WO1999048576A1

WO1999048576A1 - A game

Info

Publication number: WO1999048576A1
Application number: PCT/AU1999/000228
Authority: WO
Inventors: Adam Thomas
Original assignee: Adam Thomas
Priority date: 1998-03-24
Filing date: 1999-03-24
Publication date: 1999-09-30
Also published as: GB2353725A; AUPP256698A0; GB0028719D0

Abstract

A set of cards are provided for use in connection with games such as chess, draughts, checkers and similar board games, with particular reference to the game of chess. Three sets of cards are provided, a first set depicting pieces used in chess, that is, King, Queen, Bishop, Knight, Rook and Pawn, and a wild card which can substitute for any of the traditional pieces; a second set depicting the numbers of positions a given piece may move on the board; and a third set depicting whether or not an opponent's piece can be captured and removed from the board. By using the sets of cards in conjunction with the board and playing pieces, a game of modified chess can be played which is particularly suitable for unmatched opponents as an element of chance is introduced into the game and thus the less experienced player may not always be defeated by his more experienced opponent as he learns the rules of chess and similar games.

Description

1

A GAME

TfflS INVENTION relates to games and the teaching of the rules thereof. In particular, it is directed to board games such as chess, draughts, checkers and similar games whereby at least two players move their own pieces on a board, usually with the aim of capturing the pieces of their opponent to determine the winner of the game.

Although in no way limiting, the present invention finds especial use in the teaching of the game of chess.

In traditional chess, two players attempt to capture each other's pieces while at the same time protecting their own pieces. Generally, losing a piece to an opponent is a disadvantage, unless it leads, in turn, to the capturing of a piece of equal or higher strategic value. The ultimate aim in chess is to render the opponent "checkmate". Checkmate arises when the King is threatened by a piece of the opponent (a situation called "check") and when the player whose King is threatened is unable to escape the threat (either because the piece threatening the King cannot be captured, or the threatened King cannot move to any other square within its reach because each square is occupied by the player's own pieces or by protected pieces of the opponent, or else it is within reach of another of the opponent's pieces). This situation of checkmate means that the game is over; in chess, the King is never captured.

Chess is thus a game of logic, skill and experience.

The most common problem with learning and teaching chess in the conventional manner is that it is almost impossible for the student to beat the teacher. It will take many games before a beginner can render an experienced opponent checkmate. Therefore, the more experienced player may lose interest in winning too easily and the learner may lose interest in inevitably losing every game. This predictability of the outcome of the game between unmatched opponents deters many people from playing chess.

Although to a lesser extent, similar problems can arise when teaching a new player, for example, the game of draughts. The direction of travel of the pieces, the taking of an opponent's piece, the "knighting" of a player's piece thus allowing that piece subsequently to travel in multiple directions can be difficult to comprehend, particularly amoungst younger players.

It is thus a general object of the present invention to overcome, or at least ameliorate, one or more of the above disadvantages and to provide a game which can be self- contained but which can teach a player the rules of a closely associated game.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided indicia for use in a game of the type to be played between at least a first opponent and a second opponent using playing pieces divided into a first set for use by said first opponent and a second set for use by said second opponent on a playing surface divided into a plurality of playing positions, wherein:

said indicia are a multiple of sets of indicia from a group which includes a first set of indicia for determining which one of said playing pieces is to be played; a second set of indicia for determining said movement of said one playing piece on said playing surface; and a third set of indicia for determining whether said movement enables another of said playing pieces to be removed from said playing surface.

The above-described indicia assume that the players of the game already have access to the relevant playing surface and playing pieces. Of course, this access may not always be available. Therefore, according to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a game to be played between at least a first opponent and a second opponent, said game including:

playing pieces for use in said game, said playing pieces being divided into a first set for use by said first opponent and a second set for use by said second opponent;

a playing surface divided into a plurality of playing positions, said first set and said second set being placed on said positions for movement therearound; and

multiple of sets of indicia from a group which includes a first set of indicia for determining which one of said playing pieces is to be played; a second set of indicia for determining said movement of said one playing piece on said playing surface; and a third set of indicia for determining whether said movement enables another of said playing pieces to be removed from said playing surface.

Preferably, each said set of indicia is selected from a group which includes ( 1 ) a pointer which can be spun above a segmented display surface and which, once spun by respective said first or said second opponents, points to a segment on said display surface displaying certain information relevant to that move in said game, and (2) one or more sets of cards, each of said cards displaying certain information relevant to that move in said game.

