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Four-player chess

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For the popular four-player chess variant played on two boards, see Bughouse chess.
Four-player chess
A popular four-player chessboard and initial setup
GenresAbstract strategy game
Chess variant
Players4
ChanceNone
SkillsStrategy, tactics, pyschology
SynonymsFour-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 earliest known mention of a four-player chess game is a pamphlet from Dessau, Germany, in 1784.[3] Four-handed Chess, as it was called, grew in popularity throughout the 19th century, with variations of the game appearing in Germany, Britain, Russia, and the United States, among others.[4] Many different pamphlets sprang up, with minor rule changes, such as where the king and queen were, or how to deal with pawns that ran into each other.[5]

The biggest and most well known of the variations was the Four-handed Chess Club, founded by George Hope Loyd Verney. It began in 1884, in London. It was somewhat well known in London, and had eighty people attend its inaugural meeting. The club played until World War Two.[6]

There are a few famous people who played, or are alleged, to play the game. George Hope Verney claimed that the Czar, probably Alexandar III, played the game.[7] Prince Albert is said to have played it.[8] In addition, the game was likely played by Vladimir Lenin.[9]

FFA is a more recent invention, popping up in commercial games, while teams is the game mode historically. Contemporarily, Four-player Chess is not particularly popular. Nevertheless, there are a few commercial versions for in-person play. It can also be played online, with the biggest website being chess.com’s variants.

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

References

  1. ^ 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
  2. ^ Pritchard, D. B. (2007). Beasley, John (ed.). The Classified Encyclopedia of Chess Variants. John Beasley. ISBN 978-0-9555168-0-1.
  3. ^ Cazaux, Jean-Louis (2017). A World of Chess: Its Development and Variations through Centuries and Civilizations. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-9427-9.
  4. ^ Pritchard, D. B. (2007). Beasley, John (ed.). The Classified Encyclopedia of Chess Variants. John Beasley. ISBN 978-0-9555168-0-1.
  5. ^ Pritchard, D. B. (2007). Beasley, John (ed.). The Classified Encyclopedia of Chess Variants. John Beasley. ISBN 978-0-9555168-0-1.
  6. ^ {{Cazaux, Jean-Louis (2017). A World of Chess: Its Development and Variations through Centuries and Civilizations. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-9427-9.
  7. ^ Pritchard, D. B. (2007). Beasley, John (ed.). The Classified Encyclopedia of Chess Variants. John Beasley. ISBN 978-0-9555168-0-1.
  8. ^ van der Linde, Antonius (1881). Quellenstudien zur Geschichte des Schachspiels.
  9. ^ Pritchard, D. B. (2007). Beasley, John (ed.). The Classified Encyclopedia of Chess Variants. John Beasley. ISBN 978-0-9555168-0-1.

Further reading

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