Chess 4 ®
Chess is no longer just a battle, now it's WAR! ®
MCMLXXX (1980) WOW Toys, Inc.
That slogan sounds familiar. Fouray: The Battle just became a war... yes, that's it. Fouray came along years before (1966) and this is the WOW Toys, Inc. take on four-player chess. There's nothing new; three rows have been added to each side of a traditional board to make room for four armies. But you know, I don't care how many people copy the same idea, it's still a good idea. A few years ago I thought I invented it until I started looking around online.
This is a great quality, well made game (I've seen poor ones). The board is a sturdy, glossy board with well done, simple graphics. The pieces are our old friends The Stauntons, this time wearing black, white, gold and silver. The whole set has a classy, somber color tone. The board quarter-folds and the boxed game stores away nicely in about 10.5 squre inches of space.
If I were to make any improvements I'd have the pieces a bit bigger, lighten up the colors a bit and maybe put some weights in the chessmen. Except for the weights, I'm describing Fouray which by default is now my favorite four-player variation.
Chess 4 ® is definitely worth having. One feature it has that others don't (not even Fouray) is the reversible board with a traditional 8x8 on the back, for two players. I give this one 8 out of 10 stars.
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