The new, old-school styled horror game Dawn of Fear has come to the PS4, bringing with it the fixed-camera survival horror nostalgia reminiscent of old Resident Evil, Eternal Darkness, and Silent Hill games. This PlayStation-exclusive has many difficult puzzles in it, and one of those puzzles is the Chess Puzzle at the beginning of the game.
The First King Location
The chessboard piece puzzle is very early game, even before Dawn of Fear's first boss. The chessboard in the main hallway is "missing something" according to the game, so players will have to look for two king pieces to complete the board. The first is easy to find; there is a gold king sparkling on the dining room table, waiting for Alex to pick it up.
The Second King Location
Now comes the hard part of this fixed-camera, old-school horror Dawn of Fear: fighting off the undead. The silver king piece is not as easy to find as the gold one. First, Alex will have to open some doors and find the hallway with the study door. The study door has a purple insignia on it, so it should be pretty easy to spot.
At the very end of that hallway is a a blood-strewn room with a zombie that will come to life as soon as Alex enters. After that, players will see a message that there was a loud noise in the main hall. Go back to the front door, and Ethan will be dead (while Dawn of Fear may not be one of the best horror games ever made, this scene is pretty gruesome). Take his gun. Return to the bloody room and shoot the zombie. It will take about three shots. Once the room is safe, check the table for the silver king.
Return to the Hallway
The chessboard is near the front door.
Players will need to walk up to the chessboard, then click on the two chess pieces in their inventory. Once both pieces are in, the game will zoom in on the chessboard. Here is where the hard part is, if the player has no experience playing chess.
The point of this Dawn of Fear puzzle is to checkmate the gold side of the board. Move the left knight (horse head piece) two squares toward the back wall and one square to the right, putting it right in front of the gold pawn. Checkmate! Once the knight is in place, a cutscene will play showing a secret passage opening in the library.
This should help anyone who is unfamiliar with chess beat this difficult puzzle. Now it's time to go into the secret passage and continue the Dawn of Fear experience.
Sources: YouTube, Walkthrough Guide