codex · nerf
No Free Lunch
No even trades: you can't capture a piece worth exactly as much as the piece making the capture.
At a glance
- Type
- Nerf
- Tier
- III. CommonCommon: the everyday middle of the draft.
- Focus
- King, Capturing
- Collection
- Core
- Appears in
- Nerf mode
- How it works
- Passive and secret: it is always on, and your opponent cannot see it.
How it works
No Free Lunchis one of Nerf Chess's secret handicaps. In Nerf mode you choose one of two nerfs before the first move, in secret, and carry it for the whole game.
The board quietly enforces it: any move it forbids is simply never offered, so you cannot break it by accident. Your opponent never sees which nerf you took until the game ends, so every move you make is also a clue they are trying to read.
“An even swap is no bargain.”
History
- July 5, 2026Added in the expanded-nerfs wave: 82 new handicaps across all eight tiers. (PR #144)
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