Overview: 
Estimated achievement difficulty: 8/10 (skill based for some achievements)
Offline: 865 
Online: 135 
Approximate time: 35-45 Hours 
Minimum number of playthroughs needed: 1 playthrough of each campaign and puzzle set, and multiple individual games
Missable achievements: No 
Does difficulty affect Achievements: Yes (only for Fritz Killer)
Unobtainable/glitched Achievements: Maximalist has been known to not unlock if the last achievement you unlock is Explorer. This has theoretically been patched on the Xbox 360 version of the game, but I have been unable to find confirmation that the patch was successful in resolving this glitched achievement. The PC version has had no patches released. Explorer is also somewhat glitchy as it can unlock after repeating a map type you have previously beaten. 
Is there DLC? No
Extra equipment needed (Xbox 360 version): No


Overview

Battle vs Chess is an animated combat chess game, with two campaigns, a wide variety of scenarios and classic chess puzzles included, and an online multiplayer largely devoid of players. The boards and players can be hard to distinguish at times due to the lighting effects, although that can be avoided by reverting to classic, non-animated pieces. The game is a reasonably easy 700-800 points, but to get the full 1,000 (or 2,000 if you stack the Xbox and GFWL versions) will take some definite talent and a little bit of luck.

Many of the achievements can be obtained either in single player or LIVE multiplayer games. However, achievements are generally disabled in same-console/PC multiplayer. To avoid any possible glitch with Maximalist, ensure that you do not leave Explorer for last.

Note also that almost every achievement description changes after you unlock it (and yes, typos are rampant among the official descriptions).

Single Player

Most of the achievements can be earned against the AI on difficulty of 0. Note that the AI is not very good on that level, but if you have never played chess before it will still likely clean your clock. You can undo moves without penalty when playing Skirmish, all the way back to the start of the game, which will help if you let the AI get the best of you at times.

Skirmish - Classic games are standard rules, starting from normal starting positions, and that is where most of the achievements will unlock. Battleground games require you to complete combat events any time a piece would normally be captured, and are broken into Duel (quick time events) and Slasher (action combat) modes. There are also puzzles and challenges, most of which are pretty straight forward. If they have a unique solution, it is provided in the guide. If not, feel free to use a chess simulator online to help you find the best moves.

There also are 30 campaign missions, 15 on the side of Order and 15 on the side of Chaos. Note that both Undo and Hint are disabled during the campaign missions. Due to the incorporation of special rules, chess engines are of limited use in the campaign, and getting the gold medals is what bumps this up to an 8/10 difficulty.

Some achievements (such as Catcher) will be much easier to obtain online with a partner, but can be earned against the AI.

Multiplayer

The only achievements that absolutely require multiplayer are Rising Star, Overmind, and Grand Master for a total of 135 . Technically, you can't get Maximalist without online either since it requires all other achievements to be earned, but I have included that in the single player count.

For boosting online, the fastest game possible in chess is detailed below. Note that in ranked multiplayer you do not get to choose white or black. I recommend Classic or Double games for the fastest wins.

When winning as black:
f2f3, e7d5
g2g4, d8h4
checkmate

When winning as white:
e2e4, f7f6
a2a4, g7g5
d1h5
checkmate

[x360a would like to thank Creech for this Roadmap]

Battle vs. Chess Achievement Guide

Printable Guide
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There are 36 achievements with a total of 1000 points

  • Win online game against the player with a higher rating

    Everyone starts with an ELO of 1000, so if you are playing with a boosting partner, you can get Rising Star and Overmind when going towards Grand Master. These must be done in ranked games.

    The first person will beat the second person repeatedly until they have an ELO of 1200, unlocking Overmind and Grand Master. The second person will then start winning, unlocking Rising Star, and continuing to win until they have unlocked Overmind and Grand Master. The first player then will need to win one game, unlocking Rising Star.

    Note that while the other online achievements can be unlocked in any game type, Rising Star can only be earned in a Classic game.

  • Win a game in less that 5 minutes

    This must be a Classic game, but can be against the AI or a human. To win against the AI, set the difficulty to zero, change the placement to Madness, and play as white. Change the settings to use non-animated figures. Be aggressive, but feel free to restart if you get a bad set up. It is quite possible to win a Classic Madness game in 3-4 moves. You can use the Undo feature if you make a mistake.

