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Chess


Game awards	None at this time

Challenge badges	Royal Coup (7/21/04) Finish 5 games King's Chalice (3/23/05) Win 2 games Wild Horsemen (1/18/06) Win 5 games Check Mate (10/25/06) Finish 10 games Attack 'n Capture (8/22/07) Capture 40 pieces Chess Champ (5/21/08) Win 1,000 tokens

Premium badges	Knights are Funny Horses EXPIRED Mix & Match (thru 11/14/07) Capture 85 pieces Royal Spotlight Mix & Match (thru 5/12/09) Win 3 games in a row Red Horse Of Course Mix & Match (thru 10/13/09) Win two games

Badge tips

Anyone can earn finish games or capture pieces badges, even against a Pogobot, since they don't require wins.

It's very difficult for most people to win 3 games in a row against a Pogobot, but using the win method below will make it go quickly. Otherwise you can work with a friend or cooperative partner for game win badges.

For easy wins against Pogobots, play as white and be sure "Players switch sides" is unchecked in table options. Then make the following moves for the win:
E2-E4; G1-F3; D2-D4; C2-C4; B1-C3; D4-D5; C4-D5;
A2-A3; C3-D5; D1-D5; F1-D3; E4-E5; D5-E4; E4-H7; H7-H8

For fastest win game badges, play with a friend or cooperative partner. Each person should make ten moves, then one should hit the Resign button and the other will get the win. (Note you don't generally get badge credit for wins if your opponened resigns with fewer moves.)

For Chess Champ, you earn a handful of tokens for each piece you take, but you really need wins (and spins) for tokens to add up to a noticeable amount.

For fastest finish game badges, the designated loser should move the pawn above "F" forward two spaces for their first move. The pawn above "G" moves forward for their second move, and that's it! This trick works no matter who goes first, and it even works against Pogobots. Naturally you can also use it for fastest win game badges with a friend.
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Game tips

ALWAYS read a game's How to Play, and also check for a Hints or Tips tab and/or Tutorial. They do help!

Refer to The Basics and Pieces & Movement tabs in the How to Play for more information, but in short:

Pawns can move one space forward (or optionally, two spaces for each pawn's first move), but can only capture pieces by moving one space forward diagonally. If you get a pawn all the way across the board, it can turn into a different piece.. if you can manage it, make it a queen.
Rooks ("castles") can move any number of spaces in a straight line left/right or forward/backward. See the Pieces and Movement tab for "castling", a technique for a rook to protect its king.
Knights ("horses") can move in any direction in an L-shape: either one space left/right and two forward/back, or one space forward/back and two left/right. Knights are the only pieces that can "move through" or jump other pieces.
Bishops can move any number of spaces in a straight diagonal line.
Queens can move any number of spaces in a straight line in any direction, making them the most powerful piece.
Kings can move only one space in any direction. A move that leaves the opponent's king in a position where it can be captured puts it "in check". When this happens you'll hear an audio announcement, and the threatened player must either move the king to a safe spot, capture the threatening piece, or block the threat's path with another piece (unless the threat is a knight, as they can jump other pieces). You cannot make any move that puts your king in check. The game ends when a player captures their opponent's king ("checkmate") or when a king has no escape from being placed in check.

Occasionally you can outwit a Pogobot by making random moves and confusing it into thinking you have plans that you don't!

I won't begin to attempt game win tips here - either you enjoy chess or you don't. If you like it and want to improve your game, learn from your opponent's wins and do some research to become a better player. There are countless resources on the web and in print that provide far better help on this topic than I could.

More about Chess

Even if you don't know a thing about the game, you can still play Pogo Chess as the game will only allow you to make legal moves. Click any piece to see its possible moves highlighted in green.

Chess is relatively easy to learn but very difficult to master.

Pogo chess is unusual in that it has in-game preferences in addition to the usual table options: you can deselect last move & potential move highlights and turn off animations by clicking the Prefs button.

For serious players, there's a Move History pop-up on the game board. It includes an option to request the full game's moves be emailed to you.

Thanks to sov6plus2 and starshine338 for submitting additional Chess tips!

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