Bughouse Chess
Players	4
Setup time	1 minute
Playing time	Usually 5 to 10 minutes
Random chance	None
Skills required	Chess strategy, Blitz chess
BoardGameGeek entry

Bughouse Chess (also called Exchange Chess, Siamese Chess, Tandem Chess, Transfer Chess, or simply Bughouse) is a popular chess variant played on two chessboards by four players in teams of two. Chess strategy is concerned with the evaluation of Chess positions and setting up goals and long-term tactics for future play Fast chess, also known as blitz chess, lightning chess, bullet chess and rapid chess, is a type of Chess game in which each side is A chess variant is a Game derived from related to or similar to Chess in at least one respect A chessboard is the type of Checkerboard used in the Game of Chess, and consists of 64 squares (eight rows and eight columns arranged in two alternating ^[1] Normal chess rules apply, except that captured pieces on one board are passed on to the players of the other board, who then have the option of putting these pieces on their board. Chess is a recreational and competitive Game played between two players.

The game is usually played at a fast time control; this, together with the passing and dropping of pieces, can make the game look chaotic and random to the casual onlooker; hence the name bughouse, which is slang for mental hospital. A time control is a mechanism in the tournament play of almost all two-player Board games so that each round of the match can finish in a timely way and the tournament can Slang is the use of highly informal Words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's Dialect or Language. The game is traditionally played as a diversion from regular chess both over the board and online. An Internet chess server ( ICS) is an external server that provides the facility to play discuss and view Chess over the Internet. Yearly, several dedicated bughouse tournaments are organised on a national and an international level. A tournament (IPA) is a Competition involving a relatively large number of competitors all participating in a Sport or Game.

Contents 1 Rules 1.1 Captured pieces 1.2 Clock and completion of a move 1.3 End of the game 1.4 Communication 2 Variations 3 Strategy 3.1 Material 3.2 Coordination 3.3 Attack and defense 3.4 Opening 4 Notation and sample game 5 Where to play 5.1 Over the board 5.2 Online 6 Controversy 7 Notes 8 References 9 External links

Rules

Bughouse is a chess variant played on two chessboards by four players in teams of two. A chess variant is a Game derived from related to or similar to Chess in at least one respect A chessboard is the type of Checkerboard used in the Game of Chess, and consists of 64 squares (eight rows and eight columns arranged in two alternating Each team member faces one opponent of the other team. Partners sit next to each other and one player has black, while the other has white. Each player plays the opponent as in a standard chess game, with the exception of the rules specified below. The rules of chess (also known as the laws of chess) are rules governing the play of the game of Chess. ^[2]

Captured pieces

A player capturing a piece immediately passes that piece to the partner. Chess pieces vary in both value and abilities A standard chess match consists of each player having the following equipment 1 king The partner keeps these pieces in reserve and may, instead of playing a regular move, place one of these pieces on the board (as in shogi and crazyhouse). or Japanese chess (literally "generals' chess" ˈʃoʊɡiː in English is the most popular of a family of Chess variants native to Japan. Crazyhouse is a Chess variant similar to Bughouse chess, but with only two players Pieces in reserve or on deck may be placed on a vacant square, the exception being pawns which may not be dropped on the first and last rank. The pawn (♙♟ is the weakest and most numerous piece in the Game of Chess, representing Infantry This page explains commonly used terms in Chess in alphabetical order Dropped pawns may promote, but convert back to pawns when captured. Promotion to various pieces Promotion to a queen is the most common in practical play since the queen is the most powerful piece In play over the board, a promoted pawn can be put on its side to indicate promotion. ^[3] A pawn placed on the second rank may move two squares on its first move. The reserve or stock should be kept in front of the board, always visible to all players of the game.

Clock and completion of a move

Bughouse chess is usually played with chess clocks to prevent players from waiting indefinitely for a piece. A game clock consists of two adjacent Clocks and buttons to stop one clock while starting the other such that the two component clocks never run simultaneously Clocks are placed on the outside so that each player can see both clocks. At the start of the game, the players with the black pieces start the clocks simultaneously. Bughouse is usually played using clock move, which allows touching of pieces. This page explains commonly used terms in Chess in alphabetical order A move is completed only when the clock is pressed. Touch move is practiced to a lesser extent. This page explains commonly used terms in Chess in alphabetical order ^[4] When used, it applies to pieces in reserve as well; they are considered dropped after contact has been made with an empty square.

