Ankit Toys Games 153 2 in 1 Chess and Ludo Game Set User Guide

Ankit Toys Games 153 2 in 1 Chess and Ludo Game Set

HOW TO PLAY CHESS

OBJECT OF THE GAME
The goal of chess is to capture your opponent’s king; however, most games end before the capture when the opponent is unable to prevent their king\ from being captured.

Checkmate occurs if you put your opponent’s king in check (meaning it is under direct threat) and they are incapable of moving the king or blocking the threat with another piece. When this happens, say “checkmate” out loud to declare the end of the game. Let your opponent double-check if they can make a move before declaring yourself the winner!

• Games may also end in a draw if neither player can force a checkmate, such as if the kings are the only pieces left on the board.
• A game also ends in a draw if the opponent has no legal move that they can make, such as if the king is trapped but also not in check. This is referred to as a stalemate.
• A game also automatically ends in a draw if the same board state is achieved 3 times. This can happen accidentally, but it’s more common when both players repeat the same move 3 times because nobody thinks they can win.

The Pieces

Rooks (the small castle towers, valued at 5 points)
Rooks are the stubby round pieces that look like medieval towers on a castle. They can move any number of squares horizontally or vertically, but they cannot jump over other pieces or move diagonally.
After your queen, your two rooks are the most valuable offensive pieces in the game, although they’re excellent defensive pieces early on in the game.

Knights (the horses, valued at 3 points)

• Knights move in L-shapes by going 2 spaces horizontally and 1 space vertically (up or down), or 2 spaces vertically followed by 1 space horizontally (left or right). Knights are unique because they can jump over other pieces.
• Knights are considered just as valuable as bishops. They’re versatile pieces that are helpful when it comes to offense and defence.
• Knights are also unique because they’re the only piece outside of the pawns that you can move on the first turn of the game.

Bishops (the rounded tops with the slits, valued at 3 points)
The bishops are the thin, tall pieces with the coin-slot carved out at the top.
They can move in a straight line diagonally in any direction. They cannot jump over other pieces.

• Like the knight, bishops are extremely diverse when it comes to their skills on offense or defence.
• Note that you have one bishop that can only move on black pieces, and another bishop that can only move on white pieces.

Queen (the tall piece with the round cap, valued at 9 points)
Your queen is the heavy hitter. It can move any number of squares in any linear direction as long as there isn’t a piece blocking the path. In other words, they can move diagonally, up/down, or left/right. They can’t jump pieces.

• If you’re struggling to picture this, a queen moves like a bishop and a rook combined.
• Your queen is the single greatest tool when it comes to capturing your opponent’s king while protecting yours.

King (the tall piece with the crucifix on top, worth the game)
Your king is the tallest piece in your chess set and is the piece you need to protect throughout the game. Kings can move 1 space at a time in any direction.
You can’t move your king into a space where it can get captured during the next turn. In other words, you cannot intentionally move your king into check.

Pawns (the short, stubby, round pieces, valued at 1 point)
Pawns can only move 1 space forward toward your opponent’s side of the board. However, a pawn can move 2 spaces forward on their first move of the game (if there isn’t another piece in the way).

• Pawns can only attack by taking a piece that is 1 space away on a diagonal to the pawn. There is, however, an exception. When a pawn moves two spaces forward to bypass a pawn capture, and only a pawn capture, the opposing pawn may capture as if said piece moved one square. This move is called en passant. The pawn captured will then be taken off the board.

• Your pawns are the shortest and weakest pieces in a game of chess.
  However, they’re extremely important. Your pawns help create space for other pieces, set up moves, and box in your opponent’s pieces.

• A pawn can be promoted to a queen, rook, bishop, or knight if it is successfully advanced to the other side of the board.

The Board
Learn the rank and file system to orient yourself and keep notation.
Ranks are the horizontal rows and the files are the columns going between the players. Ranks are listed 1-8, starting with the side of the board with the white pieces. Files are listed as the letters “a” through “h” starting from the white player’s left side. Reference a specific square on the board by listing the rank followed by the file.

• For example, the left corner for the white player is a1 while the left corner for the black player is h8.
• Practice notation by listing each move you and your opponent make by writing down the piece and the square to which it moves.
• You do not need to use the rank and file notation system if you don’t want to, but it does make setting up the board and learning the game easier.

Position the board so each player has a black space in the lower-lefthand corner.
Have both players sit across from one another to start your game. Turn the board so that each player has a black square in the lower-left corner and a white square in the lower-right corner.
Use the rhyme, “white on the right” to help you remember while you’re setting up your game.

Setting Up

Place the rooks in the corners of the board.
Place the white rooks on squares a1 and h1, and put the black rooks on squares a8 and h8.
Rooks are labelled “R” if you’re using chess notation.

Set the knights next to your rooks.
Put the white knights on the squares b1 and g1, and set the black knights on b8 and g8.

• Knights are the only pieces that can jump over other pieces.
• Knights are labelled either as “N” in notation.

Put the bishops next to your knights.
If you’re the white player, place your bishops on c1 and f1. Black bishops go on c8 and f8.

• Bishops can’t move onto a square that isn’t the same color as its starting square.
• Label bishops as “B” if you’re using notation.

Place the queens on their matching colors in the back rows.
Put the white queen on d1 and the black queen on d8.

• Queens are labeled as “Q” in notation.
• An easy way to remember how you orient the queen and king is the phrase, “The queen always gets her color.”

Set the kings next to the queens.
Put the kings next to the queens to complete your back row.
Kings are labeled as “K” when you’re using notation.

Place your pawns in the row in front of your other pieces.
Put 1 white pawn in each square of rank 2 and set the black pawns in the squares of rank 7.
Pawns are not labelled with any letter in notation.

Taking Turns

Start the game with the player who has the white pieces.
The player who has the white pieces always starts a game of chess. Choose any one of your pieces that is able to move and put it in its new space. After the player with the white piece takes their turn, play alternates to the player with the black pieces.

• If you’re playing multiple games in a row, alternate who starts with the white pieces to keep the games fair.
• The player with the white pieces has a slight advantage since they get to make the opening move.
• You can flip a coin, do rock paper scissors, or allow players to volunteer who goes first.

Move your pieces to develop the board and attack or defend.
Players can make one move every turn. On your turn, you can move any piece so long as it is legally allowed to move. You can threaten your opponent’s pieces by moving your pieces into a space where you can capture them on the next turn. Alternatively, you can reinforce a defensive position by moving pieces away from your opponent’s threats so that your pieces protect one another.

• For the first few turns of the game, players usually move pawns, followed by knights and bishops. You can play in whatever order you’d like, though!
• In competitive chess there’s a rule that if you touch a piece, you have to move it. It’s okay to touch pieces as you’re just starting to learn, but practice moving the pieces in your mind once you’ve got the basics down.

Capture your opponent’s pieces by moving onto the same square as them.
Capturing pieces means landing on the same space as an opponent’s piece and removing them from the game. Try to capture your opponent’s stronger pieces, like their queen, rooks, and bishops to make their turns less powerful.

• When you capture your opponent’s piece, pick it up off of the board and set it aside.
• Pawns cannot capture pieces directly in front of them like other pieces do. Instead, pawns can only capture pieces that are 1 space diagonally in front of them.
• You cannot capture your opponent’s king. However, to win the game you need to set up your pieces so they would be able to capture the king.

Put your opponent’s king in check to pressure them.
Move one of your pieces so it can potentially capture your opponent’s king during your next turn. Your opponent must get out of check during their next turn either by moving their king, blocking your piece, or capturing your piece.

• Putting your opponent in check is ideal because it can cause them to drop whatever their game plan was and move pieces to protect their king. It can also force the king into progressively riskier positions.
• The king can capture the enemy piece only if it’s not in check after the capture.
• If you’re in check, you must do something to protect your king, or else you make an illegal move. set up your pieces so they would be able to capture the king.

