Welcome to Chice – a Chess variant where the die decides your fate!

Rules of Chice

At the start of every turn, a player will roll a die (called the ChiceDice) that determines which type of piece – King, Queen, Rook, Bishop, Knight, or Pawn – the player may move for that turn. Even though the gameplay for Chice is pretty much the same as Chess, the strategies involved in Chice are quite different than in Chess.

The ChiceDice

This is the same as a regular six-sixed die – a d6. Initially, all six types of pieces are available on the die. As pieces are captured and removed from the game, or if a certain type of piece can not move, the game will adjust the die so that only the types of pieces that are present and have legal moves available can be rolled.

When a Pawn reaches the eighth (and final) rank, it is promoted to either a Knight, a Bishop, a Rook, or a Queen. In Chess, the player may choose any one of the four promotions, although the Queen – the most versatile and dynamic of all the pieces – is almost always chosen. (In some rare instances, underpromoting the Pawn can be advantageous.) In Chice, a roll of the die – not the player – determines the promotion, which is consistent with die rolls determining everything else. The player rolls the die, and the corresponding piece replaces the promoted Pawn. For example, a player rolls a Pawn and moves a Pawn on the seventh rank to the eighth rank for promotion. Then, during the same turn, the player rolls the die again to determine the promotion. The player now rolls a Knight, thereby promoting the Pawn to a Knight. The Pawn is removed from the board and replaced with a Knight.

After the completion of every rated game, non-losing players will roll two ChiceDice to determine a bonus multiplier, which will be used to determine the total number of ChiceChips (the in-game currency) the player will receive.

Expired Time Control

To simulate real over-the-board play, the game will not automatically declare a winner when a player runs out of time; instead, a player must “flag” the opponent by pointing out that the opponent’s time has expired. There will be a button available for players to claim a win on time. The button will be inactive until one of the players runs out of time. When the button becomes active, either player may press the button to flag the expired clock(s). If the button is pressed, the player with the expired clock loses the game if the other player has time left on the clock and has sufficient mating material – otherwise the game results in a draw.

Having sufficient mating material means having any of the following in play:

• a Pawn

• a Knight and a Bishop

• two opposite-colored Bishops

• a Rook

• a Queen

Note: Having two opposite-colored Bishops means having (at least) one light-squared Bishop and one dark-squared Bishop.

If neither player presses the button, the game continues as though nothing happened; both players continue to make moves, and the game progresses. Once the time control for both players expires, there are no more claims for winning on time. If either player now presses the button to flag the clocks, the game results in a draw because both players are out of time – it doesn’t matter who was out of time first, nor does it matter who is ahead in the position.

If a player loses on time, the game is over and scored as a loss for the player who lost on time and a win for the player who still has time on the clock and sufficient mating material.

It should be noted that checkmate always takes precedence over anything else. So if one player or both players are out of time and a player gets mated, that player can no longer press the button to flag the clock – the checkmate stands. Continuing to play after the time control has expired can be risky!

Chice Ratings

After playing a certain number of provisional games, players will obtain established ratings for each separate time control category. Ratings will provide players with a metric, so they can compare their playing strength against other players – including family and friends!

ChiceChips

ChiceChips are the in-game currency in Chice.

If a player completes a game and scores a win or a draw, they will earn a certain number of ChiceChips as a reward for not losing the game.

ChiceChips can also be purchased directly by paying for them.

ChiceChips can be redeemed to obtain a variety of cool items – from elaborate DLC sets to specialized avatars – from the game store.

The current number of ChiceChips will be shown as follows:

Press the plus sign to purchase more ChiceChips, or win games to earn them!