Wizard's Chess



Wizard's Chess is the magical variant of the classic board game in which the pieces move of their own accord when commanded by the player. When a piece is taken, it is destroyed by the attacking piece. Players move their pieces by speaking the name of the piece and the square it is to move to by algebraic notation. Aside from the self-moving pieces, the rules of Wizard's Chess are exactly the same as muggle chess. When Harry Potter began learning how to play the game, he used Seamus Finnigan's pieces, which offered him bad advice because they knew that he was not a good player.

During the Christmas feast, in a number of Wizard Crackers, Harry obtained, among other things, his very own Wizard's Chess set. He later broke it in by losing, once again, to Ron. (Although Harry saw this more as the fault of Ron's brother, Percy Weasley, who stood over his shoulder and gave him advice.)

During 1991 a giant Wizard's Chessboard was the third-to-last layer of security for the Philosopher's Stone. Harry played as one of the black bishops, Hermione as a rook, and Ron as a Knight. Using his extensive knowledge of chess, Ronald Weasley managed to get him, Harry, and Hermione Granger across, ultimately sacrificing himself to the White Queen so that Harry could checkmate the King.

People who played Wizard Chess

 * Ronald Weasley
 * Harry Potter
 * Seamus Finnigan
 * Unidentified Chessmasters and Headmasters of Hogwarts
 * Gryffindor Wizard's Chess champion
 * Gryffindor Wizard's Chess champion's friend
 * Slytherin Wizard's Chess champion
 * Slytherin Wizard's Chess champion's friend
 * Ravenclaw Wizard's Chess champion
 * Ravenclaw Wizard's Chess champion's friend
 * Kenny Markham

Behind the scenes

 * The movie depicted chess with the pieces destroying each other (presumably to be fixed with Reparo at the end of the game), but in the books the pieces simply knock each other out and drag captured pieces off the edge of the board.
 * Ron's chess set depicted in the movie is a replica of the 12th century Lewis Chessmen.
 * Gryffindor student Kenny Markham was a Wizard's Chess fan and collected chess pieces.

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)
 * Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4