    To win against a boosting partner, use the five-move game detailed in the road map, but make sure you are playing Classic.

  • Win a game, having 2 pieces less than the opponent

    This is easiest against a boosting partner online. Let them capture most of your pawns and then paint themselves into a corner and lose. It can be earned against the AI, but this is a hard one to use a simulator online for since those often focus on winning via attrition. If you try this with normal game play, I would suggest focus on getting the enemy king pinned in a corner and then deliberately sacrifice pieces until you have 2 fewer than he does. At that point, checkmate the king and the achievement will unlock.

  • Capture all enemy pieces and then checkmate the king

     

    This is easy to do on classic with an AI of difficulty 0. Simply capture all their pieces and then checkmate the king. The one point of caution is to ensure that you do not checkmate the king early as you will have to start over. AnnihilatorPersecutor and Reckless are good achievements to get at the same time.

  • Win a game in less that 30 moves

    The easiest way to obtain this is online with a partner, using the game shown in the road map. Against the AI, play on Classic with a Madness unit placement against a difficulty level 0 opponent. Many madness games can be won or lost in less than 10 moves since the kings are not generally well protected. Note also that when the achievement pops, it actually says you must in in 15, although the description online still says 30. I won in 8, so I can't verify if more than 15 but less than 30 will actually unlock the achievement. You can use the undo feature without voiding the achievement, but the TOTAL number of moves, including those undone, count toward the total displayed on the victory screen.

  • Capture a pawn 'En passant'

    The easiest way to obtain this is online with a partner, using the game shown in the road map. Against the AI, play on Classic with a Madness unit placement against a difficulty level 0 opponent. Many madness games can be won or lost in less than 10 moves since the kings are not generally well protected. Note also that when the achievement pops, it actually says you must in in 15, although the description online still says 30. I won in 8, so I can't verify if more than 15 but less than 30 will actually unlock the achievement. You can use the undo feature without voiding the achievement, but the TOTAL number of moves, including those undone, count toward the total displayed on the victory screen.

  • Move a King to the opposite side of the board

     

    This is easy to do on classic with an AI of difficulty 0. Simply capture most of their pieces and then move your king to the far side of the board. AnnihilatorPersecutor and Reckless are good achievements to get at the same time.

  • Promote a pawn into all major pieces

     

    When a pawn reaches the far side of the board, you promote it to either a knight, bishop, rook, or queen. The first time you have an opportunity to do this, you can use the Undo feature to get both Promoter and God's Beloved simply by choosing each option and then undoing the move.

  • Make a check by Castling

    This has to be done in Classic mode, but can be against the AI or a human opponent. You need to clear out a lane to the far side in the file (column) next to your king, all without moving your king or the rook on that side of the board. Be aggressive against the enemy king, herding him into that lane, and then castle, putting the enemy king in check. The achievement unlocks immediately.

  • Complete 5 order mission

    In the campaign feature on the main menu, you have a choice of playing either Order or Chaos missions. This achievement unlocks after completing the fifth Order mission. See Perfectionist for details.

  • Complete 10 order mission

    In the campaign feature on the main menu, you have a choice of playing either Order or Chaos missions. This achievement unlocks after completing the tenth Order mission. See Perfectionist for details.

  • Win a classic chess game by checkmate

     

    This should be the first achievement you earn. It can be unlocked in SP or MP, and merely requires you to win by checkmating your opponent. If you are playing against the AI, set their difficulty to zero. You can use a chess program on your computer to determine your moves for you. Simply play as white in Battle vs Chess and as black in the chess program, mirroring the AI's moves from each program in the other.

  • Get stalemated

    A stalemate is when you are not in check, but have no legal moves. The easiest way to do this is online with a partner, but it can be done against the AI as well. Either way, you want to eliminate the enemies pieces except for their king and a pawn. Position your king in the last rank before the enemy pawn would be promoted, blocking his movement. Sacrifice your remaining pieces, keeping only two rooks and/or queens. Use your remaining pieces to shepherd the enemy king toward his pawn, and then sacrifice them such that your last piece is captured in the sixth rank, directly behind the pawn. The three last pieces on the board should all be in a column, with your king unable to move and thus ending the game in a stalemate.

  • Hero

     

    15

    Complete 15 order mission

    In the campaign feature on the main menu, you have a choice of playing either Order or Chaos missions. This achievement unlocks after completing the fifteenth Order mission. See Perfectionist for details.

