4 Player Chess
4 Player Chess Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Rules of Four-handed Chess
The Rules of Four-handed Chess are in every way similar to those of the ordinary game, with the following exceptions:
The board consists of one hundred and sixty squares, and thirty-two Pieces and thirty-two Pawns are used for play.
The frontispiece represents the board prepared for the beginning of a game. (The frontispiece diagram is a picture and is not reproduced here.)
The players who are opposite to each other become partners, and it is their object to checkmate the other two, and vice versa. Therefore the players Yellow and White have to unite their forces, both for attack and defence, against the combined forces of the partners Red and Black.
On placing the Pieces on the board it is necessary to be careful to place all the Queens on the same colour. In practice we have found it best to place them all four on the white squares, as the game is sufficiently complicated without adding to it by having the Queen sometimes on a white square and sometimes on a black.
The decision as to which pair of partners is to commence the game is arrived at in the usual way, but the option rests with themselves as to which of the winning partners is to make the first move. In all subsequent games each pair of partners commences alternately, but it is also left to the option of the partners who commence, which of them shall make the first move. As a rule it is advisable for the strongest player of the partners who have the move to commence the game. The partners who do not make the first move may, if considered advisable, change seats with each other at the commencement of each game, or when the first move only has been made.
Each player in turn makes a move, passing from right to left, as in Whist. No communication of any sort or kind is allowed to take place between the players with reference to the game, and no consultation is allowed between partners; as one of the chief features of the game consists in the players finding out each for himself the object of each move, both of his partner and of his adversaries, and silently assisting the former in his plans, and defeating the tactics of the latter.
The Pieces and Pawns of those players who are partners have no antagonistic influence over each other, as for all purposes they are working together for the common object of checkmating their adversaries. In this way the Kings of partners could meet on adjoining squares, as in no case do the Pieces or Pawns of one partner attack the Pieces or Pawns of the other.
No player is allowed to move a Piece or Pawn which move would expose his partner's King to a check from either of his adversaries, any more than he may uncover his own King to a similar check. It therefore follows that the King of one player may not move out of check if by so doing he would expose his partner's King to check. In this case the King which is in check would also be mated, unless he could interpose a Piece, and he would remain in mate until his partner released him by moving his King in such a manner that when the King of the mated player is moved he would not expose the King of his partner to check (vide page 37).
Castling is not allowed in Four-handed Chess.
The Pawns can only move one square at a time, and not two squares at the first move, as in the ordinary game, therefore there is no taking an adversary's Pawn en passant.
A Pawn to become a Queen must by moving diagonally reach the rear squares of the enemy's game, which can only be done by its taking the Pieces or Pawns of one of its adversaries; therefore the Pawns cannot be exchanged for Pieces when they reach the squares at the opposite end of the board from which they started; such squares being friendly squares, because in the hands of their partners. But should a Pawn by repeated captures, and thereby moving diagonally, reach the edge of the board in the ground of either of its enemies, it becomes a Queen.
When a Pawn has attained either one of the ultimate squares of the board belonging to a partner, such Pawn remains there as a Pawn, and moves back again as a Pawn, one square at a time, in the same direction; that is, towards the player. A Pawn, therefore, which has reached either one of the ultimate friendly squares should be marked in some way to show that it has exchanged its own line of march for a power exclusively of backward motion. Should such Pawn return to the line from which it originally started, it moves forward again, as it did at first.
As the partners sit opposite to each other, it sometimes happens that their Pawns meet on the board. In every such case they are allowed to leap over the friendly Pawn, and place themselves in their move on the square beyond; always preserving their forward or backward progression, as the case may be, but never leaving their file, save to take a Piece or another Pawn.
The game is only won when two of the partners are checkmated. Should one be checkmated, and the other be stalemated, the game is drawn, as if both were stalemated; or should one King be mated and it is impossible to mate the other, or if a mate is impossible on either side, the game is also drawn. A game is drawn when only one minor Piece besides the Kings are left to each of the two sides, or when only Pawns are left on the board, as under these circumstances it is impossible to secure a double checkmate; but should one partner have two major Pieces left, or each of the partners one major Piece, the game may be fought out, as, with the assistance of their Kings, they may secure a double checkmate.
Should a player be checkmated, his Pieces are not removed from the board, but must remain in the same position as when the checkmate occurred. His partner continues the fight single-handed, while the player who is in checkmate cannot move, and therefore misses his turn; but while his Pieces are inert and useless, both for attack and defence, they are not liable to capture by the adversaries, and remain on the board merely blocking up the squares they actually occupy, and devoid of all offensive or defensive properties; thus should the squares be open, the adversaries' Pieces and Pawns may move between them, going into their check or range with impunity.
A partner may so far use the Pieces of his checkmated partner as to, without moving them, protect his own Pieces from attack by sheltering them behind the inert Pieces of the checkmated party, whose Pieces still offer the inoffensive resistance of a lifeless mass.
