Anarchess takes place in the land of Chess long before the enemy White and Black kingdoms were formed. Back when the land was not ruled by kings and queens, neither structured armies with bishops, knights and rooks existed. The world was unexplored and amorphous and it had not been squeezed yet into the rigid cast of the contemporary chessboard. There were just 2 proud tribes constantly struggling to expand their territories to ensure survival in a barren and harsh land. And those who today we (somewhat degradingly) call "pawns," were free entities with dreams, fears and hopes who defined their own destiny.
The game is played with 32 light- (‘white’) and 32 dark-colored (‘black’) square tiles and 8 light- (‘white’) and 8 dark-colored (‘black’) pawns.
Update: Anarchess has now been playtested and confirmed to also be highly playable and fun with 3 and 4 players. In a 3-player game each player gets 6 pawns, while in a 4-player game each player gets 5 pawns.
It takes just 5-10 minutes to learn how to play. A game lasts about 30-60 minutes.
On a turn, a player can perform 2 actions:
A. Tile Placement
B. (Optional) Pawn Action (placing a new pawn, moving or attacking)
The game ends after a player places the last available tile. Players earn points by controlling areas (i.e., having the most pawns in them) comprising two or more tiles. The player with the most points wins.
—description from the designer