Bughouse - chess variant (two-board team chess)
Bughouse
Definition
Bughouse is a fast-paced team variant of chess played on two boards by four players working in pairs. Whenever a player captures a piece, that piece is immediately handed to their partner, who may “drop” it on their own board instead of making a normal move. The game ends when either board delivers checkmate, flags, or resigns, so the fortunes of the two boards are inseparably linked. The variant is also known as Siamese Chess, Tandem Chess, or Doubles.
Basic Rules & Mechanics
- Teams & Color. Two partners sit side-by-side. One plays White on board A and Black on board B so that both partners move simultaneously.
- Captured Pieces Become Reserves. Every time you capture a piece, hand it to your partner; it becomes part of their pool of pieces in reserve.
- Drops. On your turn you may place (“drop”) any reserve piece on an empty square, counting as your move. Pawns may not be dropped on the first or eighth rank, and a dropped pawn that reaches the eighth promotes as usual.
- Check & Checkmate. A dropped piece may give check or even mate. If either board is checkmated (or flags), that team loses.
- Time Control. Blitz settings (e.g., 3 + 0, 5 + 0, or 2 + 1) are standard; partners may vocally request or withhold pieces (“sit!,” “knight please!”).
Usage in Chess Culture
Bughouse is most visible in informal, scholastic, and online settings— college dorms, weekend congresses, and servers such as FICS or chesscombughouse. Although not recognized by FIDE, many classical grandmasters unwind with bughouse after serious rounds, and midnight bughouse side events are staples at large U.S. Opens.
Strategic Significance
- Initiative Trumps Material. Since pieces can appear out of nowhere, momentum and king safety are far more critical than long-term material balances.
- Piece Imbalances. Knights are notoriously dangerous
when dropped on
e6,f7,g6, orh7; a single pawn ong7can spell mate. - Communication. Partners coordinate: “Don’t trade queens!” means the teammate’s king is already in trouble.
- Sitting. Delaying one’s move to starve the opponent of pieces is a legal (and common) tactic, forcing the other board to play from a dwindling clock.
Historical Background
The earliest written references trace to the 1960s at the University of Washington, but the game exploded in the 1980s in New York’s Manhattan Chess Club. The term “bughouse”—American slang for a madhouse—aptly describes the cacophony around the tables. Online servers standardized the modern rules in the mid-1990s, allowing international duos to form overnight.
Illustrative Example
Consider a typical tactic on Board A (White to move), with Black’s king fianchettoed:
White sacrifices the bishop on h6. If the partner on Board B
can soon supply a knight, White will drop it on
g5—a brutal check that often forces mate with a follow-up
queen or pawn drop on h7.
Interesting Facts & Anecdotes
- Future world-top GM Hikaru Nakamura honed lightning reflexes by winning the World Open Bughouse event at just 12 years old.
- The 2005 World Open’s midnight bughouse tournament drew 160 players and paid a first prize of $700—larger than several classical side sections!
- Legend says Bobby Fischer once watched a bughouse brawl at the Marshall Club and quipped, “That’s not chess—it’s hand-grenade.”
- Pawns are affectionately called “pawn-bombs” because a single
drop on
f7can obliterate a castled fortress.
Related Terms
See also: drop, initiative, blitz, tempo.