Elements - ChessOriginal idea by:
tikotribe | Developed by:
tikotribe,
Shantu | Art by:
tikotribe | Organized by:
tikotribe &
Shantu
16 players face eachother in an Elements-themed modified chess game. This is a single elimination tournament.
1. HOW TO SIGN UP?Anyone with a forum and a chat account can sign up for this event. Start by reading the rules very carefully. Then sign up by posting on a separate sign up topic. If you cannot find a sign up topic, or if it is locked, this event is not currently active, and you will have to wait for it to restart. Knowledge of chess is somewhat advised.
The amount of participants for this event is
32. If the event is full, you can still sign up as a reserve player, and will get a chance to join the event if any of the 16 players doesn't show up during round 1.
2. THE BOARD AND MOVEMENTThe board is made and updated in Google Presentations. Players will recieve the link to each of their respective boards. It is the Player's job and responsibility to update the board after each action they make.
Note: Appearance may be subject to change.Boards will be reviewed by Organizers from time to time. Remember, a player who gets caught cheating, will be permanently banned from all Elements community PvP events, so please play fair.
The marked squares are called
Hourglasses. There are five of them on the board. For each Hourglass you control (have a piece on that square), you gain another action, which you must use up every turn. If you move the piece away or it is defeated in battle, you lose control of the Hourglass, as well as the bonus action. Taking control of an Hourglass will come into effect only in the next turn, provided you can keep it. Note that despite having multiple actions a turn, you cannot move one piece multiple times.
The pieces and their movement are almost the same as in original chess (you can find more information about them here (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess#Movement)) with very slight balancing modifications. All special moves are allowed (like en passant or castling). The differences are the following:
Immortal (King): No changes. The King cannot be attacked directly, can only be 'killed' by checkmate. If your king is in check, all your possible moves must be directed at saving the king. If the king is still under threat by the end of your Round, you have been defeated.
Steam Machine (Rook): They can move only up to 3 squares at a time horizontally or vertically.
Vulture (Bishop): There are no changes to them. However, due to the layout of the board, they can move on light squares only.
Pegasus (Knight): No changes.
Mercenary (Pawn): They can not only hit other pieces diagonally in front of them, but Hourglasses as well.
Dragon (Queen): The only change is that there are no Queens among your starting pieces. They can be acquired through pawn promotion only.
Google Presentations Tutorial
(Click on the pictures to view full size)
3. DECKBUILDINGParticipants will receive 1 week at the beginning of the event to build decks. Each piece will have a different, fixed deck, built by following special rules, as explained below. This means that once the decks are made, the decks cannot be changed, and all duels must be fought with the same deck. You can, however, change the position of these decks before the start of the next round by messaging the Organizer. For example, if you feel that your B2 pawn would be in a better place on E2, you are free to do so. Participants must send the decklist with their respective pieces to the Organizers when they are ready. Failure to do so will result in disqualification. The decklist remains until the end of the event, and cannot be changed in later matchups!
The Deckbuilding rules are the following:
Immortal (King): The King's deck must consist of exactly 4 elements (at least 6 cards per element), with any mark, and must have at least 40 cards. Note that although the King can attack, its loss will result in the player's loss as well.
Mercenaries (Pawns): The player must choose 7 elements, one for each pawn. These elements will be their marks. The player must build the decks using cards from the remaining 5 elements. The mark of the Pawns will be displayed on them to avoid the swapping of decks.
Main pieces (Rooks, Knights, Bishops): The player must divide the 12 elements into 6 duos. Each deck must be built using cards only from the two elements chosen for the respective piece. Any mark can be used.
All pieces may use Other cards - with the exception of Mark cards, as they are considered elemental cards.
Promoted pawns keep their decks, no matter what piece they turn into. All promoted pieces are allowed to use
deck size/10 number of upgraded cards.
See main Board picture above.
Black selected 
to be the marks.Now he can use the following elements for deckbuilding: 
:timeHe/she decides to make a Pharaoh deck for the B8-merc.
55k 55k 55k 55k 560 5rg 5rg 5rg 5rg 5rg 5rg 5rg 5rg 5rg 5rg 5rg 5rg 5rg 5rg 5rg 5rn 5rn 5rn 5rn 5rs 5rs 5rs 5rs 5rs 5rsHe/she decides then to make a FFQ-hope deck for the D8-merc.
5lk 5lk 5lk 5oc 5oc 5oc 5oc 5oj 5oj 5oj 5oj 5oj 5oj 5ol 5ol 5op 5op 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5puAnd so on.
Note, though these are just examples; you decide which merc should have which mark (and even which merc stands on which square), and what decks will you make for them.
4. BRACKETSThis is a single-elimination tournament. This means that if you lose once, you are eliminated from the event.
5. MATCHUPS AND ROUNDSEach round consists of one single matchup. Players have 1 week to play the full chess game with their opponent, and it's their decision how they distribute their playing time for that week. For example: Player 1 and 2 can decide to play one or two hours every day, while Player 3 and 4 can decide to play the whole game on the weekend because of time zone issues.
Note, that the failure of completing the chess game until the deadline means the Organizer has to declare a winner based on the player's pieces remaining on the board, regardless of their positions.
6. POSTING ACTIONSOrganizers will start a topic for each chess game. Participants must post their actions in their respective topics, using a system similar to algebraic chess notation (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algebraic_chess_notation). For example:
The Knight on square D1 moves to E3. You write d1-e3. It is enough to write the coordinate of the squares, the names of pieces can be omitted.
If you have an Hourglass captured, you might attack a piece with your first action, then move with another piece. However, there might be cases where the second action would depend on the success of the first action. If this happens, players are asked to use the following format:
1. d1xe3 [d1 attacks e3]
2. If succeeds, f2-f3 [f2 moves to f3]
If fails, c2-c3 [c2 moves to c3 instead]
Special moves, like en passant (e.p.), castling (0-0 or O-O), check (+) or checkmate (#) must be marked as a suffix.
Although, this is a common way to mark chess moves in text format; it's only an example,
any format is acceptable, as long as it is obvious enough what moves have been made (i.e: f2 moves to f3, checkmate is acceptable).
Warning, if actions are already posted, those are final,
no editing allowed! Think before you post.
Also, Players may surrender the chess game (by posting 'Surrender' as their next move), but please use this
only if you think there's really no hope left for you. Don't ruin your own fun!
7. DUELSPlayers have to do their duels "on the spot". This means if a piece gets attacked while both players are playing (online), the game cannot advance further until the duel has been played. Forfeiting a duel means an auto-loss for the forfeiting player, and the piece is removed.
Duels are best-of-three. The first player who wins twice, wins the duel.
The decks are fixed, which means changing decks between duels is not allowed.
It's a good idea to either record the duels, or take screenshots as proof, in case something weird, like a desync error, happens. Remember, a player who gets caught cheating, will be permanently banned from all Elements community PvP events, so please play fair.
8. AFTER DUELSWinner should post a new post in their respective topic, opened by the Organizer. Please do not share any information of the decks you and your opponent played.
Eliminated Players must post the full decklist they used after their matchups (complete chess games) are done.
9. WINNING CONDITIONSWinning a matchup can be achieved by the following:
Checkmate: As in classic chess rules. (Or see above)
Surrender: Your opponent posts 'Surrender' as next move - this means an autowin for you.
Draw: Neither you, nor your opponent is capable of giving a checkmate. If there is no other solution, then the two Kings are engaged in an epic duel of life and death. The winner of this duel wins the matchup.[/list]
10. WINNERWinner of the single-elimination tournament is the winner of the event.
11. REWARDSThe winner of the event will receive this forum award icon:
