Four-player chess Four-player chess Four-player chess (also known as Four-handed, Four-man, or Four-way chess) is a family of chess variants typically played with four people. A special board made of standard 8×8 squares with an additional 3 rows of 8 cells extending from each side is common. Four sets of differently colored pieces are needed to play these variants. Four-player chess follows the same basic rules as regular chess. There are many different rule variations; most variants, however, share the same board and similar piece setup. Gameplay can be in teams, but it can also be a free-for-all, with each player out
Chess on a Really Big Board Chess on a Really Big Board Chess on a Really Big Board is a large chess variant invented by Ralph Betza around 1996. It is played on a 16×16 chessboard with 16 pieces (on the back rank) and 16 pawns (on the second rank) per player. Since such a board can be constructed by pushing together four standard 8×8 boards, Betza also gave this variant the alternative names of Four Board Chess or Chess on Four Boards. Chess on a Really Big Board was created as an outgrowth of Betza's ideas on three-dimensional chess, after he noted that an 8×8×8