For more than two hundred years, people have invented and reinvented
chess variants for four players on a board, formed by adding a few (two,
three, or four) rows to each side of an eight by eight board. In the
opening setup, there are four sets of the 16 usual pieces, one on each
of the four sides of the board, in four different colors.
Some historic and modern chess variants from this family are described
here.
See also:
Vendetta. Photo's of
commercial four handed chess set.
Note that below, I restrict myself to those four handed chess variants
with a board that is of the `plus-shape' (2, 3, or 4 rows added to each
side of an 8 by 8 board) without additional markings on the board. A
selection of known variants is made: for more variants, see e.g. The Encyclopedia of Chess Variants,
by David Pritchard.
Common rules
Most variants use the following rules - deviations will be noted.
At each side, we see a set of pieces in a different color, with a usual
setup. Setups between variants often differ in the placement of queens
(a detail that is important for playing, as attacks on kings may be
easier when queens and kings start on the same line.)
Players form teams - each team consists of two players that sit opposite
of each other (like in bridge.) Players take turns, either clockwise or
anticlockwise.
All pieces move like in orthodox chess.
Friendly kings may be at adjacent squares.
The object of the game is to mate both opponents; when a player is
mated, then his pieces become immobile and he passes his turns. When the
mate is released, he can resume play.
When his king is in check, a player must resolve it himself - he cannot
wait for his partner to resolve the check on his own king.
The game of Dessau
The first member of this family, described in The Encyclopedia of Chess
Variants is dated at 1784. The inventor is only known by initials
K.E.G. and place Dessau.
In this first variant, the board is formed by adding three rows to each
side, thus obtaining a board with a total of 64+4*3*8 = 160 squares.
In this variant, all queens are on white squares in the opening setup.
Pawns have no initial double step. When a player is released from mate,
his pieces may not be taken until after his next move.
Altenburg
A few years later, in 1792, the first variant with a board with
extensions of `width' two is reported in the German town of Altenburg.
In this variant, pawns on rooklines are not allowed to capture each
other from their starting position.
More variants
Almost twenty similar games are mentioned to have appeared in the period
till 1880 in The Encyclopedia of
Chess Variants. The common characteristics are large, but the games
vary in little, but sometimes for play important details, like the number
of added rows (2 or 3), pawn
movement and promotion, rules about whether pieces of a mated player can
be captured or not, and queen and king placement in the opening setup.
The game was popular mostly in Germany and Great Brittain, but also in
other countries, like the United States.
More
In 1881, one of the most well known and widely played four handed chess
variants appeared in London.
