Chess of the Four Seasons

[Dept of PMM Artists & things]

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Setup:

Chess of the Four Seasons is a four player chess game which comes was described in the Spanish King Alfonso X El Sabio’s Book of Games (1283).  Each player has eight pieces (4 pawns, 1 bishop, 1 knight, 1 rook, and 1 king), setup as shown in the diagram.  The pieces are colored green, red, black and white and set up in that order, counter-clockwise, around the board.

Piece Movement:

Chess of the Four Seasons is played in the style of medieval chess, which for a modern chess player means: 

• The rook and king may not castle.
• Pawns may not make an opening move of two spaces.
• Pawns promote to Generals.  Generals may move only one space diagonally.
• The Bishops always move exactly two spaces diagonally, and may jump over pieces to do so. 
• Pawns move forward one space at a time and capture on the diagonal ahead of them.  In Chess of the Four Seasons each players pawns will move in the direction they begin the game facing (two going one direction and two the other).
• Rooks move any number of spaces horizontally or vertically.
• Knights move two spaces forward plus one space to the side in any direction.  They may jump over any other pieces.
• Kings move one space in any direction.
• When you end a move in a space occupied by your opponent, you capture that piece.
• When a King is threatened with capture it is in "Check".  When the King can not escape it is called "Checkmate".

Play:

The green player moves first, followed by red, then black and finally white.  The goal is to capture your opponent’s kings (through checkmate).  More then one player’s pieces can be involved in checkmating a king, but the player who moves the last piece into position gets the mate.  When you have checkmated an opponent, their king is removed from the board, but the remaining pieces (if any) stay.  The player who captured the king now controls those pieces as if they were their own and the game continues (no, they do not get an additional turn).

Scoring:

During the tournament we will be keeping a score for each player.  These will be used only if we run out of time.

• For each piece you capture: 1 point.
• For a checkmate: 5 points plus 1 point for each new piece you now control.

Seasons:

Each color in the game not only corresponds to a season but also one of the four elements and humours.  Green represents spring, air, and blood; Red represents summer, fire, and choler; Black represents autumn, earth, and melancholy; White represents winter, water, and phlegm.