Story Time Chess
Story Time Chess Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Introduction
Unless you have previous chess experience, we recommend finishing all of the exercises in the Story Time Chess Storybook before moving on to these advanced games.
Standard Side: For the following alternative chess games, we recommend using the Standard Side of the board and chess pieces without Character Cutouts.
Story Side: If you prefer, you can use the Story Side of the board and the Character Cutouts with the pieces.
As you continue to play chess, experiment with both setups and discover which one helps you learn better!
How to Play Capture the King
Once a player knows how the chess pieces move, they can play Capture the King (an intermediate level game).
Setup
Position all of the chess pieces on the chessboard on their starting squares.
Gameplay
Players take turns moving one piece at a time on the chessboard. The white team (Team Chomper) goes first.
Winning the Game
The goal of Capture the King is to capture the opposing team's king. A player accomplishes this by moving pieces one at a time until they can move one of their pieces onto the square that is currently occupied by the other team's king.
This differs from Standard Chess. In Standard Chess, "check" and "checkmate" do not allow the king to remain in or move into danger. Be careful when playing Capture the King! It's very important to pay attention at all times because the king does not have to move out of danger, and the king can move into danger.
Illustration: King Shaky is in trouble! If the rook captures King Shaky, King Chomper's team wins!
How to Play Standard Chess
Once a player has played the Crown Card game and Capture the King (and feels comfortable with how all the pieces move), it's time to play a standard game of chess!
A standard game of chess does not use Crown Cards. A player can choose whether or not they want to keep the Character Cutouts in their chess pieces and whether or not they want to play on the Story Side of the board.
Setup
Position all of the chess pieces on the chessboard on their starting squares.
Gameplay
Randomly determine which player will move the white pieces and which player will move the black pieces. (For example, the first player can hide one white pawn and one black pawn in each hand and have the other player choose a hand).
The white pieces move first, alternating turns with the black pieces.
Each team moves one piece per turn. (However, there is one exception to this rule that is called "castling." Refer to the Special Moves section below for a full explanation.)
Winning the Game (Check + Checkmate)
The goal of Standard Chess is to put the opponent's king into "checkmate." Checkmate occurs when a king is under attack and has no way to move to safety. In other words, there aren't any safe squares the king can move to, and none of the other pieces on the king's team can save him by blocking or capturing the opponent's pieces.
"Check" happens in chess when a player's king is under threat of capture. A player must get out of check if possible and may do so in one of three ways:
Get out of check
- Capture the threatening piece
- Move a piece between the king and the threatening piece (block)
- Move the king to a safe square
If there are no possible moves to get out of check and prevent losing the king, checkmate has occurred and the game is over. The player whose king is in checkmate loses and the opposing player wins.
Stalemate
In Standard Chess, it is illegal to move your king into danger (into check). Therefore, if it is your turn and every available move endangers your king (puts him in check), then you cannot make a legal move and the game ends in a tie or "stalemate." (The booklet shows two common stalemate positions in diagrams.)
General Piece Movement Rules
Only one piece can be on any given square at a time; multiple pieces cannot occupy the same square.
The knight is the only piece that can "jump over" other pieces on the board. Excluding the knight, no piece can move through another piece on the board. Note that when a knight has the king in check, blocking with another piece to escape check is not possible.
If a piece lands on a square that is occupied by the other team, the other team's piece is captured and taken off the chessboard. The piece that moved onto the square to capture must stop at the square where the capture occurred. You do not capture by going through or past a square.
A piece cannot be captured by its own team.
A player may choose any available move or capture on the board. (However, when a player is in "check" in Standard Chess, the player must move their king out of check.)
The Pieces
Each team has six different kinds of pieces: 8 pawns, 2 rooks, 2 knights, 2 bishops, 1 queen and 1 king.
King
Piece value: N/A (no value because if it gets captured, the game is over)
The king can only move one square at a time. It can move in any direction on the board. Remember to always protect your king because, if you lose it, the game is over!
Pawns
Piece value: 1
Both teams start with eight pawns. The pawns are set up in a straight line across the second row (or rank) on the chessboard. Pawns move forward across the chessboard; they never move backward. Pawns move only one step at a time. However, the first time it moves, the pawn has a choice to move either one or two squares from the starting line. When moving forward, pawns may only move to empty squares.
Pawns have a special way of capturing that is different from the way they normally move. A pawn captures by moving ahead diagonally one square.
Pawns are the smallest pieces in chess and also the most complicated! Pawns are the only piece that can be "promoted" to become a different, more powerful piece. On rare occasions, they also do a special move called "en passant." Refer to the Special Moves section for a full explanation.
Knights
Piece value: 3
The knight moves two squares in one direction and then one square 90 degrees left or right (in an L shape). They dance around the chessboard: "Gallop, gallop, step to the side." The knight can start their dance in any direction except diagonal. The knight is the only piece that may jump over other pieces.
Bishops
Piece value: 3
Bishops move diagonally as far as they want, in one direction at a time, without moving through another piece. Each bishop stays only on its favorite color. In other words, a dark square bishop will never move onto a white square.
Rooks
Piece value: 5
Rooks move straight or sideways as far as they want, in one direction at a time, without moving through another piece. Rooks never move diagonally. By moving forward, backward, and sideways on an open board, they can get to any square in just two moves (as long as no other piece blocks their path).
Queen
Piece value: 9
The most powerful piece on the chessboard, the queen can move like a rook or a bishop. The queen moves as far as she wants, straight or diagonally, in one direction at a time, without moving through another piece.
Special Moves
Castling
Once per game, under the right circumstances, the rook has an opportunity to do a super special move. In order to make this move, the rook and the king must still be on their starting squares (in other words, neither the king nor the rook has made any moves in the game). Also, the rook and the king must be "looking at each other," with only empty squares between them. Finally, no opposing pieces can be attacking the king or any of the empty squares between the king and the rook. If (and only if) all of these requirements have been met, a player may "castle."
To "castle" at any time during the game, the player moves their king two squares sideways toward the rook, and the rook jumps over the king to land directly on his other side.
Pawn Promotion
If a pawn makes it all the way across the chessboard to the opposite side, it is promoted. The pawn that is promoted is taken off the board and replaced by any piece (except a king or another pawn). Most of the time, a player will replace their pawn with a queen because it is the most powerful piece. If a player still has their queen in play and promotes a pawn to get a second queen, use a nearby trinket or coin to represent the second queen. You can also turn a captured rook upside down and use that as the second queen.
En Passant
"En passant" is an advanced rule that rarely happens in chess, suggested for ages 7+. The pawn is the most complicated piece to work with and "en passant" may confuse beginners.
"En passant" can be used when a pawn moves two squares from its starting position and lands to the side of an opponent's pawn. The opponent's adjacent pawn has the option of capturing the first pawn by moving diagonally behind it. This unique and rare move can only be made immediately after the first pawn moves off of the starting line.