Check Mates Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
• How to Complete Tasks
• Turn of the Game
  • Rules for Moving Tokens
• Example of a Turn
• End of Game and Victory
• "Chess" Mode
  • How to Complete the Task
  • Rules for Moving Tokens
  • Example of Completing a Task
• Solo Mode
• Blitz Mode

Components

• 28 double-sided cards
• 7 double-sided tokens
• This rulebook

Side for the "Fifteen Puzzle" mode / Side for the "Chess" mode

Setup

Before setting up, choose the game mode — "Fifteen Puzzle" or "Chess". Start with "Fifteen Puzzle" to get familiar with the game — the rest of the setup and rules below describe this mode. Afterward you can try "Chess", the solo mode, and the blitz mode.

1. Flip all tokens to the side for the "Fifteen Puzzle" mode.
2. Lay the tokens out in a 3x3 grid with two empty cells: one in the center, and the other in a random spot. For example, like this. This is the game board.
3. Shuffle the deck of cards and place it next to the board, side for "Fifteen Puzzle" facing down.

Everything is ready to play.

How to Complete Tasks

Each card shows a task — a particular arrangement of three or four tokens on the board relative to one another. Tasks with three tokens are always worth 1 point, tasks with four tokens are worth 2 points. To complete a task and score points, you need to recreate this arrangement of tokens on the game board. The arrangement of all other tokens and empty spaces on the board doesn't matter.

Only the colors of the tokens matter for completing a task: blue, red, and green. A three-colored token is a wildcard and can replace a token of any color.

Important: the task, like the game board, has no top or bottom. You may mentally rotate the task card by 90, 180, or 270 degrees. However, you may not mirror the task (see the example below).

Turn of the Game

1. Flip over the top card of the deck — this is the task for everyone.
2. All players act simultaneously and at speed. Each player counts in their head how many token moves will be needed to complete the task. You may only move tokens and rotate the task card in your mind — you may not touch them with your hands.

Rules for Moving Tokens

• With 1 move, a token moves 1 empty cell in any direction, but not diagonally.
• Tokens do not move beyond the edges of the game board.

For example, on this game board the three-colored token can make 1 or 2 moves. The green and blue tokens in the corners cannot move. The rest can make only one move.

3. Whoever names their number of moves first immediately starts counting aloud to five, raising fingers. During this time someone else can outbid the player — name a smaller number of moves and also start counting to five. Each player may name their number of moves only once per round. If a player counts to five and no one has outbid them, then they are the one who must prove their answer.

4. To prove their answer, the player moves the tokens on the game board exactly as they pictured it in their mind. The other players check that:

   • the number of moves did not exceed the player's stated answer,
   • the resulting layout of the game board matches the task (remember that the task may be rotated).

   If even one of these conditions is not met, this is considered a mistake.

No mistake? The player places the task card in front of themselves. At the end of the game it will bring the indicated points.

There is a mistake? The player places the task card in front of themselves face down — this is a penalty card.

Important:

• A player may not cancel or redo their moves. If they do so anyway, this is considered a mistake.
• If the player themselves realizes they made a mistake, they stop and immediately take a penalty card.

Zero moves? Sometimes the game board is already laid out so that it already matches the task — that is, zero moves are needed to complete the task. In that case it's enough to say this first.

5. The game board stays in the same state. Return to step 1 of the turn of the game and complete the next task in the deck.

The game ends when someone takes the last task card in the deck.

Example of a Turn

Andrey is the first to say: "I'll complete the task in 4 moves" — and starts counting to five. Lena outbids him: "I can do it in 3 moves" — now she counts to five. No one wants to outbid her. Lena finishes counting and can now prove her answer.

One green token and one blue token are already lying as in the task, so Lena needs to move the remaining two tokens.

She moves the green token from top to bottom, and the red token from left to right. That made two moves. This is less than what Lena claimed, but since it's not more, it isn't a mistake. The layout of the board matches the task rotated by 90 degrees, which means Lena has completed the task. She lays the task card in front of herself and will get 2 points for it at the end of the game.

