 2 to 6, black pawns can be placed on any free square in rows 7 to 3.
The king can only be placed on squares where it is not in check (= attacked).

How do you start the game?

The game starts with turning over cards. White goes first, turns over his top card and places the piece depicted on the card on a square, according to the rules described above. Then it is black’s turn. The opponent must always be able to see which card the other player has turned over. After a card is turned over, the piece depicted on that card must be placed on the board.

When can you make a move on the board?

Once a player’s king has been placed on the board, in subsequent turns he can choose whether to turn over another card or make a check move. A chess move means that you move a chess piece to another square and, for example, capture one of your opponent’s chess pieces or put his king in check. Once you touch a chess piece to make a move, that chess piece must move.

Attack and capture pieces

• Any chess piece on the board can attack the opponent’s pieces, including the king. If the king is attacked (= in check), this attack must be neutralized (= defended).
• You may only capture an opponent’s piece if your own king is on the board.
• Captured pieces are removed from the board and no longer participate in the game.

How do you defend attacked pieces?

A piece under attack can be defended by:

• Using a chess piece to block the attack (a piece already on the board or placed after a card is turned over)
• Move the chess piece under attack (if your king is already on the board)
• Capturing the attacking piece with your own chess piece (if your king is already on the board)

How do I promote?

Using the Blue Chess Pieces Once a pawn reaches the other side of the board, the player can exchange it for one of his blue chess pieces. The blue chess piece then takes the place of the pawn. This is called promotion. No more than four pawns can be promoted.

What if the cards run out?

Once a player has used all his cards, he can only make chess moves.

When does the game end?

The game ends as soon as a king can no longer be put in check (= checkmate). This is the case if the following four statements are all true at the same time:

1. The king is attacked (= the king is in check).
2. It is impossible to move the king to a square where it is not attacked.
3. The chess piece attacking the king cannot be captured.
4. It is impossible to place a chess piece between the king and the attacker.

What are the Jokers for?

These can be used in the game as an extra element of surprise. If you decide to play along. Just shuffle one or two into each deck before you start. You can then agree that if you draw a joker, you get an extra turn or you can remove an opponent’s piece from the board.

Game preparation:

• Place the game board on a table and the chess pieces in the appropriate places.
• Take out the jokers and shuffle the two packs of cards.
• Place the white cards face down next to the white player and the black ones next to the black player, or in front of the board.

Instruction Card: