18.2.2 Chess

The game of King's Chess is a noble one. It has become the favourite game of the intelligentsia of Sapience. It is a fairly simple game, and easy to learn, but contains nearly infinite subtleties. It is a test of cunning, intelligence, strategic sensibilities, and experience.

In order to play King's Chess, you must have a chess board, or be in an establishment that has them available, such as the occasional tavern, or library, or gaming parlour.

Since the rules of King's Chess are so well known, they will not be included here, but in the scroll HELP CHESSRULES.

The commands that are involved with King's Chess are:

PLAY CHESS WITH <whomever>     : Starts a new game of chess, randomly choosing
                                 who will play the light pieces and who will
                                 play the dark pieces.

CHESSBOARD [id number]         : Displays the setup of the specified game. You
                                 may view other people's games provided you
                                 know the id number. If you omit the id number,
                                 it will automatically display your current
                                 game, if any.

MOVE <position> TO <position>  : Moves a chess piece. You may use either
                                 algebraic notation (a1, b3, etc) or
                                 descriptive notation (q3, kkt4, etc) to
                                 designate squares on the board. HELP
                                 CHESSRULES will tell you more about chess
                                 notation if you are unfamiliar with it.

(Castling is done with MOVE 0-0 for king-side and MOVE 0-0-0 for queen-side.)

MOVE <position>                : Show all legal moves with that piece.

CHESSLIST                      : Lists your chess games. A * before a listing
                                 tells you that that is your current game. You
                                 may only make moves in your current game.

SWITCHCHESS <id number>        : Switches your current game to another of your
                                 unfinished games.

CHESSLOG <id number>           : See all the moves that have been played in
                                 chess notation.

OFFERDRAW <id number>          : Offer a draw in the specified game.

CONCEDE <id number>            : Concedes defeat in the specified game.

TAKEBACK                       : With this command, you may reverse the last
                                 move of your opponent. This is to be used for
                                 the occasion when your opponent has entered
                                 an incorrect move and he or she wishes to
                                 reverse it, or when your opponent has done
                                 something spectacularly stupid, and you wish
                                 to allow him or her to rethink.


Note that playing chess with ansi colour turned on is the preferred way to do
things for most people.

See also: HELP CHESSRULES