Loophole · a chess curio

An antique chess box, a clockwork automaton, and a board whose physics is bigger than the rulebook. Nobody tells you the loopholes: jump a knight onto the felt beside the board, drop captured pieces back as your own, peg a knight onto a rook, bank a bishop off a mirror, switch off the lamp so the automaton plays blind. Every loophole you find becomes a tool you keep. 30 games in five drawers against six automaton personalities, a ledger of 25 secrets, and real chess underneath.