  • Complete 15 chaos mission

    In the campaign feature on the main menu, you have a choice of playing either Order or Chaos missions. This achievement unlocks after completing the fifteenth Chaos mission. See Perfectionist for details.

  • Slayer

     

    15

    Capture 100 pieces

     

    You will earn this merely by playing the game. It must be done against the AI and cannot be earned in multiplayer. Every time you capture a piece it counts toward this achievement.

  • Imp

     

    15

    Complete 5 chaos mission

    In the campaign feature on the main menu, you have a choice of playing either Order or Chaos missions. This achievement unlocks after completing the fifth Chaos mission. See Perfectionist for details.

  • Demon

     

    15

    Complete 10 chaos mission

    In the campaign feature on the main menu, you have a choice of playing either Order or Chaos missions. This achievement unlocks after completing the tenth Chaos mission. See Perfectionist for details.

  • Win 20 games online

    Everyone starts with an ELO of 1000, so if you are playing with a boosting partner, you can get Rising Star and Overmind when going towards Grand Master. This achievement does not have to be ranked games, but since both Rising Star and Grand Master do require ranked, might as well do them all together.

    The first person will beat the second person repeatedly until they have an ELO of 1200, unlocking Overmind and Grand Master. The second person will then start winning, unlocking Rising Star, and continuing to win until they have unlocked Overmind and Grand Master. The first player then will need to win one game, unlocking Rising Star.

  • Make 1000 turns

     

    This will come when obtaining the other achievements. Basically every turn played in every mode counts toward the 1000 turns needed.

  • Victor

     

    30

    Get bronze medal in all missions

    See Perfectionist for details.

  • Get silver medal in all missions

    See Perfectionist for details.

  • Take gold in all missions

    You must earn a gold rating in all campaign missions (15 Order and 15 Chaos). Note that you can win by checkmating the opposing king even if that is not stated as the objective. A chess simulator can be used to help in many of the missions. While playing the campaign missions, both the undo and hint features are disabled.

    Each mission is listed below with victory conditions, any special rules, and how many turns for a gold medal. I then have a link to YouTube videos from Xboxitude beating each misison with a gold medal. The videos are generally good for high level advice, but because the AI does not make the same move every time, skill will significantly reduce the number of replays you have to do. The audio on most of the videos is at such a low level that it is unintelligible, but if you are stuck then they can definitely be good for some general advice.

    Order Missions:

    1. Heresy - Kill all pawns to win (Gold: win in 17 turns)

     

    2. Apostate Day - Checkmate to win (Gold: win in 16 turns)

     

    3. Winged Hope - Promote any pawn to a queen (Gold: win in 25 turns)

     

    4. Soulbringer - Checkmate to win (Gold: win in 30 turns)

     

    5. Desperate Measures - Checkmate to win (Gold: win in 25 turns)

     

    6. Moment of Truth - Checkmate to win (Gold: win in 30 turns)

     

    7. Gilead - Checkmate to win in 2 minutes (Gold: win in 11 turns)

     

    8. Rage - Checkmate to win, you must capture a piece if the opportunity arises (Gold: win in 30 turns)

     

    9. Greed - Checkmate to win without first placing enemy in check (Gold: win in 25 turns)

     

    10. Battle of Wits - Checkmate to win, cannot capture enemy pieces (Gold: win in 25 turns)

     

    11. Weakness - Checkmate to win, if put in check you lose (Gold: win in 37 turns)

     

    12. Fog of War - Checkmate to win (Gold: win in 25 turns)

     

    13. Smite Thy Foe - Checkmate with your bishop to win (Gold: win in 40 turns)

     

    14. Enemy Territory - Checkmate to win, traps kill instantly (Gold: win in 30 turns)

     

    15. Heart of Darkness - Checkmate to win, fog of war (Gold: win in 20 turns)

     

    Chaos Missions:

    1. Breatkthrough - Checkmate to win (Gold: win in 24 turns)

     

    2. Counterattack - Checkmate to win (Gold: win in 15 turns)

     

    3. Strategic Retreat - Checkmate in 10 turns to win (Gold: win in 8 turns)

     

    4. Point of No Return - Checkmate to win, mines (Gold: win in 10 turns)

     

    5. Twist of Fate - Checkmate to win, pieces respawn (Gold: win in 15 turns)

     

