Match of the Century Review

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When I was 5 years old, I knew exactly where my mom would sit when she got home from Kindergarten: in front the TV watching chess. In 1972, the world stopped to watch Bobby Fischer, an American, take on Boris Spassky, the Soviet Union’s reigning world champion in a chess game that was another front in the Cold War. I had no idea how to play chess (nor did I understand the geopolitical ramifications of the two players’ nationalities) but I loved how intently my mother was watching the PBS recreations of the matches. And now it’s a board game!

“Match of the Century”The game, designed by Paolo Mori and published by Capstone Games takes its inspiration from the famous chess battle between Spassky and Fischer. Instead of playing chess, however, you and your opponent create a Spassky/Fischer duel in a two person tug-of-war that is actually a four-handed trick taker played over six or twelve rounds.

Gameplay Overview

When you take Match of the Century out of the box and begin to set up, people will assume you’re about to play chess. There are a lot wooden chess piece: 2 Kings and one Queen. Also, there are a lot pawns. But in essence, the chess pieces are a head fake—this is a card game. And as a second head fake, while this game looks like it comes from the same DNA as Matthias’ Kramer’s Watergate(also published by Capstone), there are only two similarities: the size of the box, and the setting shared during the Nixon administration.

So, if it’s not chess and it’s not a straightforward tug-of-war like Watergate, what is it?  It’s a two-person trick taker, where the tricks are worth 1, 2, 3, and 4 points and whoever gets more points over four hands wins the round (or if they tie, both win), and whoever wins six rounds first wins the Match… of the Century.

Match of the Century Gameplay
Fischer (Black), has played a 4, which is worth 4 points.  The winner of this hand will lose one point of stamina. This is indicated by the -1 next to an international symbol for migraine.

Game Experience

The rules of Match of the Century is simple. The players fill their hands up to the limit set by their place on an endurance track. This track ebbs as tricks are won and lost. The white player (whoever holds the Queen) begins the round by selecting one of four trick values (1 through 4 points), and playing a card face-up to the space indicated. The other player then responds by playing a card, and the highest player wins. This is the number of points that will determine who wins the 4-trick game.

But there are some wrinkles. The players begin with a small number of pawns, and they can gain more points through card play. They may also add up to two points per trick. A four with two pawns counts as a six. Before the winner of the hand can claim their points, the loser will trigger the bonus that was on the losing cards. This can earn them extra pawns and cards, or help them gain other benefits.

Match of the Century Gameplay
Spassky (White) has played a 1, but if he’d saved the card until next round when he would play as Black, it would be worth 3 points and have a better bonus.

The fact that each card has a black and white value complicates things. When you play as White you use them with the black-side facing up. Each card has one side a pawn, and the other is one of the chess pieces. Each pawn is worth 1 point plus a small bonus. The other half of each card, however, has a value that is different.

The value of a card can be 1 for Black, or 1 for White. But the other color on the backside of the card has values from 2 to 5 plus a 0, and each card has better bonuses.

What about those bonuses? You only receive the card’s bonus if you lose the trick, and they can be very powerful. Here the game may remind you of Peer Sylvester’s Brian Boru, High King of IrelandIn both games, you can choose to win or lose a hand. Sometimes the losing bonus is more beneficial in the long run than the points awarded to a winner.

Match of the Century Champion
The King card, a zero, allows you to concede if you lose your trick. This is useful for long-term strategy reasons.

Whoever wins the trick, leads the next trick. If ever one player has a big enough lead that the lead is insurmountable, the round ends, the winner’s King advances one space, the Queen is swapped and the players turn their cards from white-side-up to the black side or vice versa, and you play another round of four tricks. You play until someone wins or ties 6 rounds. Spassky wins if 6-6 ties are reached.

There are also a few spices added. When you win the trick that is worth four points, your stamina will be reduced, which will reduce the size of your hand, and the number of pawns at the beginning of the new round.

The card bonus can sometimes give the loser of the trick more stamina, or take some from the winner.  Other bonuses allow losers to draw extra cards or gain extra pawns. Even drawing cards is risky, because each time you need a reshuffle to start with a new deck you lose a stamina.

Match of the Century Queens
The match is now tied at 5-5.  Fischer will win if he wins his next game.  Spassky wins if he wins, or forces a tie.

Each player uses a different deck in Match of the Century. A win or loss will have slightly different effects for each player. This is mainly due to the stamina system. However, the deck and stamina tracks asymmetry does not seem to be very significant. You can swap sides and play almost the same way whether you’re the Soviet or the American. It’s more important to know whether you are playing Black or White, as each card is wow on one side but meh on the other.

One of my opponents who is very good at playing all kinds of games was completely confused by the fact each card had a value (and bonus), when playing as Black, and a value (and bonus), when playing as white. It didn’t help to flip the cards so that the text on the unused half was upside down. After he figured out that aspect, he started to plan ahead. He began to think about whether the black card he played this round might be better saved for next round to be used as white. This makes the simple act, of playing a 1, into something of a puzzle. Each 1 has a value or effect that is different on the other side.

Why are there so many chess pieces in the game? As we mentioned earlier, pawns can be used to boost the value of cards by 1 or 2. The Kings are used as a way to keep track of the number of rounds that each player has won. The Queen serves as a reminder to the player who is first (White) in each round. They are fancy record-keepers but they do add a chess-like atmosphere to a card game that is otherwise very cardy.

 Final Thoughts:

I have played Match of the Century a dozen times now, and I still don’t know if I like it or not. It’s extremely clever, but it did not grab me anywhere near as much as those PBS broadcasts of the original Spassky/Fischer match did when I was five. If I had three to five players, I’d play Brian Boru every time. Match of the Century has some of the same feelings, but it’s a 2p game. I would rather play other 2p cards duels. So it’s fine, it’s fun enough, it’s interesting, and it’s unusual. But I am not sure it’s for me.

Final Score: 3 Stars – I think this would be a great addition to your collection if you like 2p trick-takers. I think you should give it a try if the concept sounds interesting.

3 StarsHits:
• Clever dual-valued cards that gain and lose power every other round
• Standard 2p duel dynamics of trying to outguess your opponent
• Nice chunky pieces to confuse onlookers into thinking you’re about to play chess

Misses:
• As a genre, 2p trick taking isn’t nearly as fun as games for 3 or more
• Even smart gamers can be confused by the dual-valued cards

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‘ Credit:
Original content by www.boardgamequest.com – “Match of the Century Review”

Read the complete article at https://www.boardgamequest.com/match-of-the-century-review/

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