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Here are a few things to keep in mind when playing "Keeps & Moats Chess" (especially for those new to the game):

Allies & the One-Two Punch: When playing the standard game (Allied Neighbors), notice that the allied players are grouped together. White and Blue are allied and have the first and second turns in each round. Likewise, Black and Red are allied and have the third and fourth turns in each round. This allows allied players to coordinate their moves — providing support for each other and building stronger combination attacks.
Watch Those Pawns: Remember that Pawns can move and capture in all four directions when on the Battlefield. Do not get caught up in the traditional Chess style of moving pieces in behind advancing Pawns — they can slide backwards and make an unexpected capture. This makes the Pawn a very strong defensive piece.
Pawns & Enemy Moats: Once a Pawn moves onto an enemy's Moat, its only moves are those that put it into that enemy's Keep. Therefore, beware of getting a Pawn stuck on the end square of a Moat. Its only legal move from there is a diagonal capture into the Keep — not likely that your enemy will allow that to happen. So, that Pawn becomes trapped in that square of the Moat.
Sliding Pieces & Enemy Moats: Don't forget that sliding pieces have to stop at an enemy's Moat before entering their Keep. You won't be able to slide your Queen out into the middle of the Battlefield and consider it to be threatening an enemy King that is sitting inside his Keep. You'd need to get that Queen onto that enemy's Moat in order to truly threaten that King — a potentially dangerous place to leave her. Defensively, those Moats can come in handy.
Early Trapped Pieces: Be aware that most of your major pieces are trapped into their own Keep at the start of a game. Getting your Pawns out onto the Battlefield will help stop your enemies from easily pinning and capturing your Rooks and Bishops.
Powerful Bishops: Due to the nature of the game board, there tends to be a lot of diagonal movement in the game. This makes the Bishops very powerful pieces — only slightly less powerful than the Queens. Rooks tend to get relegated into support and defensive rolls.
Slow Knights: The game board is pretty big, so it takes Knights a handful of moves to get from one end of the board to the other. Therefore, they tend to get used mostly for defense, support, and long-planned attacks (in which they become expendable).
Don't Forget About Castling: The Castle maneuver between the King and Castle Pawn can be a nice move to protect a threatened King. It may mean that the Castle Pawn gets captured (better that than the King), but whatever piece captures the Castle Pawn will likely be captured on the next turn by the King.

Add Your Own Tips & Hints

If you develop additional tips and hints that you'd like to share with other "Keeps & Moats Chess" players, be sure to post your comments on the Matt Worden Games Message Board.