CheatMate

What is CheatMate?

CheatMate is standard chess with a twist: every turn you hold a hand of cards that can bend the rules of the game. Normal cards let you make a regular chess move. Magic cards grant special powers — teleporting pieces, swapping positions, eliminating units, and more.

The deck is shared between both players. You draw one card at the end of each turn. Managing your cards well is just as important as managing your pieces.

The goal remains the same as chess: checkmate your opponent's King. But now your opponent might have a card that lets them teleport out — so staying flexible is key.

Turn Structure

1

Toss Phase — Choose your action

At the start of your turn, choose how you want to play: move a piece directly to make a normal chess move, select a Normal card and then make a normal chess move, or select a Magic card to activate its special effect.

2

Move Phase — Execute your action

If you chose a Normal move, click a piece and then click its destination. Standard chess rules apply, including castling, en passant, and promotion.

If you chose a Magic card, follow the highlighted squares on the board to complete the card's special effect. Highlighted squares indicate valid targets.

If the Magic card's effect cannot be applied, the card is played as a Normal card instead.

If your hand contains only Magic cards and you choose to move a piece directly, you must discard one Magic card from your hand after making the move.

3

Draw Phase — Replenish your hand

After your move resolves, you automatically draw 1 card from the deck.

If you play a Skip card as a Magic card, you immediately draw 1 additional card at the end of your current turn, then draw 2 extra cards at the start of your next turn.

When the deck runs out, the discard pile is reshuffled to create a new deck.

Normal Cards

They have no magic effect — they simply let you make a standard chess move when played. You can also spend a normal card to unlock the Normal Move option when choosing mode. Having at least one normal card in hand lets you move pieces directly without selecting a card first.

Magic Cards (Skip – Bishop – Knight– Rook – swap – Queen – King – Ace – Joker)

Key Rules & Tips

♚Checkmate survival: If you are checkmated but hold a King card (with valid escape squares) or a Swap card (with valid swaps), the game continues — you must play one of those cards to survive.

⚠️Check & the Skip card: You cannot play the Skip card as Magic while your King is in check. You must resolve the check normally.

♜Castling rights: Using the King card or swapping the King with a Swap card permanently revokes castling rights for that side.

🃏Joker priority: The Joker is the most flexible card. Save it for high-value eliminations or to return a queen. It is never wasted as a normal move.

♟Promotion: Pawns that reach the last rank promote. You choose the piece (Queen, Rook, Bishop, or Knight).

🔁Threefold repetition: If the same board position occurs three times the game is declared a draw.

⚖️Insufficient material: King vs King, King+Bishop vs King, King+Knight vs King — these are automatic draws.