If you're looking for weapons to help you defeat the aliens you've come to the right place.

I stock a wide range of weapons specially designed for intergalactic combat.

You remember the most important thing about intergalactic combat? You take it in turns to move. So you can't just go round killing enemies whenever you feel like it.

If you threaten an enemy he'll probably run away or get a friend to defend him.

So if you want to end up with a bigger and stronger army than your opponent what you usually have to do is threaten TWO enemies at the same time.

And that is where you need my weapons.

Playing with pretend weapons is good fun. Chess weapons are even better. But never, NEVER have anything to do with real weapons.
Before you go any further you need to take the lesson on notation if you haven't already done so elsewhere. ****Click here to take this lesson now.

The first weapon I can show you is the FORK.

This is a weapon which can be used to threaten two enemies at the same time in different directions. When one of them runs away you can kill the other one.

****Click here to learn about FORKS.

Click here to play the FORKS video game.

The next weapon I have is the PIN.

This one is used to attack two enemies in the same direction. The idea is that the man that is PINNED cannot move because the guy standing behind him will be killed.

Then there's the SKEWER. This is like the pin, but the stronger guy is in front, and, when he moves, you can kill the weaker guy.

****Click here to learn about PINS and SKEWERS.

Click here to play the PINS & SKEWERS video game.
Returning to FORKS, they can be used by all the soldiers in your army, but they are most often used by Knights and Queens. At the start of the battle there are many ways in which your Queen can fork two enemies. *****Click here to find out more about QUEEN FORKS.

Another really dangerous weapon is the AMBUSH or DISCOVERED ATTACK.

Imagine one of your guys is in line with a stronger enemy guy. If there's an enemy man in the way you have a PIN. But if one of your own men is in the way he can move out of the way, creating a DISCOVERED ATTACK. It's even better if he can threaten another enemy unit at the same time. Then you have TWO THREATS and when one enemy runs away you may be able to kill the other one.

*****Click here to learn about DISCOVERED ATTACKS.
Now imagine one of your guys is attacking an enemy who is defended.

Sometimes you can get another one of your guys to attack the defender and drive him away so that your first guy can destroy his target.

Or you can even get your second guy to give up his life for the defender, again so that your first guy can destroy his target.

******Click here to learn about DECOY AND DESTROY.

There are a lot of ways you can use these weapons to gain an advantage at the start of the battle.

The weakest square at the start of the game is f7 for Black (or f2 for White). Sometimes you'll get the chance to perform an EXPLOSION on f7 (or f2). ******Click here to see how this works.

There's also a way you can use a FORK at the start of a battle to give you a good position - but if you're not careful it can backfire! ******Click here to find out more about this.
At this point you have the chance to do some quizzes based on the weapons you've learned about.

CLICK HERE to access our quiz page where you can find tactics and other quizzes.



One of the most exciting things you can do in a battle is to SACRIFICE one of your own men in order to make a move which will win you back more than you've lost.

You've already seen some examples of this in earlier lessons.

If you ********click here you'll be able to have a go at some harder examples.

Finally, you have the chance to meet some of the greatest generals the world has known won their battles by playing SACRIFICES.

*********Click here for Part 1.

*********Click here for Part 2.