THE COMPLETE RULES

OF TIME-CUBE CHESS

First edition
You will need:

1. Seven full chess sets. Each set will have a separate numbering from left to right-
the leftmost pawn of each set is #1; the rightmost is #8, and such. Unlike chess,
each piece has an identity, and you’re going to be dicking around with their past.

2. Several slips of white or black paper.

3. Set up a series of six boards in the shape of a cruciform. Each of these is filled out
and set up as an ordinary chessboard, as per the diagram:

PRESENT 1

PRESENT 4 PAST PRESENT 2

PRESENT 3

FUTURE
Units move according to the standard, ordinary rules of chess.

A round consist of four turns (or a full rotation across the board). It starts with white
player making a move on the Present 1 board. After both Black and White make a move,
play passes to the next Present board. On odd-numbered present boards white moves first,
on even-numbered black moves first.

On any of the four turns, you may choose to instead manipulate the Future or Past boards.
Note that:

1. This will mean that your opponent may make his move on the Present board unop-
posed!

2. If you are in check in the Past or Future, you MUST take your turn there! This is
also true if you are at the end of the round and you will be in checkmate once the
Ripple Effect resolves. Because of the complicated and confusing nature of the
game, you are *required* to notify your opponent if he or she is about to be in
checkmate if you notice it. But don’t keep saying it over and over again just to be
annoying.

3. If a player is in past/future Check, then regardless of turn order, the next move is
theirs.

4. If you move a piece in the past, place one of your slips of paper underneath it to
show you have done so!

At the end of the round, the Ripple Effect period occurs. During this time, in order:

1. The Present boards are altered to reflect the state of the Past.

2. The Future boards are altered to reflect the state of the Present.

The Past affecting the Present is very simple.

1. If a piece was moved in the Past (denoted by the paper slip) the corresponding
piece - the unit with the same Identity (color-type-number) - is moved to the cor-
responding place in all of the Presents. Movement rules are ignored; the Ripple
Effect sweeps over the world and suddenly things were just Always That Way. If
you get a pawn to the other side of the Past board and promote it to a new piece,
the corresponding pawns in the Present are changed to reflect that.

2. If a piece was taken in the Past, that corresponding piece is taken in the Future.

3. Pieces that were left alone in the Past are not affected.

4. If a piece has been captured on one of the Present boards, then moving that piece
around in the Past has no effect on that board.
 5. If the Ripple Effect places a Present piece on top of another piece, then ... some-
thing happens. Think of something neat, I don’t fucking know.

The Future affecting the Past is not quite so simple.

For each piece:

1. If it has not been moved, or has been moved to different spots in each of the four
Presents, it stays right where it is in the Future.

2. If it has been captured in the Future, then moving that piece around in the Present
does not cause it to become un-captured in the Future.

So far, so good. This looks pretty much like the Past->Present rules, BUT...

3. If the piece has been moved to the same square in at least two boards, then the
piece in the Future is moved to that square. Note: It is possible for the piece to
have *two* valid future locations. If this occurs, move it to *both* - grab a piece
with the same identity from the extra, seventh set.

3a. If a piece in the future has only one valid location, and it has time clones,
both time clones are “merged” to become one piece again. Put the extra
piece back in the box.

3b. “Captured” is a valid location - if a piece has two of its Present selves in
the Capture bin, and there isn’t a second valid location elsewhere on the
board, move the corresponding Future piece to a special “retcon zone”
of the capture area. If the piece later acquires a second valid location,
put it back there. (Once it’s captured in the Future, though, it’s gone
from the Future permanently).

4. If two different same-color pieces share a valid future location, the result is a Par-
adox. Both pieces are temporarily removed from play on the Future board (any
time clones on other valid future locations are not affected). Write their identities
down on a piece of black or white paper and put it on the relevant square. These
Paradox pieces cannot be moved or captured until the paradox is resolved, at
which point you remove the black square and put the pieces back into their new
proper spots.

5. If two opposite-color pieces share a valid Future location, the result is mutual an-
nihilation. Both pieces are removed from the Future board as though captured.

NOTE: You can promote a pawn to any captured same-color piece, of any identity. Yes,
even a King - although this only works, obviously, on Present boards, where the king can
be captured.
HOW TO WIN:

To achieve victory, one must Checkmate the opposing player in either the Past or the
Future.

Checkmate is a condition where there is no possible move the opposing player could make
such that his King can escape Check. “Check” is a condition where the opposing player
could destroy their king on his next move - either through capture, or temporal erasure.
No player can intentionally make a move which would put his Past or Future kings into
check, and if you are in check, you must take a move which allows you to leave check. If
there are no such moves avaliable, you lose.

NOTE about check: Normally, you get two moves in a row. Remember, [round
start] – White – Black – Black – White – White – Black – Black – White – [ripple
effect]. However, if you place your opponent in check (or it is the 8th turn and
they will be in check once the ripple effect finishes), and the next move would
also be yours, your opponent gets the next turn instead. For instance:

[round start] – White - Black – [change board] – Black – White – BLACK PLACED
IN CHECK – [change board] – BLACK TURN – White [change board] – Black –
White – [change board] – White – Black – [ripple effect] – Black…

OR

[round start] – White – Black – [change board] – Black – White – [change board] –
White – Black [change board] – Black – White – [ripple effect PLACES BLACK IN
CHECK] – BLACK TURN – White – [change board] – Black…

The pattern resumes afterwards until such time as someone is again placed in
check at the beginning of a double-move.

In the event everyone gets too confused to figure out what the fuck is going on, too drunk
to handle the mental gymnastics required, or too sober to handle this bullshit, then de-
clare the game over. Count up the captured pieces on each side using standard piece value.
Pawns are 1, Knights are 3, Bishops are 3, Rooks are 5, Queens are 9, and Kings are 13.

Whoever loses must live with their shame.