Four-player chess: Difference between revisions
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Gameplay can be in teams, typically with the two partners across from each other. It can also be free-for-all, with each of the players trying to gain a decisive advantage, with no set alliances. Free-for-all can be played for points, or till the first checkmate. Table-talk, such as move suggestions, is not allowed in the FFA gamemode; rather, much of the strategy for this variant is deciding, on your own, when to help or hurt your opponents. |
Gameplay can be in teams, typically with the two partners across from each other. It can also be free-for-all, with each of the players trying to gain a decisive advantage, with no set alliances. Free-for-all can be played for points, or till the first checkmate. Table-talk, such as move suggestions, is not allowed in the FFA gamemode; rather, much of the strategy for this variant is deciding, on your own, when to help or hurt your opponents. |
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==Definition== |
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According to D. B. Prichard, Four-player chess "is generally |
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understood to be a <ref name=Note14>It should be noted that the original text implied that Four-player chess was only a partnership game. Like the name (Four-handed Chess is also what it is listed as in the book), it is clear that the meaning has changed since the time of that book</ref> game played |
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with two sets on a standard board with four |
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extensions, one on each side, usually of 8x3 |
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squares (arguably the best arrangement) but |
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sometimes 8x2 or 8x4, on which the pieces are |
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set up in the normal array positions"<ref>{{cite book |
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|last=Pritchard |
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|first=D. B. |
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|authorlink=David Pritchard (chess player) |
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|editor-last=Beasley |
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|editor-first=John |
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|title=The Classified Encyclopedia of Chess Variants |
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|publisher=John Beasley |
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|year=2007 |
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|isbn=978-0-9555168-0-1 }}</ref> |
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==History== |
==History== |
Revision as of 21:33, 8 May 2022
![]() A popular four-player chessboard and initial setup | |
Genres | Abstract strategy game Chess variant |
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Players | 4 |
Chance | None |
Skills | Strategy, tactics, pyschology |
Synonyms | Four-handed chess 4 Player Chess Four Player Chess |
Four-player chess (also known as Four-handed chess) is a family of chess variants played with four people. The game features a special board typically made of a standard 8×8 square, with 3 rows of 8 cells each extending from each side, and requires two sets of differently colored pieces. The rules are similar to, but not the same as, regular chess. There are a variety different rule variations; most variantions, however, share a somewhat similar board and piece setup.
The game has been around for hundreds of years, popping up in different places in Europe. Historically, the Four-handed Chess Club, which was founded by George Hope Verney around 1884 in London, is the most well known iteration. Currently, it can be played online, or bought commercially to be played in person.
Gameplay can be in teams, typically with the two partners across from each other. It can also be free-for-all, with each of the players trying to gain a decisive advantage, with no set alliances. Free-for-all can be played for points, or till the first checkmate. Table-talk, such as move suggestions, is not allowed in the FFA gamemode; rather, much of the strategy for this variant is deciding, on your own, when to help or hurt your opponents.
Definition
According to D. B. Prichard, Four-player chess "is generally understood to be a [1] game played with two sets on a standard board with four extensions, one on each side, usually of 8x3 squares (arguably the best arrangement) but sometimes 8x2 or 8x4, on which the pieces are set up in the normal array positions"[2]
History
The Cox-Forbes theory of the origin of chess, though debunked, asserts that a four-player version was the earliest form of the game. A description of a four-player chess game was found in an Indian text written c. 1500. The Tithitattva of Raghunandana describes such a version, which continued to be played into the 20th century.[3]
The first documented example of a modern four-player chess system was written by Captain George Hope Verney in England in 1881.[4]
Team
Teams is a two vs. two format wherein allied pieces cannot be captured by teammates. The allied players sit across from each other and win by checkmating the opposing team (those to their left or right). In some versions of teams, the game is over when both opposing kings are checkmated.[citation needed] If only one can be checkmated, the game is a draw. In the online version of teams played on Chess.com, however, the game ends in a victory for the team that either checkmates one opposing teammate on that player's turn or when a player captures one of the opposing teammate's kings.
Singles (FFA or Solo on Chess.com)
Single play arguably draws from a larger set of skills than team play, which means that some believe it may be more difficult than teams. Others believe, however, because teams generally requires sharper calculations, that teams is more difficult. In this mode of play, each player can attack any of the other three players and vice versa. Once a player is checkmated, the checkmated player can remove their pieces from the board, the player that checkmated can use the remaining pieces during that player's turn, or the pieces can remain as "dead" on the board, such that they cannot move, block diagonals, files, and ranks, and do not give players points when captured (standard practice on Chess.com). Play continues until only one player remains. On Chess.com, the player with the highest number of points wins and pawns promote on the 8th rank to queens. Unlike in teams, checkmate is delivered on the turn that the player is checkmated, as opposed to on that player's turn (on Chess.com).
Points (on Chess.com): Pawn or promoted pawn: 1 point Knights: 3 points Bishops or Rooks: 5 points Queen: 9 points Checkmate: 20 points Stalemate: 10 points to all remaining players
Common game rules
- Players can only move their chess pieces on their turns.
- If a player is placed in check, that player must wait until their designated turn before that player can respond to the threat. In some variations, when a player's move places an opponent in check (for example, by moving their knight so as to expose one opponent's king to another's rook), the second opponent is forbidden from capturing the first's king until they have a chance to deal with the check. On Chess.com, however, the king may be captured, thus ending the game. Funnily, a king may be captured to secure a victory as an only move when a player is otherwise in checkmate on that player's turn. Some variations prohibit moves that would cause one opponent to be in check at the hands of another. These restrictions are intended to discourage collusion between players, as further discussed below. On Chess.com, however, teamwork is expected and encouraged by the ability to draw arrows and circles to thus suggest moves that only one's team may see. Furthermore, private voice calls between teammates to discuss moves is legal on Chess.com and standard practice in tournament play.
- Pawns move forward only, unless attacking in a diagonal forward manner.
- In some variations, in the event a pawn reaches the King's row to the left, right or directly across, that pawn shall receive all the privileges of a pawn reaching King's row during a traditional chess game (i.e. promoting to a queen (most commonly), a rook, a bishop, or a knight). On Chess.com, pawns queen on a player's 13th rank.
- In some variations of teams, it is legal, but should not be communicated, for two or more of the players to team up.
See also
- Fortress chess
- Quatrochess—a variant for four, featuring fairy pieces
- Three-player chess
References
- ^ It should be noted that the original text implied that Four-player chess was only a partnership game. Like the name (Four-handed Chess is also what it is listed as in the book), it is clear that the meaning has changed since the time of that book
- ^ Pritchard, D. B. (2007). Beasley, John (ed.). The Classified Encyclopedia of Chess Variants. John Beasley. ISBN 978-0-9555168-0-1.
- ^ Partlett, David, The Oxford history of board games, Oxford University Press, 1999, p.281.
- ^ "4 Player Chess". BoardGameGeek. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
Further reading
- Pritchard, D. B. (1994). The Encyclopedia of Chess Variants. Games & Puzzles Publications. ISBN 0-9524142-0-1.
- Pritchard, D. B. (2007). Beasley, John (ed.). The Classified Encyclopedia of Chess Variants. John Beasley. ISBN 978-0-9555168-0-1.