Special Rules

The “en passant” rule
En passant, meaning “in passing” in French, is when one pawn captures another pawn after its starting move. You can only do en passant if your opponent has moved a pawn 2 squares forward from its starting position so it’s next to one of your pawns. If this happens, you may move your pawn into the space behind your opponent’s pawn to capture it.

You can only perform an en passant move during the turn after your opponent moves the pawn. You cannot wait to do it on any other turn after.
This is probably the most complicated move in the game. If you’re new to chess and you’re just playing casually, feel free to skip this rule as you’re learning.

Pawn promotion
If you move a pawn to the back row on your opponent’s side of the board, it immediately gets promoted to any piece of your choosing (besides the king). In most cases, it’s best to choose to promote to a queen because the queen is the most powerful piece. This way, you can have multiple queens on the board at a time.

• It doesn’t matter if your queen has already been captured or is still in the game when you promote your pawn.
• To indicate pawn promotion in chess notation, write the square where the pawn is promoted. Then, use an equal sign to show what the new piece is. For example, you may write c8=Q.
• Reasons to “under promote” (i.e. not choose a queen) are to avoid stalemate or to utilize the knight’s move. This is pretty rare, though.

The castle maneuver
Once during the game, you may choose to make a special move known as castling. To castle, move your king two squares horizontally toward either rook. Then on the same move, move the rook to the square immediately on the other side of the king. The spaces between the king and rook must be 100% clear.

• You cannot castle if your king was in check during the previous move, or if it would be in check after the move.
• You also cannot castle through any squares that are under attack by enemy pieces.
• You cannot castle rooks that have moved, or if your king has moved.

Tips and Strategies

Use the point value of each piece to determine their importance.
Each piece in a game of chess is valued differently depending on how powerful it is. The queen is the most powerful piece and is worth 9 points. Rooks are worth 5 points, bishops and knights are worth 3, and pawns are worth 1 point. Try to protect your more powerful pieces so you can use them later in the game.

• The king’s value is undefined as it cannot be captured.
• Compare the total value of all the pieces still on the board for each player to determine who has a material advantage (this is one way to determine who is “winning”).
• Point assessment is also useful when considering possible captures. For example, using pieces with a lower value to capture pieces with a higher value gives you more of an advantage.

Start with a strong opening pawn or knight move.
Your opening move determines a lot about how the beginning of the game will play out. If you’re white, choose a center square to attack with your D or E pawn, or move your B or G knights out to the center for a strong attack. As black, defend the center squares by matching and playing off your opponent’s pawn or knight moves.

When people talk about complex “openings” like the Queen’s Gambit, London Opener, or Sicilian Defense, they’re talking about a sequence of memorized moves that are proven to start you off right. These are known as book moves, and they’re a great way to improve at the game!

Plan 2-5 moves in advance to take pieces and avoid traps.
Think several moves ahead to anticipate and counteract your opponent’s moves and stop any plans they’re making. Try to figure out how you’d respond to obvious moves your opponent might make. Plan out contingencies and ask yourself how you’d escape from attacks.

Scan the board after each of your opponent’s moves.
Every time your opponent makes a move, take some time to scan the board. Move pieces out of the way if your opponent is going to capture them next turn. Try catching the piece that’s threatening your piece or move one of your pieces to threaten a strong piece your opponent has.

Develop all of your pieces as the game moves on.
If you lose a game and realize that you hadn’t moved half of your pieces during the game, that might be why you struggled. Aim to get every piece on the board open and moving. This will allow you to use all of your pieces to develop your gameplan. The more choices you have, the better!

HOW TO PLAY LUDO

SETUP & FIRST TURNS

Place your 4 pieces in the corner of the same color.
players of any age. Choose one of the 4 corners on the board as your home base and take all 4 pieces that are the same colour. Put all 4 of the pieces inside of your home base to finish setting up.
A Ludo board is split into 4 arms. Each arm has 3 columns of squares where the outer columns are part of the main track and the center, or “home column,” is the same color as one of the player’s pieces.

