What Is A 12-Player Chess?

Chess itself is already a variation from an ancient game called Chaturanga, which, through time, has suffered the influence of many cultures and ended up becoming what we call modern chess.

Starting with the board and all the way to the pieces, Chaturanga even became Shatranj before acquiring the name chess.

Now, from the known occidental version of chess, first played somewhere in the 16th century until today, the way the game is played has also suffered several changes.

Once enthusiasts realized that the game could be played by more than two players at the same time, this apparent one-on-one game became something entirely different.

What Are The Current Variations Of Chess?

There are thousands of known variations of chess and a large number of unknown ones.

One of the most famous is Chess960, which was invented by Grandmaster Bobby Fischer, arguably the best chess player ever, and became quite famous among players and scholars of the sport.

The biggest difference between Chess960, or Fischer Random Chess, as it is also called, and the common version is the opening position of the pieces.

While on the traditional version, the rooks take the extreme positions on the back line, followed by the knights, bishops, and the queen and king in the central squares, in Chess960, the two knights and bishops are put together.

With that change, the black pieces have the following disposition: the knights start between the rook and the king, followed by the two bishops, the queen and the other rook.

Whites, however, are set as follows (left to right of the back line): bishop, rook, queen, king, rook, knights, and bishop. Being a great student of openings, Fischer designed this starting position to create more efficient variations to his famous e4, or King pawn, opening move.

12-Player Chess

With a peculiar board design, it can be played by 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, or 12 players depending on the disposition of pieces. This outstanding board was first designed by Hridayeshwar Singh Bhati, a disabled Indian kid.

The prodigy was only nine by then, and the invention awarded him the title of the youngest patent holder in India and the youngest disabled patent holder in the world.

This variation, which kept most of the rules and pieces, can be played by 2 teams of 4, 5, or 6 players, 2 teams of 2 players with alternated sets or not, and with sets placed next to each other or with pairs of sets facing each other, 2 teams of 3, 3 teams of 2, 3 or 4, and 4 teams of 2 or 3.

As for the movement of pieces on the central part of the board, even though the rules haven’t still been set in stone, they should follow the ones of Sovereign chess.

In Sovereign chess, neutral pieces are set on the board and they can be used by both players to try and impose their strategies.