Bughouse can be played without a clock, but then there is usually a rule preventing a player waiting for pieces (stalling or sitting) indefinitely. One rule states that players may not delay their move beyond the time that it takes for their partner to make three moves. ^[5]

End of the game

The match ends when either of the games on the two boards ends. A game is won when one player gets checkmated, resigns, forfeits on time or when an illegal move is made in which the offending side is caught. Checkmate (frequently shortened to mate) is a situation in Chess (and in other Boardgames of the Chaturanga family in which one player's The match can be drawn by agreement or when two players run out of time simultaneously. In Chess, a draw by (mutual agreement is the outcome of a game due to the agreement of both players to a draw. Depending on (local) rules threefold repetition applies, in which case the reserve of pieces is not taken into account. In Chess and some other Abstract strategy games, the threefold repetition rule (also known as repetition of position) states that a player can claim a ^[6]

Alternatively, when one board finishes, play can continue on the other board. In this case, pieces in reserve can still be dropped, but no new pieces are coming in. The outcome of the match is then decided by adding the score of the two boards. ^[5]

Communication

Partners are normally allowed to talk to each other during the game. They can for instance ask for a specific piece, for more trades, ask to hold a piece, suggest moves or ask their partner to stall. Shouts like "Gimme a knight, it mates!" or "Queen at any cost!" are common, and can lead to seemingly absurd sacrificial captures on the other board. It is however not allowed to physically act on the other board. ^[7]

Variations

Bughouse comes in many variants, especially in the way drops are handled. Examples include:^[8]

• Pieces cannot be dropped with check and/or checkmate. Checkmate (frequently shortened to mate) is a situation in Chess (and in other Boardgames of the Chaturanga family in which one player's This variation is common in Europe and is sometimes referred to as tandem chess. ^[9][10]
• Pieces can only be placed on the player's half of the board.
• Play continues until both games are complete.
• Kings can be captured and the game continues until one team has all kings on the board.
• Pawns cannot be dropped on seventh (and sometimes sixth) rank.
• Pawns never promote, when they reach the eighth rank they remain pawns. This was a common variation in Australia in the 1980s which saves having to find extra pieces.
• Pawns may be dropped on the first rank.

It is possible to play the game with just two players (one per team) by having each player move on two boards. Analogous to simultaneous chess, this way of playing the game is referred to as simultaneous bughouse. A simultaneous exhibition or simultaneous display (often abbreviated to "simul" is an event where one player (commonly a Chess master or grandmaster It can also be played with just one clock by playing the boards in a specific order (WhiteA, WhiteB, BlackB, BlackA) and pressing the clock after each move. A game clock consists of two adjacent Clocks and buttons to stop one clock while starting the other such that the two component clocks never run simultaneously This variation is suitable for play by mail. Correspondence chess is Chess played by various forms of long-distance correspondence usually through a Correspondence chess server, through email or by ^[11]

Bughouse can be played with three or more boards. The game is played in exactly the same way as normal bughouse with boards placed with alternating colours and two players and one clock per board. On capturing a piece however, the player has to decide which player of the team will get that piece. In three board bughouse chess the middle player is the key since he gets material from two boards, but has to decide how to divide the captured pieces. ^[12] The middle board also commonly becomes very cramped due to having twice the number of pieces available.

Strategy

Material

In chess a minor material advantage is important as when material gets exchanged, the relative advantage becomes larger. Because new pieces come in, there is no endgame play in bughouse and material is therefore less important. In Chess, the endgame (or end game or ending) refers to the stage of the game when there are few pieces left on the board It is common to sacrifice pieces in bughouse while attacking, defending or hunting down a certain piece which the partner requires. ^[12]

A scoring system to evaluate material is to add up the piece values of the material on the board. Standard valuations The following is the most common assignment of point values. In chess, when a pawn equals one unit, a bishop or knight is worth three, a rook five and a queen nine. The pawn (♙♟ is the weakest and most numerous piece in the Game of Chess, representing Infantry A bishop (♗♝ is a piece in the Board game of Chess. Each player begins the game with two bishops The knight (♘ ♞ sometimes referred to by players as a 'horse' is a piece in the Game of Chess, representing a Knight (armoured cavalry A rook, (♖ ♜ borrowed from Persian رخ rokh, Sanskrit rath, "chariot" also known as a castle is a piece in the The queen (♕♛ is the most powerful piece in the game of Chess. These values are a consequence of the difference in mobility of the pieces. In bughouse piece values differ because pieces in reserve essentially have the same mobility as they can be dropped on any vacant square. ^[13] The pawn relatively gains importance in bughouse chess, its very limited mobility does not handicap reserve pawns. They can for instance be dropped to block non-contact checks. Pawns can be dropped onto the seventh rank, one step away from promotion, which again adds to their importance. Long range pieces like the queen or the rook lose relative value, due to the constantly changing pawn structure. In Chess, the pawn structure (sometimes known as the pawn skeleton) is the configuration of pawns on the Chessboard. They are also more likely to be cornered in. ^[14] A valuation system often applied to bughouse is pawn=1, bishop=knight=rook=2 and queen=4. ^[15]

