What is 5asideCHESS?
Do you need 5 players? No, wait, you need 10 players, right? Hold on, is this something to do with football?
Thankyou generic person in generic cafe, they are all great questions, but sadly you are generically wrong on all generic accounts. The questions are valid, though, so let me explain what our game is and how you play. And that’s before we get into our amazing volunteers or our focus on lifting the stigma on Mental Health.
5sideCHESS is a scaled down version of the traditional game. In layman’s terms that’s really it. The board is 5×6 rather than the traditional 8×8 squares. So the room to manoeuvre is smaller, the risk of carnage much higher. Involved in that prescient carnivorous danger are fewer pieces. Less material to throw around. The King and Queen are there as always, but they are only protected by one knight, one bishop and one castle.
In front of them are five pawns that can only move one space forward. That’s the only change in the moves we have made. Why have we limited the movements of the pawns? Well, if we didn’t, they would be right on the toes of the other side straight away. It can work to a certain degree, but if makes for a better game if they have their wings clipped just a little.
Here is a short Video showing a little game, rather well done (If we do say ourselves)
And that’s just about it. It’s fairly obvious to point out that the games generally don’t last as long as traditional ones. This has been a big advantage for our team when trying to encourage new players to have a go. It’s far less intimidating and you can learn the rules without having to commit to a long game.
This is also true when our HELLO People are out there playing with the general public. People find it much easier to play a quick game of 5asideCHESS and connect, rather than feeling as though they have to be playing for hours.
So there you go. 5asideCHESS is a condensed game played on a durable, well made chess travel bag. Inside the Chess Pack you also receive a ‘DO Disturb’ sign to engage others when you’re playing in a cafe or other location around the UK.
You will also find a 5asideCHESS card that qualifies you for a free Tea and Coffee at any of our partner venues whenever you fancy playing Chess and connecting.
Available at RegencyChess.co.uk soon !