The Chess Combat Style, or CCS, is a combat style created by the New Dusk Conclave military to deal with a wide-range of opponents and scenarios. Its combat forms and concepts are based around the game of Chess.

In execution, it is a versatile, adaptive style that encourages combat awareness, strategy, and responding to changes on the battlefield.

Introduced in YE 43

Players writing a character using Chess are encouraged to be creative with various traditional Chess terminology. Links to Chess wiki pages are included in the article for this purpose, but very little actual knowledge of Chess is required to write a combat using the Chess combat style.

Feel free to take a look at the Chess Glossary on Wikipedia for inspiration and, most importantly, have fun!

During the New Dusk Conclave's formative years, its nature as a melting pot of many different cultures meant that it had a considerably diverse number of different combat styles. In some ways, this was a strength, but it sometimes made effective combat as part of a group a challenge.

When the faction began to overhaul its synthetic creation process, an opportunity arose to teach a consistent combat style that could take the best parts from the myriad styles available in the NDC and apply them in a way that would improve the overall effectiveness of the nation's soldiers.

A bevy of AIs consulted with the most seasoned martial arts and ranged combat experts available to the NDC. These experts were brought into a virtual environment and run through a series of simulated combat scenarios. Each 'decision' made was weighted based on its effectiveness within the various scenarios and each style's moves were stored for later playback. At the end of the 'training' portion of their research, the AIs had extensive data on the various styles, their strengths, and their weaknesses.

The result of their simulations is a combat style designed to handle opponents of varying strengths and capabilities. Perhaps because of the nature of its AI creators, the style is largely influenced by the game of Chess. It seeks to simplify combat into a set of optimal moves to 'capture' an opponent and move into a progressively more advantageous match up until victory has been secured.

The Chess Combat Style (CCS) takes the concepts of the Chess game and applies them to engagements between one or more individuals. It teaches practitioners to identify each 'piece' in the conflict by the moveset that their equipment and weapons grant them, whether they be a friend or foe. Once all the pieces on the board are identified, the CCS user can then work towards taking out (or capturing) each opponent in as close to a single move as possible.

Combat forms have been created based on each of the pieces within the traditional Chess game centered around effective attack ranges and options. The Pawn form, for example, is well-suited to close quarters combat with or without a weapon. Practitioners of CCS are trained to consider their opponents as operating within the CCS forms, as well, even if they have no experience with it. While an opponent may attack in ways that are not part of CCS, their attack ranges, goals, and so on are well understood from the start of any given fight.

While the primary goal of CCS is to quickly eliminate threats, it has a secondary goal of setting up a future victory by moving into a more advantageous match up and/or moving the opponent/s into more disadvantageous match up. To this extent, Chess Combat Style teaches that, while each 'piece' has its own strengths, there is usually an advantage to quickly transitioning into a stronger 'piece'.

CCS works well when fighting alone or as part of a group. It teaches a wide range of strategies that allow its practitioners to easily coordinate and quickly respond to changing battlefield conditions.

Who uses this thing and how is it used? How should it be used?

The Chess fighting style requires its practitioners to be aware of the changing state of the battlefield and change forms accordingly. It identifies all combatants as a specific 'piece', including the practitioner, and encourages the practitioner to find ways to move into a form that is a more favorable match up.

A close-range combat form based around overtaking a single enemy. Seeks to exploit an enemy's weakpoints through joint locks, jabs at vitals, etc.

The Pawn form is primarily centered around empty handed combat, though many of its moves can leverage a short-bladed weapon such as a dagger with ease.

For when the practitioner is unarmed, the Pawn form has a range of moves aimed at disarming and claiming the opponent's weaponry so that they can transition into a stronger form.

The Knight combat form is centered around near-to-mid range close quarters combat with bladed weaponry. It uses intelligent footwork to avoid damage and maintain an ideal range to strike from.

Much of it is focused around maximizing effectiveness in tight corridors that the other longer-ranged forms are not well suited for. It is the preferred choice for boarding or anti-boarding actions when ranged combat is not available.

An offensive ranged combat form centered around swift movements and excellent positioning. Seeks to place the shooter in a location that is both advantageous and safe.

When in mid-to-long range close quarters combat while wielding a pistol, SMG, or carbine, the Bishop form seeks to maintain the opponent at an ideal range for the practitioner's weapons while minimizing the opponent's combat strength.

The Rook combat form is predominantly defensive in nature, …

A well-rounded combat form designed to quickly put the practitioner into the most advantageous combat range available and then capitalize on it. A very aggressive, risky form, Queen seeks to swiftly disable nearby enemies before switching to a weapon with longer range.

In the event that an enemy draws near while the practitioner is already operating at a long range, the Queen form has a number of techniques that use their ranged weapon, such as a rifle, as part of their close quarters combat moves.

The King form is focused on protecting a given asset …

OR

The King form is the most defensive form in Chess. It uses minimal personal energy while focusing on removing threats from combat through throws, joint breaks, or other disables.

Gambits are sets of opening moves that a combatant, or group of combatants, can take in an effort to set up a future victory in a combat scenario. When fighting solo, the practitioner aims to move from Form to Form within the Gambit on their own, ideally acting at a variety of ranges.

When fighting alongside others, Gambits are a quick way to communicate an entire battle plan. Practitioners are trained on dozens of Gambits that are well-suited to a number of different scenarios. When one member of a unit declares a Gambit, the other members immediately understand their position, next sequence of moves, and the desired outcome that their unit is trying to achieve.

List_of_chess_gambits

In order to effectively move into more advantageous combat forms, it is often necessary to lure an opponent into a disadvantageous state. Feints, distractions, and so on are core parts of the Chess combat style.

List_of_chess_traps

Whisper created this article on 2021/03/11 21:46.

🚧 This article is a work-in-progress. Is it not currently approved.