Editing Knightmare Chess (section)

==Overview==
[[Image:Knightmare Chess Demotion.jpg|thumb|upright|The card called ''Demotion''.]]
''Knightmare Chess'' is played with cards that change the default [[rules of chess]]. The cards might change how a [[chess piece|piece]] moves, move opponent's pieces, create special squares on the [[chessboard|board]] or otherwise alter the game. For example, a card called [[Demotion]] says:

:Replace one of your opponent's pieces (except a King or Queen) with one of his captured Pawns.
:''Play this card on your turn, instead of making a regular move.''

There are two sets of cards sold separately, each consisting of 80 cards. The sets are known as ''Knightmare Chess 1'' <ref>{{cite book | isbn=1-55634-332-9 | title=Knightmare Chess: The Original Game of Chaos on the Chessboard | last1=Jackson | first1=Steve | date=April 1996 | publisher=Steve Jackson Games, Incorporated }}</ref> and ''Knightmare Chess 2'';<ref>{{cite book | isbn=1-55634-348-5 | title=Knightmare Chess: More Chaos on the Chessboard | last1=Jackson | first1=Steve | date=February 1997 | publisher=Steve Jackson Games, Incorporated }}</ref> a single 160 card deck can be created by shuffling both [[deck (cards)|deck]]s together. SJG also sells blank cards, that can be customized by the player, in packs of 20.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.sjgames.com/knightmare/ |title=Knightmare Chess! |access-date=2007-03-31}}</ref>

The graphics in the English version of the ''Knightmare Chess'' cards are dark fantasy style, [[nightmare|nightmarish]] (hence the pun ''Knightmare'') color paintings by [[Brazil]]ian artist Rogerio Vilela. The French original version had a cartoonish tone, unlike the English version, and the cards in the French original version are also different from the English version.

Another innovation of the American version is to include rules for "dueling deck" play, where each player has their own customized deck, possibly built from multiple copies of the set if desired. In SJG's version, each card is marked with a point cost. The total chaotic power of one's personal deck can be measured in the sum of the points of all cards in the deck. For a balanced game each player uses the same point total, or a stronger player can use a lower point total as a handicap. Cards which are too powerful to appear more than once per side are marked with an [[asterisk]], indicating that a player can only put one copy of that specific card in their deck.