On a 6 x 4 card grid, at the start of each match, both Players must have eight of their cards on the board on their territory. The "Front Line" will have four cards facing up, with pawns and or Knights, and four cards on the "Royal Line" behind them. "Royal Line" cards can be whatever the player chooses at start, faced up or down. If the King is on the board, he must remain face up at all times. Players will have their remaining cards in hand or on the side. Cards coming out of a Player's hand will start at the Royal Line, face up or face down. As in traditional chess, white will go first. There is a First Attack ruling. The first Player to land an attack, the opponent has to turn all of their current Royal Line cards face up. If the opponent wishes to place more cards out of their hand or to have face down cards again, they will have to move those face up cards, out of those spaces. On a Player's turn you can swap, switch, peek, substitute, move, and or reveal face down cards on their territory. Including, moving face down cards to the Front Line. You may not turn face up cards face down. Moving one face up card, according to chess piece's movements, ends your turn and all other movements until the other Player moves their face up card and ends their turn. Three ways to win Checkmate- When a King is to be captured on the following move with no possible way to escape. With the right set up, Players can claim Checkmate by revealing cards to put the opponent's King into Checkmate and end the game with no need to move any additional cards. If Players "reveal" the opponent's King into check, they are allowed to move one face up card to put the King into Checkmate if possible. If the Checkmate doesn't happen on that move, that Player's turn ends. Lockout- When a Player occupies all four spaces of the enemy's Royal Line, and the King is still in the opponent's hand, Player wins. Triumph- When the Player's King lands on the enemy's royal line, Player wins There will be 3 defensive and 3 offensive Factions. Each will have special advantages that can turn the tides of battle. Here are a couple of examples... Knighthood- During battle, when a Knight is attacked, anywhere on the board, a Pawn from the Player's Hand can take revenge (does not count as a turn) I.E. -enemy attacks Knight> enemy piece and Knight go to the Graveyard> Pawn from the Player's hand takes the space> enemy's turn is over> Knighthood Player's turn --note-- if a Knight returns from the Graveyard, the effect is still active if the Player has more Pawns in hand Red Queen- During battle, when certain conditions are met, the Queen can attack any enemy piece, anywhere on the battlefield until defeated, with the exception of the King. When activated, she is not allowed to move over face up ally cards. While moving, no. While attacking, yes. As there are a few mechanics to master, having chess pieces as cards does come to some benefits ...or downfalls. depending on who's playing. One such mechanic is the ability to have your cards "sit" on your opponent's cards. Face down cards are considered spaces, in which you can go over or on them. —description from the designer