Forchess is a four-person variant of chess developed by the American T. K. Rogers. It uses one standard chess board and two sets of standard pieces. A chess variant is any game derived from, related to or similar to chess in at least one respect. ... Many countries claim to have invented the chess game in some incipient form. ...

History and Motivation

Forchess was developed in Texas around the year 1975 by T. K. Rogers. He wanted to create a pure strategy game with the social dynamic of card games like Bridge. Strategy games are known to train the mind, and Rogers felt that a socially popular one could benefit society. 1975 was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar). ... Contract bridge, usually known simply as bridge, is a trick-taking card game for four players who form two partnerships, or sides. The partners on each side sit opposite one another. ...

Rogers wanted the game to use only standard pieces and a standard board so that everything necessary to play would be readily available. He also did not want to severely limit the number of pieces each player had.

In 1992, Rogers published the instruction set as a 64-page booklet Forchess: The Ultimate Social Game, designed to fit in a shirt pocket. The booklet contained more than just the instructions; it also contained strategies for playing the game and a new technique invented by Rogers for analyzing both chess and Forchess games. He called it influence indicator.

In 1996, Rogers posted a free instruction set on the then newly-founded Intuitor website. He simultaneously began distributing thousands of free brochures. Intuitor is a website that is devoted to educating people on physics. ...

Overview of the Game

The game is played by four people in teams of two. At the outset, each player controls an entire quadrant of the board with a full set of chess pieces (minus one pawn). Partners occupy quadrants diagonally across from each other. The pawn (♙♟) is the weakest and most numerous piece in the game of chess, representing infantry, or more particularly pikemen. ...

All of the pieces move and capture in the same manner as conventional chess, except the pawn, which moves diagonally and captures laterally. There are no checkmates and no stalemates: kings are captured like all other pieces. When a player loses his king, his remaining pieces subsequently become the captor's. The game ends when one team has lost both kings or chooses to concede. Checkmate (frequently shortened to mate) is a situation in chess (and in other boardgames of the chaturanga family) in which one players king is threatened with capture on the next move and there is no way to meet that threat; it is a check from which there is no... Stalemate is a term that originated in chess, that is very widely used metaphorically in other situations where there is conflict or contest between two parties, such as war or political negotiations. ... The king (♔♚) is the most important piece in the game of chess. ...

Partners typically coordinate their moves as part of a single strategy. Thus, communication of that strategy becomes a requirement of the game. Clandestine forms of communication such as code words, furtive gestures, and secret notes are not allowed. All strategizing between partners must be done openly in front of their opponents. This rule lends Forchess much of its social character.

Cutthroat Forchess

Forchess even has a variant called Cutthroat, in which there are no partners and everyone is out for themself. Successful strategy in Cutthroat Forchess can differ greatly from "regular" Forchess, as fluid alliances may spark a game of psychological manipulation. In this respect, Cutthroat shares strategy elements with the board game Risk. A typical game of Risk in play. ...

Forchess Community

The first Forchess club (called the Forchess Knights) was founded in 1992 by the inventor's two teenage sons. Advertised by word of mouth, it eventually had regular members from more than a third of the high schools in the county. Weekly meetings continued until 1999, when dwindling membership forced the club to fold.

External Links

• The official Forchess homepage
• Forchess discussion forum