The game, in both versions, is played in teams of 6 (often referred to as a command in Russian-language ChGK literature) and consists of answering questions of logic. A question is said to be taken when answered correctly.

ChGK is fundamentally split into two versions, called TV and competitive versions. (also known as sport version). However, in both versions, teams have 60 seconds to answer a question (except for blitz questions).

TV version is played until either the experts (sometimes called connoisseurs or znatoki in Russian) or the spectators score 6 points. In the TV version, if the competitors answer correctly, they earn a point, but if they answer incorrectly, the spectators instead earn a point.

On TV, questions are placed on a roulette with 13 sectors, 12 of which are sent in by viewers before the show begins, and the 13th sector is for submissions while the show is underway.

In competitive ChGK, a game (sometimes called tours in Russian) is typically either 12 or 15 questions long. Tournaments consist of at least 2 games.

In general, ChGK questions should not require solely knowledge to answer.