Overview

All The King’s Men (also known as “Smess: The Ninny’s Chess”) is an abstract strategy board game for two players published by Parker Brothers. It is a chess variant where movement direction is dictated by arrows printed on each board space rather than by piece type alone. Players attempt to capture the opponent’s King by maneuvering their pieces along the directional arrows on the board.

Components

• Game board with arrow markings on each space
• 2 Kings (one per player)
• 8 Knights (four per player)
• 8 Archers (four per player)

Setup

1. Each player takes pieces of one color.
2. Place the King in the center space of the back row.
3. Place 2 Knights on each side of the King in the back row (4 Knights total, touching one another).
4. Place all 4 Archers in the second row.
5. Players decide who goes first.

Turn Structure

Players alternate turns. On each turn, a player moves exactly one of their pieces.

Actions

Movement Rules

All movement must follow the directional arrows printed on the starting space of the piece being moved. A piece may only move in the direction of one of the arrows on its current space.

King: Moves exactly one space in the direction of one of the arrows on its current space.

Archers: Move exactly one space in the direction of one of the arrows on their current space (same movement as the King).

Knights: Move any number of spaces in the direction of one of the arrows on their starting space, continuing in that direction until blocked. Knights cannot move through occupied spaces.

Capturing

When a player moves their piece onto a space occupied by an opponent’s piece, the opponent’s piece is captured and removed from the board. Any piece may capture any opposing piece.

Threat Declaration

When a player positions a piece to capture the opponent’s King on the next turn, they must announce “Threat” (analogous to “Check” in chess). The threatened player must then respond by:

• Moving their King to a safe space
• Blocking the attacking piece’s path
• Capturing the threatening piece

If no valid defensive move exists, the King is captured on the following turn and the attacking player wins.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

The game is won by capturing the opponent’s King. If a player announces “Threat” and the opponent cannot escape, block, or capture the threatening piece, the King is captured and the game ends.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• Arrows on each space are fixed and determine all possible movement directions from that space.
• Knights are the most powerful pieces because they can move multiple spaces.
• The board’s arrow pattern creates asymmetric movement possibilities, making positional awareness critical.
• Pieces cannot jump over other pieces.
• Originally published as “Smess: The Ninny’s Chess” by Parker Brothers in 1970, later rebranded as “All The King’s Men.”

Player Reference

Turn: Move 1 piece following arrows on its starting space

Piece Movement: King/Archers = 1 space; Knights = any number of spaces (in one arrow direction)

Win Condition: Capture the opponent’s King

Key Rule: Movement direction is determined by the arrows on the space the piece starts from, not the destination.