Soon enough me and the Ant King were on the second floor of the palace before we entered an empty room full of entertainment items like board games and other things.
Though meanwhile I had subtlety bought an encyclopedic knowledge on all possible moves one can do in Chess which will give me an advantage in the mean time but for this game that won't win everything as this is both a game of strategy and luck, both things that can be major factors in deciding the outcome of wars.
Both of us sat down on cushions as Pouf and Youpi set out the chess board and arranged the chess pieces correctly before handing their King the rule book on Chess in general.
I shook my head, "You can read the entire rule book if you wish but this isn't a normal game of Chess after all, this game has only ever spread through word of mouth alone, but go ahead take your time." I casually said as I saw the irritated look on his face before he continued to read the rule book.
And about 15 minutes later he had finished reading all the possible basics and what each piece does before he looked up at me, "Alright, now tell me this game of yours, 'High King'" he said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
(A/N the one he read was a highly detailed version of the rule book on chess compared to the rather short and simple ones most people read when they start out playing the game)
I then looked at Pouf, "Hand me a pair of dice." Which Pouf reluctantly did as I said and handed me a pair of dice before I put one before the Ant King who looked at it then at me.
"Alright let me tell you how the Game of Kings & Intrigue is played, as it uses both your wit and luck to decide who is the winner of this game." I said before I began to list out how the game is played.
*****
The Game of Kings & Intrigue Guide and Rules
The game starts when the pieces are set up as they should in a standard game of chess, but before the first move the players both roll their Die to determine what becomes of their or their opponents pieces.
They both roll to see who has the advantage at the beginning of their battle, think of their Dice determines what their spies do to the enemy kingdom, i.e their opponents chess pieces.
If both players roll their die and both numbers match one another nothing changes with their pieces and no one has an advantage.
Advantage happens depending upon one's roll and how high one's number is over their opponent.
If they are one number higher then the opponent loses 2 pawns, 2 higher they lose 4 pawns, 3 higher they also lose a knight, 4 they lose a knight and a Rook, lastly if the opponent is 5 more, one rolled a 1 while the other a 6, they lose a knight a rook and a bishop putting at a heavy disadvantage for those with low rolls with the loss of 7 of their pieces.
Though because of those losses the opponent is then allowed to rearrange their pieces anywhere they want so long as it stays in the first two rows of their side and that the King and the General(Queen) are in the back line evening out the playing field a bit if they were at a heavy disadvantage or making their disadvantage into a better set up since they only lost a few pieces of the numbers weren't that different.
Another rule is that the General is just as important as the King and if they can't be rescued by having their pieces reach the enemies back line within 5 turns they also lose as if they were put into checkmate.
And if they lose all of their Knights, Bishops and Rooks the game is over as well meaning their are three different ways to both win and lose the game then just putting the King in Checkmate.
And lastly the General cannot leave their half of the board until a PAWN reaches their opponents back line allowing the General to move upon the enemies territory though the Rooks are restricted to their side of the board for the entirety of the Match as they represent the Kings Royal Guard and their objective is to protect their King and their King alone.
But besides that the units all move the same except the General cannot hop over friendly units like the Knights can but can still use their moves as a result.
****
"Now then, shall we begin?" I ask after giving my explanation of the rules of the game, the Game of Kings & Intrigue was supposed to simulate to the best way through chess how war and subterfuge are fought through this game, Strategy, Wit and Luck are needed to win Wars and this is the game to see these war games to their full potential.
We then cast our dies and the games began.
(A/N no I'm not gonna show a full game played out in my chapters as I don't think you guys find that interesting but if I hear otherwise a different chapter later on Will actually have a full game played out for you all to see, but this one I'll show the aftermath of 10 games)
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..
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"And there goes your Rook, looks like it's my win once more Ant King." I say taking out the last of his high pieces as he looks on in contemplation as after the fifth game every game since the odds of victory and defeat were either of us could have won.
Game 1: Ant King 2- Dio 4, Winner Dio, Captured the General
Game 2: Ant King 3- Dio 3, Winner Dio, Checkmate
Game 3: Ant King 2- Dio 5, Winner Dio, Captured all Rooks, Kinghts and Bishops
Game 4: Ant King 5- Dio 1, Winner Dio, Checkmate
Game 5: Ant King 1- Dio 6, Winner Dio, Captured all Rooks, Knights and Bishops
Game 6: Winner Dio
Game 7: Winner Dio
Game 8: Winner Dio
Game 9: Winner Dio
Game 10: Ant King 6- Dio 1, Winner Dio, Captured all Rooks, Knights and Bishops.
I could see the look of contimplation and irritation on the Ant Kings face as he even lost to me when I was at a heavy disadvantage just because of where and how I used my pieces were out maneuver his as he was super focused on taking out my last knight not bothering to pay attention to my Pawn that was able to get into his back line that he didn't notice before, (**), I wonder why he never noticed till it was to late, (**), the world may never know.
But that turned the tides ending up with him losing his last Rook and me cinching a victory out from him.
"Tch, just you wait I'll win sooner or later, but for now I want to expand my repertoire, these game's truly are the game of Kings as I have seen for myself, however." He says before he stands up and looks down at me.
"I'll here any advice you give, but it's my call whether I heed it or not, but now I have other pressing things to attend to." He says as he turns to leave with his guards following after him.
"Pouf, tell me more about Selection." I hear the King say before they both leave me and Ainz alone.
"…. Your abusing your abilities to win." Ainz says as he sits in front of me as he looks over at the game board as he sees the Ant King made it virtually impossible for me to win with all the moves he calculated with absolute precision that was even a challenge for me and my extremely high intelligence as well.
"It's not cheating if no one playing knows you are." I say with a smirk, "Besides only the last one did I deem it necessary for me to cheat, I'm not gonna let some Ant beat me." I say as my eyes gleamed a red glow.
"But who cares, we have all the time to do what we want as we wait for the end of this to come." I say as I roll the dice between my fingers.
In the end the House always wins, and I Always win….