Beyond Chess Online Preview

Beyond Chess Online brings all the challenges and excitement of Beyond Chess onto your computer screen and brings the worldwide Beyond Chess community together.

This tutorial will help you learn the ropes of playing Beyond Chess Online, building your own board layout designs and sharing them with fellow players around the world.

Features include:

- Play against the computer or anyone in the world anytime!

- Build, save and share your own board layouts.

- Explore the possibilities of Beyond Chess including playing with multiple kings!

- Load and play board layouts created by other players.

- Playback and view completed games.

- Develop your Beyond Chess rating as you win and loose games.

- Communicate with other players as you play them via text, voice and video.

Back to menu.

From the Beyond Chess website, log onto the main Beyond Chess Online menu. You can either create a user name for free or log on as a visitor. We encourage you to create a user name so you can build your rating over time with each game you play.

Once you've logged on, you will be at the tournament lounge. From here, you can join a game with another player, play a game against the computer or enter the editor on your own to build and save board layout designs and replay past games. Click on the screen shot to the right to see it enlarged.

To play a game against the computer, click on the green "editor" button at the top menu. Once in Editor mode, you can select a board or you can build one to play against the computer. Once you've selected a board setup to play one, click the "Play" button to begin the game against the computer. You will always play White and the computer will play Black. More about the editor.

To enter the board editor and to replay past games, click on the green "editor" button at the top menu.

To start a game with another player in the lounge, you must both sit down at the same table by clicking on one of the chairs.

The red chair is the hosting chair. This is very important because it's the host who chooses the board layout to be played.

The opponent can choose to accept or decline a selected board design. If the opponent rejects the proposed layout, the host must pick another layout.

The host plays white and their opponent plays black.

Players can chat with each other by clicking on their name in the player list box to the right. A private dialog box will appear and you can begin chatting.

The Tournament Lounge

Click to enlarge.

The green Editor button.

The red chair hosts and plays white.

You'll notice that the player list box also displays a player's rating, the number of games they've played and number of games they've won.

You can watch a game being played as a spectator by clicking on a chair at an occupied table.

Back to menu.

Playing a Game

To play a game against the computer, click on the green "editor" button at the top menu. Once in Editor mode, you can select a board or you can build one to play against the computer. Once you've selected a board setup to play one, click the "Play" button to begin the game against the computer. You will always play White and the computer will play Black. More about the editor.

To play against another real player, you must both sit down at a table together. Once you and your opponent have both sat down at a table to play, you will be taken to the playing area. Click on the screen shot to the right to enlarge a view of the playing area.

From here, you can click on the "m" menu button in the lower right corner to bring up the Main Menu as shown to the right.

The green Editor button.

The Playing Area

Click to enlarge.

The Main Menu

Quit will take you out of the game and back to the Tournament Lounge. If you quit before a game is completed, that game will not be recorded.

Help will take you to this tutorial.

Editor will take the host into edit mode to build or load a board layout. While at a table with another player, the host is the only one who can enter the editor and select or build a custom board layout. More about the editor.

All Players brings up a list of all players currently logged onto the game server. You can double click on a name to privately chat with them. Back to menu.

Notation turns the notation window on and off. The notation window displays the game's moves using algebraic Beyond Chess notation. This can be turned on at any point during a game. You can also turn on the coordinates of the playing area grid by clicking the coordinates button in the notation window.

You can adjust the location of the playing area window, the coordinates window, and chat windows by clicking and dragging on their window frames.

Order of Play

White goes first, of course. If you are playing against the computer, you will always play White and the computer will play Black. White's first move of the game is the only move where a square is not moved. Black is the first to move a square.

Turns are tracked at the top of the playing screen. It also displays whether it's a player's turn to move piece or square. Back to menu.

Order of play is move a piece, then shift a square. You may never shift a square first. If you are placed in check, you must move a piece to get out of check, otherwise it's checkmate.

Note: There is an exception to this, when playing with multiple kings (yes, you can play with multiple kings!) If each side has more than one king, the additional kings simply need to be captured like any other piece, and then the last king must be put into checkmate to win the game. The captured kings would be placed in check, however, you would not have to get them out of check to continue play, they would simply be captured if they cannot escape. It's even possible to put multiple kings in checkmate simultaneously...if your good enough!

you may move a pawn and the square it occupies together, which is called Gerreting.

More on Gerreting.

Back to menu.

To move a piece, click on the piece you'd like to move. The legal squares it can move to will highlight. The move is not locked in until you actually place it at a new location. You can place it back on it's original square and move another piece as long as you haven't placed it down on another location yet.

Note: when the legal available squares highlight, only the player who's turn it is can see the highlight. Your opponent can only see the finished move. Once you move your piece, he sees your piece's move. Then, once you've shifted your square, he sees the square's shift.

After you've moved a piece, you must shift a board square. you can only move squares to an adjacent open area called a rift. Back to menu.

Moving a piece. Click on a piece and move it to the desired location. All legal locations will be highlighted when a pieces is selected.

To shift a square, click on it and shift it to the desired location. All legal locations for that square will highlight in light blue, also not visible to your opponent.

Squares must always be touching the rest of the board by a side or corner and may never become detached from the board.

As shown to the right, the green square can shift to the left, up or down, but not to the right because it would become detached from the board.

You must always move a piece before moving a square except when Garreting. Back to menu.

Moving a square. Click on a square and shift it to the desired location. All legal locations will be highlighted when a square is selected.

Gerreting is when you move a pawn and the square it occupies together. You can Garret the pawn/square together forward, left or right, but never backwards.

When Gerreting, you are moving your pawn and square together, and so ends your turn. You may not Garret if you've already moved another piece. And you may not move anything else during that turn after you've Gerretted.

To Gerret your pawn/square, simply click on square the pawn is on and shift it to a legal location, as shown to the right. The pawn and square will move together.

You may Gerret as much as you'd like throughout the game, however only once per turn. Back to menu.

Gerreting. Click on the square occupied by the pawn to Garret and shift it to the desired location. All legal locations will be highlighted when a pawn/square is selected.

Castling is not only supported in Beyond Chess, it's enhanced...super castling if you will! Since the board can be larger than the traditional 8 squares wide, castling can now be done from extreme distances. Neither the king nor the rook can have been moved before castling. All squares have to be in place in between the king and the rook when the castling is done and clear of any other pieces. To castle, select the king and move it two spaces in the direction you wish to castle. The rook will automatically jump to the other side of the king, completing the castling. The screen shots below demonstrate a long distance castling. Back to menu.

Castling. Beyond Chess supports long distance castling!

En Passant. En passant is also supported in Beyond Chess. Just like traditional chess, when a pawn moves two squares and passes an enemy pawn to avoid capture, the opponent has the option to capture the pawn as if it had only moved one space. Just like in traditional chess, it must be done on the next move or the option is forfeited. En passant is supported regardless of the shape and length of the board. Back to menu.

En passant.

Promotion. You can get a pawn promoted when you reach the baseline of the your opponent's side. The baseline is defined as the rank where the kings began the game and will vary in location between board layouts depending on where the kings are places to begin the game. The baseline is marked on the playing grid by a "p" to the right of the playing area grid.

No matter how the squares shift throughout the game or where the kings are at any time, the baseline remains the same throughout.

Once a pawn reaches the baseline, you can promote it to a queen or knight. To select, click Queen or Knight in the little Promote menu that pops up.

Note: When playing with multiple kings, the baselines for pawn promotion are determined by the kings closest to the center of the board. More on playing with multiple kings.

Back to menu.

Promotion. Once a pawn reaches the baseline, it can be promoted to a queen or knight. click on the selection in the little menu that pops up.

The Board Editor

The board editor is a wonderfully dynamic tool that allows you to build, modify, save and share board layout designs with other players.

you can access the board editor without sitting at a table with another player by clicking on the green Editor button at the top of the main Beyond Chess Online tournament lounge screen.

The host may also access it after sitting down to a table to play an opponent to load or build a custom board design. When two players are sitting at a table together to play, only the host can access the board editor.

Click on the screen shot to the right to view a larger view of the editor screen.

The Editor Screen

Click to enlarge.

The Editor Menu

Reset will remove any squares and pieces from the playing area grid allowing you to start a new board from scratch. More about building a board from scratch.

Load will take you into the load menu to allow you to view and load saved board layouts.

More about loading a game.

Save will allow you to save your setup layout once you're finished with it.

More about saving a game.

Play will challenge the host's opponent to a selected layout. Once the host has selected a board, he clicks the play button to present the layout to his opponent for approval.

More about challenging your opponent with a layout.

Cancel will take you out of the editor. If you entered the editor from the main tournament lounge, you'll be taken back there. If you as the host entered it while sitting at a table with another player, you'll be taken back to the play screen.

Replay allows you to access a database of all played games where you can replay them.

More about Replay.

Building a Board From Scratch

To build a board from scratch click on the reset button at the bottom of the editor screen. This will clear the playing area grid of all squares and pieces.

To add squares, click on the dark or light square to the left or right of the playing area grid. Once you've selected a square, click on a grid space to place it. You do not have to keep selecting each and every square. The next square will automatically "snap" to the curser to be placed. By default, it will alternate between dark and light squares, so you can place them on the board very quickly.

To place only light squares, hold the shift key down as you place the squares.

To Place only dark squares, hold the ctrl key down as you place the squares.

To go back to placing squares by alternating color, simply stop pressing ctrl or shift.

