Rules
How to play
hexmate is classic chess grown by one player and one axis: three armies share a hexagonal board, and the last king standing wins.
- White — moves first
- Grey — second
- Black — third
The board
The board is a hexagon of 169 hexagonal cells, six cells on each side. Each cell has six neighbours instead of four, which is where every difference from classical chess comes from.
The three armies
White, Grey and Black each command a full set of pieces, seated on alternating sides of the board. Turns rotate: White, Grey, Black, repeat.
How the pieces move
Pieces move as in chess, adapted to the hex grid: rooks slide along the six cell directions, bishops along the six diagonal ones, and the queen combines both. Pawns advance towards the far side and promote on the last cell of their file.
The goal
Capture both rival kings to win the game. When a king is threatened, its owner must answer the check as usual — the third player is never obliged to help. Games can also end in a draw by agreement or repetition.
Clocks and ratings
Games are played with a chess clock in blitz or rapid pools. Rated games feed a separate Elo rating per pool; unrated casual games change nothing.