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Chess For Any Number of Players. Rules for multiplayer chess that can be played with an arbitrary number of players.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Robert Price wrote on Mon, Dec 13, 2010 10:55 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
I had the same question of whose king goes on the left or right, and I was about to suggest an alternative: The author calls for you to push two half-boards together by rotating one into place above the other. I was about to suggest reflecting it into place (and inverting the checkered coloring) instead; now you can let everyone's king start on the e-file but the two-player case is still just like FIDE chess.

Joining by reflecting is not so contrived. Imagine constructing the half-boards out of stiff cardstock or plastic, checkered on both sides so that the bottom-right square from each perspective is light. Use magnetic chess pieces in pairs so that they attract each other through the material. Bind several of these half-boards together with loops of string along the joining edge in an arrangement just like the illustration that opens the article. Now you join half-boards by flipping to two pages and ignoring whatever happens to lie in between.

But I said I was 'about to suggest'. That's because this arrangement causes the act of moving a bishop from the Green half-board to Orange, and then later to Blue, and then back to Green, to have the consequence of changing the Bishop's colorbinding because it has effectively been reflected an odd number of times. I still like the idea somewhat, but I think it is more important to have colorbound bishops than a symmetrical royalty-seating arrangement.


Anonymous wrote on Thu, Mar 25, 2010 09:54 AM UTC:Good ★★★★
Rules can not be substituted for ALL games: it can be subsituated to any
game in wich pieces starts on different halfs of board (for example, i
can't imagine, how to play Chaturanga for 4 players and Tafl, using such
rules), also there are probably many things, wich don't allow to play some
games, using such rules. But, i think, most of games CAN be played in this
way, and it's a very good idea. Also i can suggest game for any EVEN
number of players: half of players starts on halfs of boards, wich have
ranks 1-4, another half starts on halfs of boards, wich have ranks 5-8, and
all boards of 1-4 are coupled with boards of 5-8, when moving piece to
another half, player may choose either.
Also i have one small question about original game: i suppose, it's not
important, who have left king and right queen, and who have right king and
left queen :) ?

Anonymous wrote on Sun, May 28, 2006 05:42 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★

Anonymous wrote on Sun, May 28, 2006 05:42 PM UTC:Good ★★★★

Charles Gilman wrote on Mon, Dec 8, 2003 05:38 PM UTC:Good ★★★★
As I understand it, Pawns on any halfboard but the one they started on
move
away from the join. This after all is a continuation of the direction in
which  they joined that halfboard.
A small point of correction: 'any two-player game' should be qualified
by 'with an even number of ranks', ruling out Shogi. This is a pity
given the advantages for one-Bishop games generally through the use of
three-point turns. Shogi would need a neutral one-rank strip, with two
4-rank part-boards added in each move.

Bastien wrote on Wed, Sep 10, 2003 01:16 PM UTC:Good ★★★★
This is in my opinion a very interesent variant. But how about movement of
pawns, I mean, which direction is *forward* ? Could pawn promotes to
queen
? If two players make an aliance, could they let each other's pawns to
promote ? 
-
PS : I'm french, and my english is not as good as I would like to ; I
apologize for that :o)

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