RULES OF PLAY

 

All the Queens start on the white squares. Partner's sit across from each other. White moves first and play continues clockwise around the board each player moving one piece per turn. All the chessmen move the same way they do in regular chess, and all the rules of regular chess apply.

 

REGICIDE RULES - Regicide means to kill the king, in Regicide Rules you must actually capture both enemy kings to win, rather than just checkmate them. When a players king is captured the rest of his pieces remain exactly where they are on the board and cannot move, except to capture another piece, or you may pass on any move after your king is captured. Your team must kill both the enemy kings to win. In Regicide Rules the king is a fighting piece too, so you dont have to get out of check and checkmate does not apply, and you dont have to announce check. You can even move into check. You can also castle out of check, through check, or into check.

 

Pawns always move straight forward with respect to the side of the board they start on. Pawns are promoted when they reach the other side of the board or your opponents first rank by making a capture. The En Passant rule also applies. If you and your partners pawns come face to face, blocking each other, either player may switch the pawns places as one move allowing them each to continue across the board on subsequent moves.

 

Four Player Chess - Original Rules - When one player is checkmated on his turn all his pieces are removed from the board and his two opponents armies combine into one army for movement purposes, being allowed one move from either color per move that the defeated players partner gets. This is how we used to play but now we usually play Regicide Rules.

 

3 PLAYER GAME - To play with three players just set up three armies and play every man for himself. After two kings are captured the remaining player  who still has a king is the winner.