4 Player Chess is a family of chess variants played by four people at the same time and on the same board.
Each player has a different color for their set of pieces, namely red, blue, yellow, and green. The game always starts with Red and follows in a clockwise order. Another difference of 4 Player Chess may be the board, which includes 160 squares because three extra ranks are added to each side.
The guidelines for regular chess mostly connect with these games, alongside additional regulations specific to each variant. In 4 Player Chess, Free-for-All and Teams are the two main variants. Players may also customize rules to include even more flavor to their games.
Rules Of Standard Free-For-All 4 Player Chess
Just about the most prominent variants of 4 Player Chess may be the Free-for-All game. As possible guess by its name, in this sort of match, each of the four players is battling alone contrary to the other three.
During the game, a player is eliminated by resigning, being stalemated, checkmated, or if their time runs out.
When a player is checkmated or stalemated, all of their pieces become inactive and so are grayed out. Capturing those pieces does not provide any points.
Whenever a player resigns or runs out of time, their king remains alive and moves at random. Checkmating a king yields 20 points to the ball player whose delivers the mate, and stalemating it awards 10 points to each remaining active player.
If there is a draw by threefold repetition, insufficient material, or the 50-move rule, all active players receive 10 points each.
The game ends when three players are eliminated. Additionally, a game can end when just two players remain, and one of these is ahead on the scoreboard by 21 or more points. That player can claim victory by resigning and awarding another player 20 points not enough to reach first place.
It is very important remember that in Free-for-All standard games, one cannot communicate with other players to join forces. Doing so is prohibited and may allow you to get banned. However, another 4 Player Chess variant called Diplomacy encourages this type of "unofficial" coordination.
Rules Of Standard Teams 4 Player Chess
As implied by teams in its name, this variant differs in play from Free-For-All. Teams are comprised of two players each, that are always across the board from one another. Players cannot capture their teammate's pieces.
Since team play is essential in this variant, players must talk to their partner to gain an edge. Chess.com makes it easy for you to share your ideas with a teammate by drawing arrows on the board. The in-game chat also allows you to send private messages on a team channel, therefore the opposing players do not know what you are planning.
Unlike in Free-for-All games, for Teams matches, pawns promote on the 11th rank. For standard Teams matches, underpromotion is also possible.
The goal of the game is to checkmate one person in the opposing team. Stalemating causes the game to draw. Both only happen once the mated or stalemated player's turn to go is reached, so it's even possible to "escape" a pending checkmate by checkmating another player first. Check out 4 player chess of the 4 Player Chess Team Championship held here on Chess.com where it just happened.
The game may also end in case a player runs out of time or resigns. In cases like this, another team wins the match.