Coordination

Captured pieces are passed on and thus what happens on one board, influences what happens on the other board. It is therefore natural for team members to communicate during game play. A common request of an attacking player would be "trades are good", while players in trouble would ask their partner to hold trades with "trades are bad". Equally a player can request a piece e. g "knight wins a queen" or ask to hold a piece e. g. "rook mates me". ^[16]

Another common situation in the interplay between the two boards is a player not moving, also called sitting or stalling. This can happen in anticipation of a certain piece or at the request of the partner. Suppose a player is under heavy attack, and an additional pawn would mate him. When the partner cannot prevent giving up a pawn on the next move, sitting is the only strategy. It would of course be perfectly logical for the attacker to sit as well, waiting for a pawn to come. The situation, where diagonal opponents sit at the same time is known as a "sitzkrieg" (after the German for sitting war). The difference in time between the diagonal opponents will eventually force one party to move. This diagonal time advantage is more important than the difference on the clock between opponents on the same board. ^[17]

Apart from this active communication, a good bughouse player tries to coordinate silently by keeping an eye on the other board and adapting moves accordingly. This can mean as little as glancing at the other board before trading queens, or as much as playing an opening adapted to the other board. ^[18]

Attack and defense

Attacking the king can mean checking the opponent but also controlling vital squares around the king. It is an essential part of bughouse gameplay. From a player's perspective, attacking the king has important advantages as opposed to defending or attempting to win material:^[19]

• Because of the possibility of dropping pieces, attacks in bughouse can quickly lead to checkmate.
• The attacking player has the initiative, he is the one who controls the board, while the opponent is left to react. This has also important consequences for the other board.
• It is easier to attack than to defend. A defending mistake can have bigger consequences than an attacking mistake. Thus, the defender needs to be more precise, which in turn can lead to a time advantage for the attacker.

It is common to sacrifice material to build up, or sustain an attack. Characteristic for attacks is the so-called "piece storm", where a player drops piece after piece with check. Contact checks, those that force the king to move, are especially important. They can be used to drive the king into the open, away from its defenders, while they prevent the opponent from putting new material on the board. ^[20]

Partner communication is essential in a good defense. When one partner is under attack, the other partner should be aware of which pieces hurt most. Sitting strategies might be necessary, and it is therefore important to play the defense fast. Accepting a sacrifice can be lethal. On the other hand, it results in the attacker having a piece less to play with, with the defender's partner having a piece more. Sacrifices therefore give the partner of the defender an opportunity to take initiative. ^[21]

Opening

There are significantly fewer bughouse openings than there are chess openings. In Chess the word " opening " has two common meanings both of which are discussed in this article Many chess openings create weaknesses which can be easily exploited in bughouse. It is for instance not recommended to move pawns other than the d and e pawn. ^[22] Bughouse openings are generally geared towards dominating vital squares and fast development. Captured pieces become available after the first few moves and it is important to develop at this stage as there is often not enough time to do so later. Development also helps to defend against early piece drop attacks. ^[23]

In typical chess openings, kings castle. For all but expert players, this is generally not recommended in the opening stage of a bughouse game. A castled king is trapped on one side of the board, and is therefore inherently harder to defend. There are also fewer escape routes possible.

Notation and sample game

The algebraic chess notation for chess can be used to record moves in bughouse games. Algebraic chess notation is used to record and describe the moves in a game of Chess. Chess is a recreational and competitive Game played between two players. Different notations for piece drops are possible. ^[24] The internet chess servers FICS and ICC use the at-sign @, as in N@f1 (knight drop at f1), Q@e6+ (queen drop with check at e6) or P@h7 (pawn drop at h7). Bughouse chess (also called Exchange chess, Siamese chess, Tandem chess, Transfer chess, or simply Bughouse) is a popular Chess The Free Internet Chess Server (FICS is a volunteer-run Internet chess server. The typographic character @, the at sign, denotes a pan-lingual abbreviation of the word 'at'

Because of the fast pace at which the game is played, bughouse games are rarely recorded in games played over the board. With the arrival of online chess it has become possible to systematically record games. Bughouse chess (also called Exchange chess, Siamese chess, Tandem chess, Transfer chess, or simply Bughouse) is a popular Chess ^[25] The format in which this is done is the bughouse portable game notation (BPGN), an extension of the Portable Game Notation for chess. Portable Game Notation (PGN is a Computer -processible format for recording chess games (both the moves and related Data) many chess programs recognize ^[26] Software, such as BPGN viewer can be used to replay and analyse bughouse games. ^[27] Below is an example bughouse game in the BPGN format.