More preferably, said set of indicia is three sets of cards, a first set of cards for determining which one of said playing pieces is to be played, a second set of cards for determining said movement of said one playing piece on said playing surface, and ^~ a third set of cards for determining whether said movement enables another of said playing pieces to be removed from said playing surface.

Most preferably, said game is chess and said playing surface is a conventional chess board; said first set of cards depict at least the pieces used in a game of chess, that is, King, Queen, Bishop, Knight, Rook and Pawn; said second set of cards depict the number of positions that any given piece may move on the board; and said third set of cards depict whether or not a player can capture an opponent's piece and thus remove that piece from the board.

Although chess is usually played between two opponents on a two-dimensional board, there are forms of that game between more than two opponents, for example, four players. Further, a three-dimensional chess game is also known. The present invention can readily be adapted to such forms of chess.

The present invention is principally designed to function as a card and board game, but it can be played in an electronic form. For example, the indicia, playing surface and playing pieces could be simulated images on a computer, video or games screen. The playing pieces could be moved to position in any suitable manner known in the art, for example, by using a keyboard, mouse or joystick.

An example of how the present invention is used will now be described with reference to the following figures wherein:

FIG. 1 depicts, in schematic form, a conventional chess board with white and black pieces, for use in the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a Playing Card from the present invention for the King; FIG. 3 is a plan view of a Playing Card from the present invention for the Queen;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a Playing Card from the present invention for the Bishop;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a Playing Card from the present invention for the

Knight;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a Playing Card from the present invention for the Rook;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of a Playing Card from the present invention for the Pawn;

FIG. 8 is a plan view of a "wild" Playing Card from the present invention;

FIGS. 9a-9g are a series of plan views of the Move Cards from the present invention; and

FIGS. 10a & 10b are a series of plan views of the Hit Cards from the present invention.

A conventional chess board, with white and black pieces, is set up in the usual manner (FIG.1). Three packs of cards are arranged face-down in three well-shuffled decks: a Playing Card deck (40 cards), determining what type of piece a player may play; a Move Card deck (35 cards), determining how far a certain piece may move; and a Hit Card deck (20 cards), determining whether the opponent's piece may or may not be captured. Playing Card Deck. There are cards for each type of piece on the board, King (FIG. 2), Queen (HG. 3), Bishop (FIG. 4), Knight (FIG. 5), Rook (FIG. 6), Pawn (FIG. 7) and Wild (FIG. 8). There are five King cards; five Queen cards; five Bishop cards; five Knight cards; five Rook cards; five Wild cards and ten Pawn cards. A Wild card can be used to move any piece on the board. Each Playing Card provides a brief description of the particular piece, the direction it moves and the rules that govern it. Black lines indicate the angle and directions each piece can move. Black dots indicate where the piece can land.

Move Card Deck. Move Cards are only used with the long-range pieces: Rook, Bishop and Queen (and wild card if deemed to be a Rook, Bishop or Queen) and display a number from 2 to 7 (FIGS. 9a-9g). The number indicates how many squares on the chess board these pieces may move on a given turn. For example, after putting down a Queen card, the player must turn over a Move Card to see how far the Queen is allowed to move.

Hit Card Deck. This card deck consists of twenty cards, ten of which have the word

"Hit" (FIG. 10a) printed thereon, the other ten being printed "Miss" (FIG. 10b). A Hit Card has to be turned face up whenever a player wishes to capture a piece. If the card turned face-up has Hit written on it, the player moves his piece to that square and removes the opponent's piece from the board. On the other hand, if "Miss" is turned face-up, the player cannot capture the opponent's piece in that turn.

To play the game, it is established which player will play the white pieces (by tossing a coin for example). Players then place their pieces on the board in the conventional chess manner with the white corner square of the chess board to the right of each player with the white Queen on a white square and the black Queen on a black square. Each player is dealt three cards from the Playing Card deck. The remainder of this deck is then placed face-down at one side of the chess board. Players should hide their Playing Cards from their opponent's view. The Hit and Move Cards are placed facedown in their respective decks at the other side of the chess board.

The player with white always takes the first turn.

Whenever it is a player's turn, he first takes a Playing Card from the Playing Card deck and adds it to his existing hand. The player then selects the card from his hand that corresponds to the type of piece on the board which he intends to move (or uses a wild card) and places that card face-up next to the Playing Card deck. The respective piece on the board can then be moved. Note: a player who at first has no pawn, knight or wild playing cards will not be able to move any piece on the board (because pawns are blocking and the knight is the only piece that may jump other pieces). In this situation, the player decides which is the least desirable card in his hand and discards it by placing it face up beside the Playing Card deck. This happens also if, at any time during the game, a player does not have the appropriate cards to move a piece.

