In the Wyrmway, before being able to recruit the dragon Ansur to their fight against the Absolute, Baldur's Gate 3 players must pass a series of trials to prove their heroism. One of these trials is theoretically shorter than the rest, if players know exactly what to do: the Chamber of Strategy.
Players don't need any special spells or combat knowledge to beat the Chamber of Strategy – they just have to play two rounds of Chess, and get a checkmate. This BG3 Chess puzzle may use life-size versions of the pieces, but the rules of the game remain the same. Follow this guide to learn the exact moves to make on turns one and two to pass the Chamber of Strategy.
Chamber of Strategy: Turn 1
When players walk into the Chamber of Strategy, and interact with the Statue of Balduran there, the challenge is presented: within two moves, checkmate the Purple King. Players take control of the White pieces, which have already been placed in specific positions on the board – as if the game is already in progress.
The opponent's king is nestled into the back right corner, protected by two Pawns and a Rook to its left. But, players already have their Queen on the other side of the board, too. The Queen can move in any diagonal or straight direction as far as she wants. Click the Queen, then select the Pawn on the rightmost side of the board, two spaces in front of the King. The Queen will advance to take the Pawn, and the enemy's King will move to the left to hide behind another adjacent Pawn.
Chamber of Strategy: Turn 2
For Turn 2 of the Chess puzzle in the Chamber of Strategy, players will once again need to use their Queen. Near the middle of the board is a single White Bishop, poised to take the Pawn directly in front of the King, now that he has moved. However, this Bishop won't move at all, and is just here for insurance.
Select the Queen, and move diagonally to take the Pawn right in front of the Purple King. Now, the opponent can do nothing but get out of the Check, which means taking the Queen with their King. But, this puts the King directly in the path of the player's Bishop.
This is a checkmate, and after moving the Queen here, the Challenge should automatically complete. There are likely many other ways to get checkmate in this situation, but simply moving the Queen to take both Pawns is the simplest solution to the BG3 Chess puzzle.
Baldur's Gate 3 is available for PC and PlayStation 5. A version for Xbox Series X/S is currently in development.