4 player chess game is a game that can be played in multiple ways and in several invented forms. Besides traditional and pre-existing forms of playing, some invented forms might involve changes in matters for example scoring. Chess played in some other lands could devise a slightly different set of rules.
Simplifying the rules of 4 player chess games could help explore different possibilities. The following article suggests some subtle nuances in the game and adds newness to the 4 player chess games through experimenting with some variations in rules. In 2-player chess, the players focus on controlling the centre of the board. However, in 4-player chess, the center is full of risks. Playing safe is the best position the players might assume when playing as partners.
Development Of Traditional 4 Player Chess
The conventional 4-player chess uses board is the one used by Captain George Verney. Another version with modified rules by E. Hughes became remained popular for many years. Rules for traditional four-player Chess may have from the books of Hoyle which describe rules for several cards and board games.
His rules make the game less appealing than a two-player game. According to this, the 4 player game required a mating of two opponents one after the other and then mating both simultaneously.
Placing Queens
Innovation can make it work differently and could create a different version. Consider placing all the queens on white squares. The arrangement places the two light-coloured queens on the left side of their kings. Two darker queens come to the right side of their kings. What is the advantage of this arrangement? Through the arrangement, not any king comes on the same diagonal as the opponent’s Queen standing on her home square. Any advancement from the Queen’s Pawn or the King’s Bishop’s Pawn saves the player from the immediate danger of checkmate.
Playing Partners
The special rules for the partner game do not consider a king under check if it is en prise to its partner piece. A piece of one partner cannot capture a second partner piece. When two partner teams are on the board, and one team is stalemated or checkmated, they have to make a move on its turn, even though the king is left in check. When one king of the two teams of a partnership gets captured, the other pieces are removed from the board. When one of the two partner teams is left the team loses on checkmate.
In the four-player game, each team struggles to eliminate two teams from the board by capturing their Kings. After that normal rules apply for two teams.
Pawn Moves
The existing four-player game prevents the advance of a Pawn from getting blocked by a partner’s pawn. Promoting the long-distance pawns comes with enough chances of being captured. If the pawn moves as it does normally to capture the partner and instead of being captured, it may exchange places with the capturing pawn, being on the square from where it started to move.
In the case of en passant, it could simply stay undisturbed without moving. In this way, partner pawns can pass each other without influencing much on the game.
Moving The Remaining Pieces
In Demonchy’s game, the rule is to remove only the King from the board. Based on this rule, an alternative rule can be proposed. It says that when the first partner is defeated by the capture of the King in a turn following a checkmate or stalemate, the King is removed from the board, and the remaining pieces become the forces of the other partner. The other players take their turns but the defeated player does not. When one player’s King is removed the other partner may either move his piece or of the defeated partner.
Blocking Double Chess
One can use a general type arrangement with the rearranged pieces. This version can help obtain a game that resembles the ordinary two-player game. In some counter-clockwise turn versions, the turn passes from, for instance, white to red, then black, and then yellow. In this way, white black pieces, and vice-versa. Similarly, red captures yellow and vice versa.
So, only white may check black, and black checks whites. And the red and yellow pieces simply block movements. White and Yellow partner against red and black like an ordinary game against each other and red and yellow do the same. In this way, each player may win or lose or draw.
50 Move Rule
When a game concludes either through checkmate, stalemate, or draw; the pieces of two teams are removed from the board. The 50-move rule could be modified as:
For the 50 moves, there should not be a pawn move or capture by the four players. Castling and the first double move of the pawn, en passant capture work as usual. Only the red and yellow can move kings into check. If a partner fails to avail the check, they lose their game. The conditions are:
- The player to move into check announces the intended move.
- The next player after making reflection could reply as Unwise, I Accept, Another, or Impossible.
- “Unwise” means that the partner does not want to relieve the check created, and the next player must make a move not exposing his king to check.
- “I Accept” means the partner wants to relieve the check.
- “Another” means that the first player would not make the suggested move to expose his king.
- “Impossible” indicates that the player cannot make a legal move to relieve the check.
Conclusions
4 player Chess has developed a lot with time in different regions. What makes it highly popular is the scope of variations and innovation to make the game appealing. The above discussion describes certain rules that one can apply playfully. These minor variations can blend with your current 4-player chess strategies and make it easy to play, understand or preventing from unnecessary lengthy ways.