A player may at any time, if he can, release his partner who is mated, by either capturing the Pieces of his adversaries which hold the checkmate, or by forcing these Pieces to move in such a way as to release his partner from that predicament. The Pieces of the partner thus released regain life, resume their functions, and he moves again in his regular turn.
An opponent, having checkmated a player, can at any time release the checkmated adversary, should he consider it desirable to do so, though he cannot in the same move by which he releases the mate take any of the Pieces or Pawns of the adversary so released; but directly the move is made by which the mate is released, the Pieces of the released player are liable to capture by either of his adversaries, when it comes to their turn to play, even though the player so released has not had a turn in which to make a move.
Should a player in any way communicate to his partner a move which he considers desirable, the adversaries can object to this move being made until three moves have been made by each player subsequent to the communication having been made.
If a player when it is his turn to move touches a Piece, he must move it, unless by doing so it would discover check to his own King, or to his partner's King; and should he touch a Piece of one of his adversaries, he must take that Piece if it is possible to do so.
Remarks
In venturing to offer a few remarks on Four-handed Chess, I do not in the least wish to set up as an authority on the subject, but merely to record a few of the experiences which my friends and I have encountered in the course of play during several years.
The Board
In making a board similar to the frontispiece, I have found that it is better to have it of a large size, so as to have the game clearly mapped out in front of the players; and therefore I have each of the squares made two inches square, which makes the size of the board two feet four inches square.
For stowing away, the board can either be made with hinges to fold, or in four pieces to join together with little pegs in the edge of each of the four pieces, similar to the leaves of some dining-tables. An ordinary country carpenter has made mine, and with complete success. I prefer the squares painted in plain black and white, as giving the clearest definition.
For playing with the club-sized men, the squares of the board must be two and a half inches square. Advertisements at the end of the book will give the information where boards can be procured. As a beautiful piece of workmanship, I can confidently recommend the inlaid boards made by Mr. Simmons, of Southsea, of which I have two of the large size; but for all practical purposes the painted ones made by Messrs. Garrod & Pratt, of Esher, are equally effective.
The Chess-men
I use two sets of Staunton men: one set is of black and yellow wood, and the other is of red and white bone. The latter was made to order for me at the Civil Service Store in the Haymarket, at a cost of about eighteen shillings. The base of the King measures one and five-eighths of an inch, and is three and a half inches high. The above will give some idea of a good proportion both of the board and the men.
Since the above was written I have used the club-sized men, on a board of which each square is two and a half inches, and I have not found the board inconveniently large. A lamp placed directly overhead in the middle of the board throws the best light on it; but if this is not practicable, a candle placed at each of the four corners of the board is the next best position for lighting.
Rules of Play
It cannot be too strongly urged that the ordinary rules of Chess, with the exceptions mentioned upon pages 6 to 10, should be strictly adhered to in Four-handed Chess, more particularly that rule which is so often neglected by moderate players, that when a player touches a Piece he must play that Piece, and if he takes his hand off the Piece the move must be considered as completed. In an ordinary double game, whether of Chess, Draughts, or any other, there is only one adversary to consider who may be affected by relaxing this rule; but in Four-handed Chess two adversaries and a partner have to be considered, and any deviation from this golden rule is liable to give rise to very serious inconvenience, and to mar the harmony of the game.
It is of great importance in this game to act on the rule of ordinary Chess which says, that if a player attacks an adverse King without saying 'Check,' his adversary is not obliged to attend to it; and if a King has been in check for several moves, and it cannot be ascertained how it occurred, the player whose King is in check must retract his last move and free his King from the check, but if the moves made subsequent to the check be known, they must be retracted.
We have never found it necessary to impose a penalty in the case of a player moving, or attempting to move, out of his turn. Great care ought to be taken, however, that nothing of the sort should occur, as the irregular moving of a Piece might, and probably would, reveal to the other players, both partner and adversaries, the intentions of the player in moving out of his turn, and might give an unfair advantage to either side.
The First Move
In playing a match the rule as to the first move mentioned on pages 6 and 7 should be strictly adhered to; but in certain cases it might be advisable to take the first move in strict rotation among the players, and not leave it to the option of the partners whose turn it is to make the first move: for instance, if the same four players were to play through a whole series of games, or if one or two of the players were much stronger than the others. The permission accorded to the partners who do not make the first move, to change places at the commencement of any game, or after the first move only has been made, gives them the power of altering the sequence of the players.
Keeping the Odds of a Game
It is of importance as the game proceeds to pair off on one side of the board the Pieces of each side as they are taken, leaving on the other side the Pieces which do not pair. By doing this all the players can at once see how each side stands with reference to the odds of the game, and can form a better opinion as to the desirability or otherwise of promoting the exchange of Pieces.
Editorial note: the book's further "Remarks" (The Opening of a Game, The Closing of a Game, The Numerical Value of the Pieces, and notes on the individual Pieces, pp. 14-22) are strategy advice rather than rules and are not transcribed here.