ContentsChapter III
Parries
& Hints
Your team’s level affects opponents’ parries and the hints you start with.
How parries work
An opponent at least three levels above your team can parry your move. Your piece returns to its previous square and you lose your turn. Raising your team’s level reduces the number of parries they get.
- Play a move. Your queen moves to h5.
- Parried. Your queen returns to d1 and you lose your turn.
- Try the move again later. The same move cannot be parried twice.
- It goes through.
level difference
One parry for every three levels
Your team’s level is the average level of your six pieces. Subtract it from the opponent’s level, divide by three and round down. The result is their parry allowance for the match.
- 3 levelsabove your team1 parry
- 6 levelsabove your team2 parries
- 9 levelsabove your team3 parries
- 12 levelsabove your team4 parries
- 15 levelsabove your team5 parries
- 30 levelsabove your team10 parries
There is no upper limit: forty levels above you is thirteen parries. Under three levels of gap they get none.
Fighting above your level
Beating an opponent above your level pays up to 75% more experience. The bonus increases with the level difference. If a Club opponent is twenty-six or more levels above your team, a warning appears at the entrance. You can still enter.
the rules
Five limits on a parry
These rules apply at every difficulty:
- Opening. Your first four moves cannot be parried.
- Check. Moves that get you out of check cannot be parried.
- Legal moves. With fewer than three legal moves available, your move cannot be parried.
- Repeated moves. Once a move has been parried, you can play it again later without another parry.
- One per turn. Your replacement move cannot be parried.
Wagered Chessino games have no parries.
parry use
How opponents use parries
- 5 or more left
Almost everything gets parried
They parry any move the rules allow.
- 2 to 4 left
Only your good moves
A check, a promotion, a capture of a bishop, knight, rook or queen, or the engine’s recommended move. Other moves go through, with a few turns between parries.
- 1 left
Very selective
They save it for a checkmate, a queen capture, a promotion or the engine’s recommended move.
The engine analyses the position while you think. Your opponent can parry its recommended move if the rules allow it and they have parries left.
hints
Earning hints
When your team is above an opponent’s level, you earn onehint for every five levels of difference, up to five hints.
- 5 levelsabove the opponent1 hint
- 10 levelsabove the opponent2 hints
- 15 levelsabove the opponent3 hints
- 20 levelsabove the opponent4 hints
- 25 levelsabove the opponent5 hints
What a hint shows
A hint highlights the piece to move and its destination. You make the move yourself.
Hint limits by difficulty
| Difficulty | Starting hints from your level |
|---|---|
| Pawnlingnever played chess before | 5 |
| Squirethe normal way to play | 5 |
| Adepttougher | 4 |
| Masterno easy opponents | 3 |
| Grandmasterunlocked by finishing the game | 1 |
| Regicideunlocked by finishing everything | none |
Piece abilities and Insight Charms can add hints above these limits.
Three other ways to get a hint
- Use an Insight Charm. The charm adds a hint to the current battle, even when the opponent is above your team’s level.
- Add a piece with a hint ability. Several queens give a free hint every game. The Ember Rider gives three and protects your moves from parries. If you lose a piece, his remaining hints are lost for that game.
- Use the catch puzzle’s hint button. Show me the move is always available during a catch, but a piece caught with a hint stays only half the time.
reducing parries
Getting past parries
- Level up your team. Every three levels your team gains removes one of their parries. Below a three-level difference, they get none. You can leave and return after training.
- Use a Parry Charm. It stops the next parry and lets your move through. You can use up to three per match.
The free demo includes Openfield and Frostford. Your save carries into the full game.