[Event "rated bughouse match"]
[Site "chess server X"]
[Date "2004. 04. 12"]
[WhiteA "WA"][WhiteAElo "1970"]
[BlackA "BA"][BlackAElo "2368"]
[WhiteB "WB"][WhiteBElo "1962"]
[BlackB "BB"][BlackBElo "2008"]
[TimeControl "180+0"]
[Result "0-1"]
1A.  e4 {180} 1a.  Nc6 {180} 1B.  d4 {179} 2A.  Nc3 {179}
1b.  Nf6 {178} 2a.  Nf6 {178} 2B.  d5 {178} 3A.  d4 {177}
2b.  e6 {177} 3a.  d5 {177} 3B.  dxe6 {176} 4A.  e5 {176}
3b.  dxe6 {176} 4B.  Qxd8+ {175} 4a.  Ne4 {175}
4b.  Kxd8 {175} 5B.  Bg5 {174} 5A.  Nxe4 {174}
5a.  dxe4 {173} 5b.  Be7 {173} 6A.  Nh3 {173}
6B.  Nc3 {172} 6a.  Bxh3 {171} 6b.  N@d4 {171}
7A.  gxh3 {171} 7a.  Nxd4 {170} 7B.  O-O-O {169}
8A.  P@e6 {168} 7b.  Nbc6 {168} 8B.  Bxf6 {166}
8a.  N@f3+ {165} 9A.  Qxf3 {165} 8b.  Bxf6 {164}
9a.  Nxf3+ {164} 10A.  Ke2 {164} 9B.  e3 {164}
10a.  Q@d2+ {164} 11A.  Bxd2 {164} 11a.  Qxd2+ {164}
{WA checkmated} 0-1

Where to play

Over the board

Little is known on the history of bughouse, but it seems to have developed in the early 1960s. ^[28] It is now quite popular as a diversion of regular chess in local chess clubs throughout Europe and the US. ^[28][29] Grandmasters such as Levon Aronian, Joel Benjamin, Yasser Seirawan, Andy Soltis, John Nunn, Jon Speelman, Sergey Karjakin, Michael Adams, Emil Sutovsky and Michael Rohde have been known to play the game. The title Grandmaster is awarded to extremely strong Chess masters by the world chess organization FIDE. Levon Aronian (Լևոն Արոնյան born 6 October 1982) is an Armenian Chess player Joel Benjamin (born March 11[[ 964]] is a Chess Grandmaster and is currently the highest rated active chess player who was born in the United Yasser Seirawan ( ياسر سيروان) (born March 24, 1960) is a Chess grandmaster and 4-time US -champion Andrew Soltis (born May 28 1947) is a Chess author and columnist as well as a Grandmaster. John Denis Martin Nunn (born April 25, 1955 in London) is one of England 's strongest Chess players and once belonged to the world's Jonathan Simon Speelman (born 2 October 1956) is an English Chess player a Grandmaster, a mathematician and a chess writer Sergey Karjakin (Сергій Карякін Сергей Карякин born January 12, 1990 in Simferopol) is a Ukrainian Chess Michael Adams (born November 17, 1971 in Truro, Cornwall, England, UK) is a British Grandmaster of Emil Sutovsky (born 19 September, 1977) is an Israeli Chess Grandmaster. Michael Rohde (born August 26, 1959) is an American chess grandmaster. ^{[28][30][31][32][33][34]}

With the absence of an International Federation, competitive over the board bughouse is very much in its infancy. A sport governing body is a sports organization that has a regulatory or sanctioning function There is also no world championship. A world championship(s is the top achievement for any sport or Contest. A few countries do organize bughouse tournaments within the national chess federation. Examples include:

• The yearly international chess festival Czech Open in July features the Czech republic bughouse championship. ^[35]
• Yearly, USCF organizes bughouse tournaments as part of the National Junior High (K-9) Championship and the National High School (K-12) Championship. ^[36][37]

Other tournaments are organized privately:

• One of the largest international bughouse tournaments is the yearly tournament in Berlin. ^[38] Going into its sixth edition, it is popular among top players from FICS. The Free Internet Chess Server (FICS is a volunteer-run Internet chess server. Grandmaster Levon Aronian took part in the 2005 edition of the tournament and took the second place with his teammate Vasiliy Shakov. Levon Aronian (Լևոն Արոնյան born 6 October 1982) is an Armenian Chess player ^[39]
• Since 2000 there has been an annual bughouse tournament in Geneva, attracting the best European players. ^[28][40]

Online

Bughouse can be played online at chess servers such as FICS and ICC since 1995. An Internet chess server ( ICS) is an external server that provides the facility to play discuss and view Chess over the Internet. The Free Internet Chess Server (FICS is a volunteer-run Internet chess server. The Internet Chess Club (ICC is a commercial Internet chess server devoted to the play and discussion of Chess and Chess variants ICC currently has over ^[41] FICS is currently the most active server for bughouse, attracting world's best players. These include Levon Aronian, Maarten Aronsson, Igor Bjelobrk, Jeremy Keller, Kazim Gulamali, André Nilsson, Peter Minear and Linus Olsson. ^[42]

The game is played online in the same way as over the board, but some aspects are unique to online bughouse. In games over the board, communication is heard by all players, while in online bughouse it is usually done via private messages between two partners. This makes communication a more powerful weapon. It is also easier to coordinate as the second board is more visible on the screen than over the board. ^[43] The time aspect is altered due to existence of premove and lag. Premoving in Internet chess is when a player tells their client their move before the opponent has made their move In Computing and especially Computer networks lag (slang is a symptom where the result of an action appears later than expected The latter can influence the diagonal time difference significantly, and it is good sportsmanship to restart the game when this difference gets too large. ^[44]

ICS compatible interfaces particularly suitable for bughouse include Thief and BabasChess. An Internet chess server ( ICS) is an external server that provides the facility to play discuss and view Chess over the Internet. Thief is a popular interface for Internet Chess Servers such as the Free Internet Chess Server and the Internet Chess Club. They have the ability to display both boards at the same time and store played or observed games, they also have partner communication buttons and a lag indicator. Special Xboard compatible engines have been written that support bughouse, examples are Sunsetter, Sjeng and TJchess. The Chess Engine Communication Protocol is an open Communication protocol that enables a Chess engine to communicate with its User interface. A chess engine is a Computer program that can play the game of Chess. ^[45][46][47] Although much faster than humans, they lack in positional understanding and especially in coordination and communication, an essential skill in this team game. ^[48]

Controversy

Bughouse chess is controversial among scholastic chess teachers. The majority view is that it does not have a positive effect on novice chess players. ^[49] In the words of Susan Polgar: "If your children want to play bughouse for fun, it is OK. Zsuzsanna "Susan" Polgar (born April 19, 1969, as Polgár Zsuzsanna) is a Hungarian -born American Chess But just remember that it is not chess and it has no positive value for chess. In fact, I absolutely recommend no bughouse during a tournament. "^[50] One argument supporting this view is that bughouse distorts the typical pattern recognition used in chess. ^[51] Another argument is that bughouse neglects positional values due to its highly tactical game play. ^[52] On the other hand, there is no evidence that bughouse would hurt experienced chess players. In the words of Levon Aronian: "Bughouse is good for players who know chess well already. Levon Aronian (Լևոն Արոնյան born 6 October 1982) is an Armenian Chess player  . . . I started to play bug when I was already at master level, [you] see, and I think bughouse is good for the imagination, to develop new ideas. "^[52]

Notes

References

• Manson Jr. , John F. & Todd Hoover (1992), Siamese Chess. How To Play. . . How to Win!, Farnsworth Enterprises, ASIN B0006PFGZS
• Penn, David A. & Rommel Dizon (1998), Comprehensive Bughouse Chess, Graham Cracker Studios, ISBN 0-966-98060-3
• Pritchard, D. B. (2007), The Classified Encyclopedia of Chess Variants. David Brine Pritchard (1919 - 2005 was a British Chess writer and indoor game Consultant. (second edition), John Beasley, ISBN 0-95551-680-3
• von Zimmerman, Georg, ed. (2006), Bughouse Chess, Books on Demand GmbH, ISBN 3-833-46811-4, <http://www.bughouse-book.com/>

External links

• Bughouse on the ChessVariants pages
• Errant Fischer's Bughouse Page
• The Bug Board - Forum and software
• bughouse-db.org - FICS bughouse database
• bughouse.be - Database and links

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