Determine the first player by rolling the die.
Let each player take a turn rolling the die. Whoever rolls the highest number takes the first turn of the game. After that, each player takes turns going clockwise around the board.

• If you’re playing with younger kids, have the youngest person go first.
• If players tie for the highest number, re-roll the dice until someone wins.
• Variation: Some people may play Ludo using 2 dice instead of
  1. Whoever has the highest total is the first player.

Roll a 6 to move a piece out of your base onto the main track.
you can’t use your roll to move a piece to the main track. The pieces in your home base aren’t considered “in the game” until they move onto the squares of the main track, so rolling 6s early will be key. Roll the die on your turn, and move your piece into the starting square on the board if you got a 6. If you get a 1–5 when all your pieces are in the home base, then your turn ends without making a move.

Roll the die a second time after each time you get a 6.
After any time you roll a 6, you earn a bonus roll. When you roll a 1–5, move the piece on the starting space that number of squares clockwise around the board’s main track around the outside of the board. If you roll another 6, either choose to move the piece that’s in the starting space around the board or move a second piece from your base into the starting space. Additionally, you get another bonus roll.
If you roll three 6s in a row, then your turn automatically ends.

End your turn after moving a piece if you didn’t roll a 6.
after rolling any number besides a 6, end your turn. Hand the die to the next player on your left so they can take their turn.

Gameplay

Roll the die to move a piece during each of your turns.
At the start of each turn, roll the die. If you have multiple pieces in play on the board, choose one of them to move during your turn. Any time you roll a 6, you have the option to move a piece out of your home base onto the main track or move a different piece around the board.

• If you don’t have any pieces on the main track and you didn’t roll a 6 to move one from your home base, end your turn without doing anything.
• Variation: If you’re playing with 2 dice, you can split the dice between 2 pieces or move a single piece the total number. So if you rolled a 2 and a 4, you could either move one piece 2 spaces and another piece 4 spaces, or move a single piece 6 spaces.

Land in a space with an opponent’s piece to send it back to their base.
If the dice roll makes you land exactly in the same space as another player’s piece, take their piece off of the board. Place the piece back in their home base to set them back. On their turn, the other player must roll a 6 again to get the piece back onto the board’s main track.

Move onto the same space as one of your pieces to make a block.
the same square as another one of your pieces, place them next to or on top of each other to create the block. The other players cannot land on or pass the square with a block, but you can still move through them with your pieces to get ahead on the board.

• If there is a block 3 spaces away from your piece and you roll a 4, you cannot move and must pass your turn.
• On a future turn, you’re allowed to split the movement between the pieces you’re blocking with if you roll an even number. For example, if you roll a 4, you could move both pieces forward 2 spaces.
• If you’re not able to move any other piece, you must move one of the pieces you’re using to block.

Try to land on marked safe spaces (if your board has them).
Ludo have additional markings on certain spaces, such as globes or stars. When you land on a globe, your piece can’t be captured by another player, so you’re safe until you move it again. If you land on a star, then move forward on the board to the next star on the track.

If another player has their piece on a globe space that’s the same as your starting space, you can capture it by rolling a 6 and moving one of your pieces out from your home base.

Winning

• Place the rooks in the corners of the board.
• Place the white rooks on squares a1 and h1, and put the black rooks on squares a8 and h8.
• Rooks are labelled “R” if you’re using chess notation.

Roll the exact number you need to get pieces into the finishing square.
you move a piece into your home column, you cannot jump over your own pieces. If you roll the exact number of spaces you need to reach the finishing square in the middle of the board, then move your piece there. If you roll a lower number, you’re still able to move that many spaces forward, but if you roll higher, you must choose a different piece to move.

Example: If you have 1 space to move and roll a 2 or higher, you cannot move that piece into the finishing square.

Win the game by moving all 4 of your pieces to the finishing square.
Continue taking turns and moving your pieces around the board and into your home column. Roll the exact number you need for each of your pieces so you’re able to move them into the finishing square.
As soon as a player gets all 4 of their pieces into the middle of the board, they’ve won the game!

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