♞SERPENT’S GAMBITTHE OBSIDIAN COLLECTION
THE OPEN TABLE

The Serpent’s Library

0
FIRST TO25or capture the king
1
G A R N E TTURN 01
I V O R YTHE OBSIDIAN COLLECTION
YOUR CROSSWORD

ScoreMoveCaptureH hint · U undo
THE OBSIDIAN COLLECTION Ⅰ
TAKE YOUR SEAT AT THE IMPOSSIBLE TABLE

Serpent’s
Gambit.

Chess and checkers on one board.
Every piece carries a letter into a crossword.

25Score 25 points or capture the enemy king.
Gold moves score. Ladders help. Snakes do not.
120 boards · 3 opponents · daily challenge · local two-player
CHESS × CHECKERS × WORDS × SNAKESReimagined from the original Serpent’s Gambit
MAKE YOURSELF AT HOME

Your table

Garnet starts with one point for moving second. Your game and table preferences save in this browser.
FIND YOUR NEXT WORD

The crossword
LEARN THE FOUR GAMES

Teach me to play

You play ivory. Chess, checkers, a crossword, and snakes and ladders share this board. Read the lesson, then play one scoring move.

What stands on the board

The tall pieces are chess: rook, knight, bishop, queen, and king. They move as in chess. There is no castling. There is no check. Leave a king where it can be taken, and the other side may take it.

The round pieces are checkers. On the board they are called draughts. A draught moves one square diagonally forward: ivory toward the top, Garnet toward the bottom. It cannot move backward. It captures by jumping diagonally forward over an enemy into the empty square beyond, and it may keep jumping on the same turn. Landing on the far row crowns it for 3 points. A crowned draught moves as a queen, its letter becomes a star, and that star may write any letter.

The pale squares are a crossword. A number in a square is where an answer starts. Clues are listed as Across and Down. Brass ladders and green snakes join some squares, and they work for both sides.

Who moves

Ivory, the light pieces along the bottom, moves first and travels up. Garnet, the dark pieces along the top, travels down and starts with 1 point for moving second. Every piece carries a letter, printed on the piece.

♘E→E+2 points

How to take a turn

  1. Select one of your pieces.
  2. A pale dot is a legal move that does not score.
  3. A gold square writes a letter. The number on it is the score.
  4. A red ring is a capture.
  5. On a large screen, hover a marker to read the move before you click. On a phone, the first tap only previews it. Tap Make move, or tap that square again, to play it.

What happens in a move

The piece moves first. A checker may jump more than once before it stops. Any captures are resolved next. If a checker has reached the far row, it is crowned. Then, if it is standing on the foot of a ladder or the head of a snake, and the far square is empty, it rides there. A letter is written only on the square where the piece finally stops.

Writing a letter

A piece may write its own letter on an empty crossword square. That scores 2. A different letter writes nothing, but the move still counts. Any piece may write the one last missing letter of a word, even when the letters do not match. Finishing a word scores 2 plus the word’s length, so the last letter of a 5-letter word scores 7. If that letter finishes more than one word, you score for each of them.

Write a letter2
Finish a word2, plus the word’s length
Crown a draught3
Capture, other than the king0
Capture the kingYou win

Captures

Capturing an ordinary piece scores 0. The piece is not removed. It goes back to an empty square in the two rows where its side started, and it cannot move on the next turn. Only the king is taken for good. Capture the enemy king and you win at once, and that move scores nothing else.

Ladders and snakes

End on the foot of a ladder and the piece climbs to the top. End on a snake’s head and it slides to the tail. Nothing happens if that far square is already occupied. A ladder carries Ivory forward and a snake carries Garnet forward, so the same path helps one player and sets the other back.

How you win

Reach 25 points, or capture the enemy king. The game also ends when every crossword square is filled, or after 30 moves in a row, by either player, that score nothing. The higher score then wins. If the scores are equal, the player who has written more letters wins. If those are equal too, the game is a draw.

Next, a practice board opens with one gold move already chosen. Play it. The letter is written and you score 2. Garnet answers, and you can keep that game.
THE RULES GUIDE
Serpent’s Gambit rules guide: how the four games share the board, how a turn is scored, and how you win.

How to play

Four games share this board: chess, checkers, a crossword, and snakes and ladders. Ivory, at the bottom, moves first and travels up. Garnet travels down and starts with 1 point for moving second.

How you win

Reach 25 points, or capture the enemy king. Taking the king wins immediately, and that move scores nothing else. The game also ends when every crossword square is filled, or after 30 moves in a row, by either player, that score nothing. The higher score then wins. If the scores are equal, the player who has written more letters wins. If those are equal too, the game is a draw.

Your turn

Select one of your pieces, then a marked square. On a phone, the first tap only previews the move; tap Make move, or tap that square again, to play it. A pale dot is a legal move that does not score. A gold square writes a letter, and the number on it is the score. A red ring is a capture. On a large screen, hover a marker to read the move before you click.

What happens in a move

The piece moves first. A checker may jump more than once before it stops. Any captures are resolved next. If a checker has reached the far row, it is crowned. Then, if it is standing on the foot of a ladder or the head of a snake, and the far square is empty, it rides there. Only the square where it finally stops can receive a letter.

Chess pieces

The tall pieces move as in chess. A rook runs any distance in a straight line. A bishop runs any distance diagonally. The queen does either. A knight jumps in an L, two squares one way and one aside, and may leap over other pieces. A king moves one square in any direction. There is no castling. There is no check: leave a king where it can be taken, and the opponent may take it.

Checkers

The round pieces are checkers. On the board they are called draughts. A draught moves one square diagonally forward: ivory toward the top, Garnet toward the bottom. It cannot move backward. It captures by jumping diagonally forward over an enemy piece into the empty square beyond, and it may keep jumping on the same turn. Landing on the far row crowns it. A crowned draught moves as a queen, its letter becomes a star, and that star may write any letter.

Captures

Capturing an ordinary piece scores 0. The piece is not removed from the game. It goes back to an empty square in the two rows where its side started, and it cannot move on the next turn. Only the king is taken for good. Capture the enemy king and you win at once.

Ladders and snakes

Brass ladders and green snakes lie on the board and work for both sides. End on the foot of a ladder and the piece climbs to the top. End on a snake’s head and it slides to the tail. Nothing happens if that far square is already occupied. A ladder carries Ivory forward and a snake carries Garnet forward, so the same path helps one player and sets the other back. The ride happens before any letter is written.

The crossword

The pale squares are a crossword. A number in a square is where an answer starts. Clues are listed as Across and Down. A letter is written only when the square is still empty and the piece is allowed to write there.

A piece may write its own letter. A different letter writes nothing, but the move still counts. Any piece may write the one last missing letter of a word, even when the letters do not match. A crowned draught, shown with a star, may write any letter into any empty crossword square. If the letter finishes more than one word, you score for each of them.

Write a letter2
Finish a word2, plus the word’s length
Crown a draught3
Capture, other than the king0
Capture the kingYou win

Scores from the same move add together. The last letter of a 5-letter word scores 2 for the letter and 5 for the word. With the letter guide on, gold markers show where the selected piece can write. Turn the guide off to solve the clues without being shown the answer.