You can move squares around on the play grid once they are placed by clicking on them and moving them to a new location.

To manually remove a square from the play grid, simply click on it and drop it anywhere outside the grid area.

IMPORTANT! For a board to be legal, all squares must be touching by at least a side or corner. There can be NO orphaned squares detached from the rest of the board. If any squares on the play area are not touching the rest of the squares, you will not be able to save the board to the database or play it.

To place pieces, click on the pieces sitting off to the side and drag them over to a square and on the playing area grid and click it onto the square. you can reposition individual pieces after they've been place by clicking on them and moving them to a new location.

Note: There are no rules as to how many piece can be used, except that there must be at least one king used for each side.

Multiple kings. You may use as many kings on either side as you'd like. The way it would be played out in a game, the extra kings would be captured just like other pieces and the last king would be placed in checkmate for a win. The captured kings would be placed in check, however, you would not have to get them out of check to continue play. They would simply be captured if they cannot escape. It's even possible to put multiple kings in checkmate simultaneously...if your good enough!

Note: When playing with multiple kings, the baselines for pawn promotion are determined by the kings closest to the center of the board.

IMPORTANT! Note: on the right side, there are directional arrows that show which way pawns move on the board. White pawns will move up, so they should be placed toward the bottom of the board during layout design. Likewise, black pawns move down, so they should be place toward the top of the board during layout design. This is only for design purposes. The board's view will be oriented correctly for each player during game play. During a game, each player will view the board from their own point of view. Back to menu.

Saving a Board Layout Design

To save the layout you just designed or modified, click on the Save button at the bottom of the screen. A menu will pop up that allows you to name your board and add a brief description. The description must remain under 250 characters. Do not use non letter characters in the title or it may prevent the layout from being saved.

The saved board will then be available to be used by everyone.

Note: If you are sitting at the playing table as the host with an opponent and he's been patiently waiting for you to build or modify a board layout, you may immediately challenge him to it without saving simply by clicking on the Play button on the editor menu when it's ready. It will then be presented to your opponent to accept or decline. Back to menu.

Loading a Saved Layout

To view and load saved board layouts to play, click on the Load button on the editor menu.

In the load menu, you can select from several classic Beyond Chess layouts or click on the blue Database button to access the Beyond Chess Stored Layouts database where all saved board layouts are listed. You may double click on a layout to view it or click on the Load button. If you click on the Info button, a screen will pop up displaying the info on a selected layout for easier viewing. Click the Info button again to exit the Info screen.

Once you've found a layout you want to play or modify, click the Close button to close the database screen, then click "Play." Back to menu.

The Load Menu

Click to enlarge.

After loading the layout into the editor, you can either modify it or challenge your opponent with it.

Challenging an Opponent

Once the host has built, modified or loaded a board layout to play with someone, click on the Play button on the editor menu.

The selected layout will be presented to your opponent to accept or decline. If he accepts, the game will let you know and you can begin playing. If he declines, you will be sent back to the editor to select again. Note: You may have to chat with each other to work out a board choice. To chat with your opponent, click on the "m" menu button to the right, then the All Players button, then find their user name and double click on it. A private chat box will appear. Back to menu.

Replaying a Game

A cool feature of Beyond Chess Online is the ability to replay and watch any game that's been played to conclusion.

To play back a game, click on the Replay button in the editor screen. A database screen will pop up. select a game to view by double clicking on it.

The game will be loaded and a play menu will pop up giving you control of the playback. There is, form left to right, Back to Beginning, Pause, Play and Forward One Move. The first button takes you back to the beginning of the game, the second pauses the play back, the third automatically plays through the entire game and the last button manually moves the game forward one move at a time.

Replaying a Game Mode

Click to enlarge.

This feature can be a great tool for developing your Beyond Chess skills. As they say: A smart man learns from his mistakes, a wise man learns from others!

To exit from the editor, use the menu button to the right. Back to menu.

PLEASE PLAY WITH HONOR! Players caught illegally padding their Beyond Chess Online rating by logging in as two players and playing games against themselves will have their ratings adjusted to 99, and may risk being removed from the system. All games are recorded and can be replayed by other players! The rating system is serious and dishonorable manipulation of it will be handled seriously. Back to menu.

Credits

Beyond Chess Online was developed by the amazing programmers at HigherGames. They've really brought Beyond Chess to life online and we want to give them special credit. Nicely done!

Beyond Chess was created by Dave Crockett.

To learn more about Beyond Chess or to buy a Beyond Chess to play in in real life, visit us at www.gobeyondchess.com. We have a bulletin board, chat room, articles, news and more. Join the Beyond Chess community and share in the challenge and creativity that is Beyond Chess.

Go Beyond Chess and we'll see you online!!!

Back to menu.

www.gobeyondchess.com

Patent pending.