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1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/starwarschess.png]]
2%%[[caption-width-right:350:some caption text]]
3
4[[center:[[AC:It is a time of great competition\
5in the Galaxy. An uneasy state of\
6peace has been established\
7between the weakened forces of\
8the Galactic Empire and the\
9growing Rebel Alliance.\
10\
11During this uncertain period of\
12truce, the old adversaries settle\
13their differences through the\
14ancient, eternal game of CHESS.\
15\
16With their greatest heroes as\
17champions, the Empire and the\
18Rebel Alliance fight battles of\
19the mind.\
20\
21It is a new kind of warfare. One\
22that will decide the fate of\
23planets, civilizations and the\
24future...]]]]
25
26''Star Wars Chess'' is an adaptation of TabletopGame/{{Chess}} based on ''Franchise/StarWars'', released for the MS-DOS, Sega CD, and Windows 3.x in 1993 by The Software Toolworks.
27
28The game is very similar to ''VideoGame/BattleChess'', in that it takes an ordinary chess program and spices it up with animated pieces and battle animations whenever a piece is captured. However, naturally, the pieces are all represented by different characters from the original ''Star Wars'' trilogy.
29
30----
31!!''Star Wars Chess'' includes examples of:
32* AdaptationalBadass: R2-D2. While he's a NonActionGuy in the movies, in this game, he can go toe-to-toe with the villainous members of the Empire and win, and some of the battle sequences where he wins are surprisingly brutal.
33* AdaptationalJerkass: Jedi Master Yoda uses the Force to make a Stormtrooper shoot themself rather than say, deflect their firepower.
34* AdaptationalWimp: Zigzagged with Luke and the Emperor. While the battle sequences involving both depict them as being just as powerful as would be expected from them, during gameplay, they are used to represent the King and are therefore not particularly useful for capturing other pieces.
35* AnachronismStew: ''A New Hope'' farmboy Luke wields his green lightsaber from ''Return of the Jedi''.
36* AnArmAndALeg: Many animations involving C-3PO have him losing limbs. This can happen regardless of whether or not he's on the winning side.
37** When he captures a Stormtrooper, his hand gets shot off before he wins.
38** When he captures Darth Vader, His whole arm gets cut off by Vader's lightsaber. He then proceeds to pick up his arm, clash it with the lightsaber, and somehow deactivate it, allowing him to club Vader with his arm.
39** If Vader is on the winning side, however, 3PO isn't quite so lucky. That's right, [[Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail 'tis but a scratch.]]
40* ArtisticLicenseChess: When you promote a pawn it automatically promotes to a queen - you do not get the standard choice of queen, rook, knight or bishop.
41* BulletCatch: Yoda does this with the blasters of an AT-ST.
42* ButtMonkey: C-3PO. Not only does he get most of the more humiliating defeats when he's captured, but even the battles where he wins have him bumbling his way to victory, and getting hurt a lot in the process.
43* CaneFu: Yoda uses this in place of a lightsaber.
44* CatchAndReturn: How Yoda defeats the Emperor.
45* FamilyUnfriendlyDeath: The battle animations include characters getting electrocuted, set on fire, shot in the heart, beaten to death, graphically exploding, or having limbs torn off.
46* HoistByHisOwnPetard: If R2-D2 captures Darth Vader, he defeats him by stealing Vader's lightsaber out of his hands, and turning it on him.
47* IdiosyncraticDifficultyLevels: The difficulty levels for the AI players are represented by portraits of the various characters in the game. From easiest to hardest, we have Chewbacca, C-3PO, Yoda, and Luke for the Rebel side, and a Stormtrooper, Boba Fett, Darth Vader, and the Emperor for the Empire side.
48* ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy: [[TropeNamer Naturally]], most of the Stormtrooper's losing animations have them take shots at the Rebels and miss.
49* InCaseYouForgotWhoWroteIt: Most versions of the game present ''The Software Toolworks' Star Wars Chess'' on the title screen and packaging, with the company name in the same font and size as the rest of the title.
50* ManOnFire: If Yoda captures Boba Fett, he forces poor Boba's jetpack to malfunction, setting the bounty hunter aflame until he crashes spectacularly.
51* MesACrowd: This is how Yoda defeats Darth Vader.
52* MultipleEndings: There are two, depending on which side wins the game.
53** If the Rebels win, you get a scene of the Death Star exploding.
54** If the Empire wins, you get a more ominous ending depicting the Death Star surrounded by TIE Fighters, as Darth Vader says "Now you know the power of the dark side."
55* NoBodyLeftBehind: All Force users, from Yoda to Luke to Vader to the Emperor, generally "become one with the Force" when they are defeated.
56* NoSell: The Emperor's force lightning falls victim to this in all his defeat animations; some are more believable than others.
57* OffWithHisHead: A few of the battle animations have this.
58** When Luke captures a Tusken Raider, Luke cuts the Raider's head off with his lightsaber. The body then subsequently gets pulled into a spontaneously appearing Sarlacc pit.
59** If Boba Fett captures C-3PO, he backhands 3-PO in the face, causing his head to come unscrewed.
60* OpeningScroll: The game starts with one, in typical ''Star Wars'' fashion.
61* PlayingWithFire: Some of Boba Fett's winning animations have him use his jet pack as a flamethrower.
62* ReducedToDust: Befalls a Tusken Raider who is electrocuted by R2-D2 and Chewbacca both by Boba Fett's flamethrower and the Emperor's force lightning.
63* RingOut:
64** Chewbacca defeats the Emperor by throwing him off the board.
65** Yoda also uses the Force to throw the Tusken Raider out of the board as well.
66* ShockAndAwe:
67** The Emperor uses Force lightning in all of the battle animations featuring him.
68** If R2-D2 captures a Tusken Raider, he takes hold of the Raider's weapon and electrocutes it, absolutely ''frying'' them.
69* TheCameo: Han Solo appears frozen in carbonite in the background of the computer versions. The Sega CD version omits this.
70* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: Downplayed. Luke beheads a Tusken Raider, whilst he gives a Stormtrooper a comparatively tame slash to the torso.
71* YourHeadAsplode: When Yoda captures a Stormtrooper, he uses a JediMindTrick to force the Stormtrooper to shoot themselves in the face, blowing their head clean off.
72* YourSizeMayVary: To fit to scale with the other characters, the AT-ST walkers are drastically shrunk down to being the same size as the other characters.

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