    6. Shadows of the Past - Checkmate to win, pieces transform (Gold: win in 30 turns)

     

    7. Atonement - Check the enemy king 3 times to win (Gold: win in 11 turns)

     

    8. Chaos - Checkmate to win, capturing transforms (Gold: win in 34 turns)

     

    9. Resurrection - Checkmate to win, enemy resurrection (Gold: win in 25 turns)

     

    10. Shock and Awe - Checkmate to win, must capture all enemy pieces before winning (Gold: win in 45 turns)

     

    11. Blitzkrieg - Checkmate to win, any piece that captures may move again to an unoccupied space (Gold: win in 22 turns)

     

    12. Brotherly Blood - Checkmate to win, your pieces that capture switch sides (Gold: win in 30 turns)

     

    13. Divine Intervention - Checkmate to win, your pieces respawn (Gold: win in 35 turns)

     

    14. Dark Presence - Checkmate to win, choose your starting positions (Gold: win in 5 turns)

     

    15. Ladder to Heaven - Checkmate to win (Gold: win in 50 turns)

  • Win an AI opponent with the difficulty of 6 in a classic chess match

    Start a classic chess match with the opponent set to a difficulty of 6. If you are good at chess, play as white with a Ruy Lopez opening or as black with a Sicilian Defense.

    If you prefer to have another AI figure out your moves for you, you can use a chess program online. In the game, choose to play as black, and in the online program choose to play as white against their highest difficulty. When the difficulty 6 AI plays a move, mirror that move in the online simulator and then copy what their response is as your move in the game. This will generate a win approximately 50% of the time, which is far better than never winning if your skills are not at this level.

  • Get all achievements

    This achievement will unlock after every other achievement unlocks. Note that if the last achievement you earn is Explorer, this has been reported to become unachievable. There has been a patch released, but it may or may not have actually fixed the issue. To avoid any potential issues, earn Explorer early on.

  • Achieve online rating 1200

    Everyone starts with an ELO of 1000, so if you are playing with a boosting partner, you can get Rising Star and Overmind when going towards Grand Master. These must be done in ranked games.

    The first person will beat the second person repeatedly until they have an ELO of 1200, unlocking Overmind and Grand Master. The second person will then start winning, unlocking Rising Star, and continuing to win until they have unlocked Overmind and Grand Master. The first player then will need to win one game, unlocking Rising Star.

  • Complete all challenges, puzzles and missions

    To complete all challenges, you need to complete all 20 levels of Treasure Hunt (see Gambler for details).

    To complete all puzzles, you must complete at least one level of both of the One-Timers, and the complete all Standard Puzzles and all Hard Puzzles. See Sage for details.

    To complete all missions, you must beat all 15 Order and Campaign missions. See Perfectionist for details (although you do not need to get gold in all of them for Renaissance Man).

  • Win one game in each of the game modes

    Game modes that are required for this achievement are listed below. This can be done completely via single player game types against the AI. However, it CAN unlock in MP as well. Note the cautionary statement in the description for Maximalist as well. This achievement is a little glitchy and unlocks at different times for different people.

    The game modes are Skirmish, Duel, Slasher, Menace, Execution, Order, and Chaos. Duel and Slasher are found in the Battlegrounds menu, Menace and Execution are found in the Minigames menu, and Order and Chaos are found in the Campaign menu. The Tutorial is technically a game type as well, but I was unable to determine definitively if it counted.

    Skirmish, Duel, and Slasher all have 6 variants for placing pieces: Classic, Tactical, Random, Madness, Recruit, and Madness Recruit. If Explorer doesn't unlock from your normal games, cycle through the various placements until it does. Note that most people do not need to do this, but a certain portion have documented that in particular Skirmish (Tactical) and Skirmish (Random) have unlocked Explorer for them. It also can unlock online, so you can try that as well, including toggling Fog of War on or off.

  • Capture 5 pieces with one piece in one game

     

    This must be done in Classic mode, but can be against the AI or a human opponent. If playing against the AI, choose difficulty 0 and be aggressive with your queen. If you make a mistake and the AI captures your queen, use the Undo feature to fix your error. The achievement unlocks once you have captured your fifth piece.

  • Make check 10 times in one game

     

    This is easy to do on classic with an AI of difficulty 0. Simply capture most of their pieces and then place their king in check repeatedly until the achievement pops. Make sure you always leave him an out however or the game will end and you will have to start over. AnnihilatorPersecutor and Reckless are good achievements to get at the same time.

