Memory Chess guide: remember colors and positions

01Match the dice, then keep or return the peg

Roll the dice and wait for the target color before selecting a covered peg. A match is collected; a miss reveals its color and then covers it again in the same position. In Classic against the computer or a local player, a match keeps your turn and a miss passes it. Collect more pegs than your opponent; equal totals can tie.

Easy has 12 pegs in three colors, Classic difficulty has 24 in six, and Expert has 36 in six. These are board sizes, separate from the game mode. Black is an ordinary color on the six-color board, not a bonus peg. There are no chess-piece moves, captures or checkmate rules.

02Learn the board in small regions

Click or tap Roll, then click or tap one available peg. For keyboard play, use Tab to reach the controls, Enter or Space to activate a button, and arrow keys to move between pegs when choosing. Color-assist symbols offer an additional way to distinguish the colors.

Divide the circular board into inner and outer rings and use clock positions as landmarks. Remember a compact phrase such as 'outer ring, two o'clock, blue.' Start with two or three known positions rather than trying to memorize the entire board. Only the early Challenge levels offer a timed preview; ordinary Classic starts with covered pegs.

03A missed red target can become a future blue match

Suppose a red roll makes you uncover blue at position A. Let it return and keep A in your mental map. If a later roll asks for blue, choose A instead of testing a new peg. If red returns first and you have no known red peg, explore an unknown position rather than the known blue one.

Update your map after every collection: a collected peg is no longer a choice. Observe the other player's misses too; both players see the reveal. Do not assume the next dice roll will repeat a color, and do not keep choosing a familiar position after its peg has been removed.

04Change priorities with the goal

Classic rewards collecting the board accurately. In Rainbow's different-colors goal, Easy needs three colors and the larger boards need six; colors already collected are excluded from later targets. The alternative four-of-a-color goal ends when one color reaches four. Time Rush lasts 75 seconds: use known matches quickly, but avoid rushed random clicks that lose your streak.

The 12 Challenges change board size, preview time and collection goals. Read the goal before starting. Every third consecutive match earns a color-choice opportunity; choose a target with a position you actually remember when two colors are offered. A miss breaks the streak. Repeatedly reopening a known wrong peg wastes information in every mode.

Questions while playing