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Tu dois avancer ton pion si tu as une bonne carte.

Tu dois avancer ton pion si tu as une bonne carte.
You must advance your token if you have a good card.
From Lesson 448:Subject disambiguation (lequel, laquelle)·French

Questions & Answers about Tu dois avancer ton pion si tu as une bonne carte.

Can avancer be used with a direct object like this? I usually see it meaning simply "to move forward".
Yes! While avancer is often intransitive (meaning you or something moves forward on its own), it can also be transitive. When used with a direct object like ton pion, it means "to move [something] forward."
What else can the word pion mean besides a game piece?
In board games, a pion is a pawn, token, or playing piece. In everyday life, it is used figuratively to mean a "pawn" (someone being used by others). In French schools, un pion is also a very common, slightly derogatory slang term for a yard monitor or study hall supervisor.
Could we use a future tense here, like si tu auras une bonne carte?
No, French is very strict about this rule. Even if the broader context of the game involves future actions, you can never use the future or conditional tense immediately after si (when it means "if"). You must use the present tense here, as in si tu as.
Does the phrase une bonne carte have any figurative meanings in French?
While it refers to a literal playing card in this board game sentence, French also uses the idiom avoir de bonnes cartes en main (to hold good cards). Just like in English, this implies having a strong advantage or good options in a situation.

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