Despite its name, this isn't a Chess variant. There's no chessboard and tho' cards are named for the pieces in Chess, they don't have abilities that correspond in any way to their namesakes. The Queen, for example, is really only distinguished by her hit point value (4) as compared to the hit point values of Knights, Bishops and Rooks (2) and most Pawns (1). Designed by Mitchell Hussey and Sam Ross, Chess-A-Tete is actually a two-player head-to-head combat card game.
Players each have identical decks of 57 cards comprising units named after those in Chess, 'action cards' playable for their special effects, and cards used to initiate battle or defend against an attack. Players always have a hand of seven cards from which, on their turn, they can play up to three: units can be placed out and you can initiate an attack by playing a battle card provided you have the units in play that are specified on that card. If your opponent doesn't have a battle card of equal or greater hit value (and with their requisite units in play) then they have to discard units with a hit point total corresponding to the power of the attack.
In addition to action cards, several of the Pawns have special abilities, either ongoing effects or one-off powers that kick in when the Pawn is brought into play. For example, the Medic Pawn brings back into play a unit that's previously been lost.
This all makes for a fun if sometimes chaotic card game. There are some tactics involved in deciding when best to play certain cards but this is a game with a high luck factor: winning or losing depends primarily on the cards you happen to draw. We found in our plays at Board's Eye View that once you have the requisite units in place, it paid to get attacks in early in the hope of catching your opponent unable to mount a viable defence. If you manage to pull off a couple of attacks over successive turns, your opponent may struggle to recover your advantage; tho' the 'Army of the Dead' action card can function as a 'Hail Mary' catch-up card for a player who has lost a lot of units...
You can pick up Chess-A-Tete on Amazon.
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