End of Game and Victory

Each player counts up the points on their cards, based on which side they're facing:

• +1 or +2 points, as indicated on the card,
• -1 point for each penalty card (ignore the points indicated on the card).

The player with the most points wins. In case of a tie, the player among the tied contenders with fewer penalty cards wins. If there is still a tie, the tied contenders share the victory.

For example, Egor completed 3 tasks and made 2 mistakes. For the completed tasks he gets 1 + 2 + 1 = 4 points. For 2 penalty cards he subtracts 2 points. In total Egor has 4 - 2 = 2 points.

Try the other game modes — "Chess", solo mode, or blitz mode.

"Chess" Mode

During setup, use the side of the cards and tokens for the "Chess" mode. Otherwise the setup rules do not change.

During the turn of the game, it's important to account for the changes to the tasks and to token movement (given below); otherwise the game proceeds unchanged. Scoring also stays the same, but note that the sides for the "Fifteen Puzzle" mode count as the penalty sides.

How to Complete the Task

In tasks, chess pieces and their color matter.

The rook, knight, and queen can be white or black. The king is a wildcard and can replace any piece of any color.

• If a piece is indicated in the task, it means that exact piece (of any color) must stand in that spot.
• If a color is indicated, it means any piece of that color must stand in that spot.

For example, in this task the position of the rook and the queen matters (both pieces can be of any color), as well as two black pieces (these can be pieces of any kind) and one white piece. The king can replace any of these pieces.

Rules for Moving Tokens

Tokens move according to the rules of the chess pieces indicated on them. With 1 move:

• the rook moves 1 or 2 cells in a straight line,
• the queen moves 1 or 2 cells in a straight line or diagonally,
• the king moves exactly 1 cell in a straight line or diagonally,
• the knight moves exactly 3 cells in an L-shape — unlike the other pieces, it can jump over other pieces; the only thing that matters is that the third cell in the count is empty (see the example further on).

Tokens can still only move to empty cells and cannot move beyond the edges of the game board.

Example of Completing a Task

Marina said she can complete this task in 5 moves, and no one outbid her, so Marina proves her answer. One token is already lying as in the task — the queen in the middle of the bottom row. The rest remain to be arranged.

1. First Marina moves the white knight 3 cells in an L-shape, then the black queen diagonally by 1 cell. Great, now three tokens are lying as in the task!
2. Next she moves the white rook 2 cells to the left, and the black knight in an L-shape. The knight needs to be moved in order to free up the corner spot for the king, which will replace the white piece in the task.
3. The last, fifth move — Marina moves the king diagonally by 1 cell, and the task is complete!

Solo Mode

Choose which mode you want to play — "Fifteen Puzzle" or "Chess". Flip the tokens and cards to the side of the chosen mode.

Lay out the game board in front of yourself according to the normal rules. Take 10 random task cards and stack them into a deck. Put the rest of the cards back in the box. Prepare a stopwatch on your phone.

Start the stopwatch and begin completing the tasks: look at the top card of the deck and move the tokens on the board by the rules of the chosen mode until you complete the task. Immediately after that, take the top card off the deck and start on the next task. When you have completed all 10 tasks, stop the stopwatch and check how much time you took:

In "Fifteen Puzzle" mode:

• more than 3.5 min — A bit more practice and you'll get it!
• more than 2.5 min but less than 3.5 — You're on the right track to success!
• more than 1.5 min but less than 2.5 — A precise and well-coordinated game!
• less than 1.5 min — A phenomenal result!

In "Chess" mode:

• more than 5 min — Just the first step toward the championship.
• more than 3.5 min but less than 5 — Excellent potential!
• more than 2 min but less than 3.5 — A brilliant game!
• less than 2 min — A chess genius!

Blitz Mode

If you want to make any mode faster or simpler, during setup take only the cards worth 1 point, and put the rest back in the box. If you want to make it harder, do the opposite — take only the cards worth 2 points.