The EU AI Act sorts AI by what it is used for. Chess sorts pieces by what they may do. Put the two together and the whole law fits on one board: every piece is a part of the Act, every special move is a rule, the clock is the dates and the arbiter is the regulator.
The framework is the spine of the book Avoiding Checkmate and the engine of the free game. It is a trade mark; a UK application is pending.
Your business, and the person accountable for it. The piece you cannot lose.
General-purpose AI models: the layer under the board.
The two routes into high risk.
The transparency duties: the rules that jump.
The seven requirements for high-risk systems.
Minimal-risk AI: most systems, most of the time.
And seven special moves the book plays through: illegal moves, castling, promotion, the pin, touch-move, the clock and the arbiter. Each is a chapter.
The Act does not regulate technology; it regulates uses, and chess gives that idea a shape people already carry in their heads. The book plays the whole board through, one system at a time.