About Thistle Chess
Thistle Chess is the classic game of chess, played on a cream and moss-green board in a meadow full of thistles. You play against Thistle, a round little owl in spectacles who hoots when she gives check and grumbles when you take her pieces.
Play Thistle on Easy, Medium or Hard, or switch to 2 Players and share one screen with a friend. These are the full rules of chess, so everything you learn here works on any board.
How to play
- Each side has a king, a queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights and eight pawns. Tap a piece and the squares it can reach glow; tap one, or drag the piece there. A ring marks a piece you can capture.
- Give check by attacking the enemy king. A king in check glows red, and the only moves allowed are the ones that get it out of check. Checkmate, a check that cannot be escaped, wins the match.
- Castling, en passant and promotion all work: a pawn that reaches the far row becomes a queen, knight, rook or bishop of your choice. A match is drawn on stalemate, on the same position three times, after 50 moves each without a capture or pawn move, or when neither side can still mate.
- On Easy a capture scores 10 for a pawn, 30 for a knight or bishop, 50 for a rook, 90 for a queen. Castling scores 20, a promotion 50, a draw 75, a win 300 plus 10 per piece you still have. Medium doubles every point, Hard triples it.
- You have three hearts. Losing a match, or resigning after your first move, costs a heart; a win gives one back. You play White first, then colours swap every match. The game ends when the last heart is gone.
Controls
- Keyboard
- Click a piece, then a glowing square, or drag it there. Arrow keys move a cursor and Space or Enter picks a piece, then its square; Q, R, B or N choose a promotion. U undoes, H shows a hint, N starts a new match.
- Touch
- Tap a piece, then a glowing square, or drag it there. Undo, Hint and New sit by the board, and the button next to the hearts switches between Easy, Medium, Hard and 2 Players.
Tips
- Open by moving a centre pawn, then bring out your knights and bishops before your queen, and castle early to keep your king safe.
- Before every move, ask what it attacks and what it leaves undefended. Most games on Easy are won by spotting an unguarded piece.
- With a big lead, trade pieces: the fewer Thistle has, the easier her king is to mate. Undo and Hint can each be used three times per match.
