NSCL LUDI CHESS RULES 1. The Board 1.1. The board is an 8x8 square grid of alternating colors. 1.2. The board is set up according to the following diagram. Note that the queen is placed on her own color, and that the lighter square is on the right side. 2. The Number of Players 2.1. One player per side for a total of two players 3. Deciding Sides 3.1. Each player fairly determines (coin toss, rock/paper/scissors, mutual agreement, etc.) which team chooses white or black pieces. 4. Time 4.1. Games will take approximately 20 to 30 minutes. 5. Violations 5.1. If a dispute arises concerning an infraction or the outcome of a play and the teams cannot come to a satisfactory resolution, the Chair may make the call after conferring with the other judges as necessary.
6. The Pieces 6.1. Pawns 6.1.1. These may move forward, only space at a time, or two from their starting square. They capture opposing pieces by moving one square diagonally up in either direction. All legal pawn moves by white are shown in the below diagram. 6.2. Rooks 6.2.1. These may move any number of squares vertically or horizontally, unless blocked by another piece, and can capture opposing pieces in their path. Legal rook moves are shown in diagram
6.3. Knights 6.3.1. These may move in an L-shape; one move is two squares vertically or horizontally and one square in a perpendicular direction (without interacting with any squares except the ending one). If a piece is in the way of those paths, the knights can jump over those pieces. Knights captures the same way that they move normally. 6.4. Bishops 6.4.1. These may move any number of squares diagonally and captures the same way as demonstrated in diagram 2.4.2.
6.5. The Queen 6.5.1. may move vertically, horizontally, or diagonally as far as she desires, or as far as space permits her as demonstrated in diagram 2.5.2. 6.6. The King 6.6.1. The King may move in any direction, but only one space per turn as indicated in diagram 2.6.2. The King may also castle in some situations, as described in section 5.2.3.1. Opposing Kings may never be on neighboring squares.
7. Start of the game: 7.1. White always starts 8. Moves: 8.1. players shall move one and only one of their soldiers in a manner that soldier is able to move. A turn is considered finished when a player removes their hand from the piece being moved. 8.2. A piece is captured and removed from the game if an opposing piece is moved to the same square. 9. Special Moves 9.1. Castling 9.1.1. If the King and his rook are in their original positions and have not moved at all in an earlier point in the game, the King can move two spaces toward the designated Rook, and that Rook will be moved to the other side of the King. You cannot castle out of, through, or into check; however, whether the rook is attacked does not matter. 9.2. En passant 9.2.1. If a Pawn is in its fifth row away from its respective side of the field, and an opposing Pawn takes its first move to place itself immediately beside the aforementioned Pawn, then said Pawn may use its next move to slay the opposing Pawn and move diagonally, positioning himself a space behind the fallen Pawn. This is demonstrated in the diagram below. The Pawn who is using this move must perform it at once when available. Any delay will result in an inability to utilize the en passant.
9.3. Pawn Promotion 9.3.1. In the event that the pawn of one s army reaches the opposing end of the field of battle, that pawn will be transformed into any other class of warrior, save the King himself. This is not optional - a pawn reaching the eighth rank must promote. 10. Ending the Game 10.1. Check 10.1.1. In the event that a soldier is readied in a position that places the opposing King in jeopardy of being slain, the event is referred to as check and certain rules must be followed.
10.1.2. If a King finds himself in check, the immediate next move must be to remove him from check by any means necessary. Not surprisingly, it is considered an illegal move for a King to place himself in check. It is widely accepted and polite to declare proudly that the opposing King is in check. 10.1.2.1. Such legal moves include: capturing the checking piece, interposing (placing another piece between your king and the checking piece) or moving the king. If a king is somehow in check from two pieces, moving the king is the only legal way of escaping check. 10.2. Checkmate 10.2.1. If a player cannot escape check, their king has been checkmated, and that player loses the game. 10.3. Stalemates and Other Draws 10.3.1.Stalemate occurs when one side has no legal moves, but their king is not in check. In that case, the game is drawn. 10.3.2.Draw by Insufficient Material happens if no side has enough pieces to checkmate the opposing king under any circumstances, the game is considered drawn. 10.3.3.If a draw occurs, and there needs to be a single winner, and there is sufficient time, then a playoff game with a time control of at most 2 minutes for each player will be held. The Chair will assess the position and declare a result based on the current board state at the end of the allotted time. 10.4. Resignation 10.4.1.If a player believes they have reached a hopeless position, they can resign the game and their opponent is declared the winner. 10.5. Out of Time 10.5.1.If a game doesn t end by the allotted time, the Chair will assess the position and declare a result based on the current board state. 10.5.1.1. Players should make every effort to finish their game within the allotted time. These rules were last edited July 2018 by the NSCL Olympika & Ludi Committee.