Whenever a player wishes to move a long-range piece (Queen, Bishop or Rook), the corresponding Playing Card (or wild card) is first played. A Move Card (indicating the number of squares ranging from 2 to 7) is then turned over from the Move Card deck and placed face-up beside the deck from which it came. A piece may not be moved any further than the number of squares shown on the Move Card, but it may be moved a shorter distance.

A player who is able to reach the opponent's piece and wishes to capture it must first turn over a card from the Hit Card deck and place it beside the deck face-up. If the card says "Hit", the player replaces the opponent's piece with his own and removes the captured piece from the board. If the card says "Miss", the player cannot capture the piece. However, once a Move card has been turned over, a player must move a chess piece of the type corresponding to the Playing Card just played but not necessarily the particular piece that would have been moved to capture the opponent's piece if the "Hit" card had been displayed.

If a player uses a Playing Card showing a Bishop, Queen, Rook, Knight or Pawn, that player may move any one of his corresponding pieces on the board - e.g., either of his two bishops.

If during the game all the cards from any card deck are picked up, the discarded faceup cards are shuffled well and placed face-down to become the new card deck.

As a reward or bonus for capturing an opponent's piece, an additional Playing Card is taken from the Playing Card deck. A player's hand should therefore nearly always consist of the initial three Playing cards and as many "bonus" cards as there are opponent's pieces captured (but less any cards that had to be discarded in a previous hand(s) because that player did not have the appropriate card to move a piece).

A player does not have to move his King out of check.

Play is continued until a King is captured or until a King is moved all the way to an opponent's back line. The player capturing the opponent's King or moving his own King to his opponent's back line is declared the winner.

The present invention, by introducing an element of chance into the game, thus provides an equalizer for unmatched opponents. To further improve the chances of a less experienced player, variations of the rules can be applied, for example: (1) The player with less experience can be exempt from having to use the Hit Cards, Move Cards or both.

(2) The experienced player abides by the rules of checkmate whilst his opponent needs only to capture the King to win. This has the added advantage of teaching the principles of checkmate. With this option, however, the experienced player can use any Playing Card to move the King out of check.

It will be appreciated that the above examples are illustrative only of the present invention and that modifications and alterations can be made thereto without departing from the inventive concept as defined in the following claims.

Claims

10 CLAIMS

1. Indicia for use in a game of the type to be played between at least a first opponent and a second opponent using playing pieces divided into a first set for use by said first opponent and a second set for use by said second opponent on a playing surface divided into a plurality of playing positions, wherein:

said indicia are one or more sets of indicia from a group which includes a first set of indicia for determining which one of said playing pieces is to be played; a second set of indicia for determining movement of said one playing piece on said playing surface; and a third set of indicia for determining whether said movement enables another of said playing pieces to be removed from said playing surface.

Indicia as defined in claim 1 in combination with:

playing pieces for use in said game, said playing pieces being divided into a first set for use by said first opponent and a second set for use by said second opponent; and

a playing surface divided into a plurality of playing positions, said first set and said second set being placed on said positions for movement therearound.

Indicia as defined in Claim 1 or claim 2, wherein each said one or more indicia is sefected from a group which includes (1) a pointer Which can be spun above a segmented display surface and which, once spuo, points to a segment on said display surface displaying information 11 relevant to a move in said game, and (2) one or more sets of cards, each of said cards displaying information relevant to a move in said game.

4. Indicia as defined in claim 3 wherein said sets of cards includes a first set of cards for determining which one of said playing pieces is to be played, a second set of cards for determining movement of said one playing piece on said playing surface, and a third set of cards for determining whether said movement enables another of said playing pieces to be removed from said playing surface.

5. Indicia as defined in any one of claims 1 to 4 wherein:

said game is chess;

said playing surface is a chess board;

said first set of indicia is a set of cards depicting pieces used in said game of chess, said pieces including King, Queen, Bishop, Knight, Rook and Pawn, and a wild card which can substitute for any of said pieces;

said second set of indicia is a set of cards depicting the number of positions said one piece may move on said board; and

said third set of indicia is a set of cards depicting whether or not another of said pieces can be removed from said board.

6. Indicia as defined in any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein said indica, said- playing surface and said playing pieces are images on a computer, video or games screen.