  • Make check by 5 different pieces in one game

    This has to be done against the AI. The easiest way to do this is to play against a difficulty 0 AI and capture most of his pieces. At that point, use five different pieces to put his king in check and the achievement will pop. Note that this does not have to be done with five different types of pieces, you could in theory do it with five rooks (assuming you promoted three pawns to rooks and as such HAD five rooks).

  • Promote 3 pawns in one game

     

    When a pawn reaches the far side of the board, you promote it to either a knight, bishop, rook, or queen. The first time you have an opportunity to do this, you can use the Undo feature to get both Promoter and God's Beloved simply by choosing each option and then undoing the move.

  • Make checkmate by all pieces

     

    This achievement has to be unlocked versus the AI and cannot be earned in MP. Start a classic game against an AI of difficulty 0. Capture the majority of their pieces and then checkmate the king. Your final move is what counts for this achievement. The piece that places the enemy king into checkmate needs to be varied such that you win one game with each piece as the finisher. Your king cannot place the enemy into check, so it is the remaining five types (pawn, knight, bishop, rook, and queen) that must be used. As such, it takes a minimum of five games to earn this achievement.

  • Play 100 games

     

    Simply play 100 games of any type either against the AI or LIVE multiplayer (local head to head does not count). You can start a game, make one move and then resign, although you will likely play more than 100 games to earn all the other achievements.

  • Complete 20 levels of the Mana Gathering challenge

    You need to complete levels 1-20 of the Treasure Hunt challenge. These are point based challenges where you earn points based on combos. There are gems randomly placed on the board, and in each challenge you have a different set of chess pieces. You need to move your pieces such that they are attacking multiple gems of the same color at once. You earn more points when capturing more than 2 gems at once, and also if you can capture multiple colors at once (such as 2 green gems AND 2 red gems in the same move).

    They are random, but you have unlimited tries. Focus on maximum gem combos and you shouldn't have any particular problems. Levels 17-20 are significantly more complex, but quite doable with a little patience. Look at every possible move before playing each turn, and calculate how many gems you will be able to get. If you select one of your pieces, every possible move is highlighted for you, which makes this much easier.

  • Sage

     

    30

    Complete all puzzles

     

    To complete all puzzles, you must complete at least one level of both of the One-Timers, and the complete all Standard Puzzles and all Hard Puzzles.

    One-Timers are broken down into Execution and Menace. For Execution, you need to find the one piece you can capture safely. You only need to successfully do one board, and then wait for time to run out. For Menace, you have to find the move that will let you checkmate the black king in one turn. As with Execution, you only need to clear one board and then wait for time to expire.

    There are nine standard puzzles, and to beat them you must win in a specified number of turns. Videos for all of them can be found on YouTube if you need assistance, or you can use a chess simulator as well. They are generally restricted piece puzzles that can be found discussed on chess forums or even on wikipedia.

    • Rook and King - Win in 15 turns
    • Rook and King II - Win in 13 turns
    • Queen and King - Win in 10 turns
    • Queen and King II - Win in 10 turns
    • Queen and Rook - Win in 5 turns
    • Queen and Rook II - Win in 6 turns
    • Bishops and King - Win in 18 turns
    • Knight and Bishop - Win in 40 turns
    • Master Puzzle - Win in 30 turns

    Hard Puzzles:
    The hard puzzles are all classic chess puzzles generally considered to have a unique solution. The challenge is to checkmate in 2 moves (or 3 for Puzzle 1). Despite being listed as "hard" puzzles, because of the limited moves available they are actually easier than the Standard puzzles.

    • Puzzle 1 - f7d6, d3c5, c2e4
    • Puzzle 2 - g4c8, h1a8
    • Puzzle 3 - f6h8, h7f5
    • Puzzle 4 - a2b1, c2f5
    • Puzzle 5 - h4a4, a8c6
    • Puzzle 6 - d4d1, b5e2
    • Puzzle 7 - g4h3, h3f1
    • Puzzle 8 - g3g4, d7e7
    • Puzzle 9 - f1h3, h3d7
    • Puzzle 10 - h2h5, h5f3
    • Puzzle 11 - a6a3, a3c5
    • Puzzle 12 - h2h6, g6g7

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