The fastest, easiest way to learn Chess and the most popular chess variant in the world. A gift for life.

A winner of multiple awards and accolades.

Millions of people have mastered the basic elements of chess within minutes playing Tic Tac Chec including moves and simple strategy without being intimidated.  This quick, fun game combines aspects of both chess and tic tac toe.

For 2 players. Ages 6 and up. Contents: Wood board & pieces, 2 Rooks, 2 Bishops, 2 Knights, 2 Pawns. 

RULES:

Be the first to align your four pieces of the same color horizontally, vertically or diagonally.

Play starts on an empty board, players take turns placing a piece on ANY empty square. (anywhere on the board) After placing your first three pieces you may move and capture as in regular chess, except a pawn reverses direction upon reaching the opposite side of the board. Captured pieces are returned to their owner and can immediately be played again on any open square. You can place a pawn on the opposite side of the board and immediately on the next turn move back towards yourself. If it is captured then placed back on the board it must first move towards the opponent's side of the board before changing directions.

REF: In Shogi (Japanese chess) captured pieces are not dead but may be pointed in the opposite direction and replayed as part of your own or your opponent forces. The rule requiring that the first 3 turns players can only place pieces was intended to force players to think about position and not capturing in the beginning of the game. After this initial play, players can capture each other and have less than 3 pieces on the board.

Optional Rules:  Recommended for competitions. Players are allowed approximately 3 minutes to place their first 3 pieces on the board with a maximum of about 30 seconds per turn. After a further 5 minutes of play (this can be adjusted) each player is restricted to 5 captures each. Playing this rule will generally make games end in less than 15 minutes and require more skill.

Chess Piece Moves:

Pawn: - Moves one space forward per turn except when it captures an opponent's piece by moving one space diagonally forward.
Knight: - Moves either one space forward or backward and two spaces either left or right or two spaces forward or backward and one space either left or right. A knight is the only piece that can move over another piece on the board.
Bishop: - Moves diagonally any number of spaces as long as it does not pass another piece.
Rook:- Moves vertically or horizontally as long as it does not pass another piece.

The Knight, Bishop and Rook all capture by landing on an opponent's piece in the same way that they move.

Recording piece moves:
As on a standard chess board each square is identified by a reference co-ordinate for example in the illustration above the Knight or horse is located on a2. The vertical rows of squares or FILES are named first using lowercase letters followed by the horizontal rows of squares called RANKS. Piece moves are recorded by the position they are moved to and with a capital letter to represent the piece. Knight (N), Bishop (B), Rook (R), King (K), Queen (Q). In regular chess a Pawn has no abreviation but in Tic Tac Chec it can help to use (P). Since we do not start a game with any pieces on the board, the recording of a piece placed on any unoccupied square on the board is prefixed with an "O" for opening position. In regular chess it is possible to have 2 of the same pieces able to be moved to the same square, in which case the original and final position of the piece is recorded. For example Naxb4 where the Knight in file a is moved to file b and rank four. More information is available on the internet or in beginner chess books.

TIPS:
1/  Emphasize the goal of getting all four pieces in a row and avoid capturing unless there is a definite advantage gained so that players develop better strategy skills.
2/  Before making a move consider what your opponent is planning.
3/  Always play to win.
4/  Play a flexible strategy by frequently changing where you are making your row. Fixating on a single row will most likely lead to a stalemate at best and more likely a loss.
5/  Avoid trying to make a row of pieces on your first horizontal row of squares. This will most likely lead to defeat as it is difficult to move the pawn back to this row if it is already on the board.
6/  Use a felt tip marker to mark one side of the pawn and always play with this mark facing the direction of movement. This will help you remember its direction.
7/  As in regular Chess, dominating the center of the board helps as some pieces have more potential places to move to.

We designed Tic Tac Chec to help introduce the basic moves and play of chess, a wonderful game that provides a life time of benefits. There are 4 important reasons for learning chess with Tic Tac Chec:

1/ There are only one-fourth as many pieces, so it is less confusing for a beginner. Even though each player only receives 4 pieces, every piece on a regular chess board is accommodated. We don't have a queen, but then a queen moves the same as a Bishop and a Rook. A King only moves one space in any direction so this piece is really unnecessary for learning the basics.

2/ If a players' pieces are captured, they are returned to them and they may replace them on the board on any open square when it suits them. This is much less intimidating for a novice player. If your piece is captured it could even be to your advantage.

3/ Games only last a few minutes. There is no time spent setting up the board. Beginners don't use time "trading" pieces until there are only a few left at which time they are able to contemplate a strategy to defend their own King and capture the opponent's. Since games are so much quicker and often lost by simple errors, players will want to get revenge and immediately play again. This and the mental challenge have made the game of Tic Tac Chec a game with high repeat play value.

4/ Immediate recognition of mistakes. On a regular chess board beginners seldom remember where they made strategic errors and thus take longer to learn to avoid repeating them. A basic error while playing Tic Tac Chec almost always leads to instantly losing the game.

Order here.

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