Stupidchess
Back to Learn to play

Study Hall

Every lesson, from how the knight moves to why you shouldn't trust it. Each one is played on a real board, right here. No sign-in needed, and nothing is saved.

Start here: the tutorial

Your first game

  1. 1. Move a piece
  2. 2. Take a piece
  3. 3. Play a card
  4. 4. Aim a card
  5. 5. Win the game
  6. 6. Last stand

Paying for cards

  1. 1. Pay with Braincells
  2. 2. Pay with a piece
  3. 3. Hand a piece back
  4. 4. Instants: play on their turn

Beyond the basics

The rules that make this more than chess with cards. These all come from Built Deck cards.

Piece stacks →

Two pieces on one square: which one moves, and what a capture takes.

  1. 1. Pile on
  2. 2. Chip a stack

Beyond the edge →

Open the ground past the board's border, and march a piece out onto it.

  1. 1. Break ground
  2. 2. Breakout

The margins →

Park a piece off the board where nothing can reach it, and the card that ends it.

  1. 1. Flank march
  2. 2. Close the border

Card families

Every card does at least one of six jobs. They're the six points of the chart on each deck, so a deck heavy on one is easy to spot, and so is a deck with a gap.

Attack

Take, weaken or push around the other side's pieces, or drain their Braincells and clock.

Lightning Strike
Roles: Attack
Destroy an enemy piece outright. There is no saving a piece that's been struck.
Assassinate
Roles: Attack
Kill an enemy pawn, knight, or bishop outright. Cheap, but only the small pieces are exposed enough to reach.

Defense

Shield and armour your own pieces, or get them out of harm's way.

Flash Shield
Roles: DefenseInstants
Instant. Protect one of your pieces from capture until after your next turn. Play it the moment your opponent lines up a threat.
Plate Armor
Roles: Defense
Fit armor to any one of your pieces. It can't be captured until an opponent breaks the armor with a Weapon.

Trap

Leave something on the board for the other side to walk into, or a wall in their way.

Bear Trap
Roles: Trap
Place a face-down trap on an empty square. The first enemy piece to move onto it is frozen for two turns.
Wall
Roles: Trap, Defense
Build a wall on an empty square. Pieces can't move onto it or slide through it. Only a piece with Jump can break past. It crumbles after a few turns.

Modification

Bend the rules: new ways for a piece to move, extra moves, a board that slides or turns.

Move Again
Roles: Modification
Take one additional move this turn.
Rook Like
Roles: Modification
A piece moves like a Rook for this turn.

Vision

See what's hidden: the other side's hand, or the cards coming up next.

Train of Thought
Roles: VisionBraincells, Actives
Ch. 1, Peek: see your opponent's hand this turn. Ch. 2, Drain: take one Braincell from them. Ch. 3, Breakthrough: double your Braincells, then discard.
Recon
Roles: Vision
Look at the top three cards of your draw pile and put them back in any order.

Regain

Win back what you've lost or spent: captured pieces, discarded cards, Braincells.

Initial Resurrection
Roles: Regain
Resurrect a captured piece on the square it started the game on.
Braincell
Roles: RegainBraincells
Bank a Braincell. Spend Braincells to play other cards, or to buy 30 seconds of clock.

Browse every card, or build a deck.