Four-Handed Chess
Chess variant
Four-player chess variant played on a chessboard extended on four sides.
The game is played in two teams: Yellow and Red play against Green and Blue. Move order: Yellow, Green, Red, Blue.
The teams win and lose together. The game ends at the first checkmate, and the team whose member delivered the mate wins. The teammates cannot capture each other's pieces.
Details: Four-player chess.
Pieces move like in standard chess. Pawns move towards the opposite side. They promote only on the other side, on the baseline of the opposite player. If a pawn leaves this path and hits the side of the board three fields earlier, it does not promote but stays there as a pawn. From there it can become useful only by capturing again.
Allies begin the game face to face. There is another variant where they start side by side: Four-Handed Chess II..
Because the board is large the long range pieces (bishop, rook, queen) are much more powerful compared to the other pieces (pawn, knight, king).
First known form: K.E.G, 1784[ChV.com]; these exact rules: Uray M. János, 2013.