Bughouse Chess Strategy: How to Play Like A Pro

Bughouse Chess Strategy

We’ll describe a basic bughouse chess strategy to make your game stronger. Use our tips to secure more wins and have fun competing in this intellectual challenge!

Other Variants of the Game

If you don’t have 4 players, you can still enjoy the match with just 2 people. You’ll still require 2 boards. It’s just that 1 player is responsible for moves on both of them.

And if you have 6 friends, no need for some of them to wait! Organize a big match, just make sure you have 3 boards and that many pieces.

Bughouse Chess Strategy: Tips To Boost Your Results

Bughouse Chess Strategy Tips To Boost Your Results

The key feature of this challenge is that pieces are constantly being recycled. They never disappear from the board forever.

If you want your team to succeed, focus on the following:

  • White should try to attack and strive for checkmate situations. Don’t go for lots of exchanges: you’ll need pieces for cornering the opponent
  • Black should rely on slow progress with solid positions and a good defense. Feel free to make exchanges to provide your partner with material

In case you need more specific tips, here they go:

  • Protect weak cells near your monarch, especially after castling (to avoid drops)
  • Never attack recklessly. Keep some pieces in the reserve and deploy them when your position is solid. Especially if it’s a knight or queen
  • Drop your pawns near the promotion row. So that you can quickly get a more efficient piece

Watch Pros to Become a Pro

If you’re determined to become better at bughouse chess strategy, aspire to advanced players. They have a deeper understanding of the game. If you follow their logic, you’ll get the hang of nuances as well.

Luckily, you don’t have to attend offline championships to witness such matches. There are lots of videos online. Additionally, some people record their games and upload them to Youtube for others to watch. For example, check out this one.