I'm Already Live! | 4 Player Chess with @BotezLive @GothamChess and @akaNemsko
TL;DR
Hikaru, Alexandra Botez, Levy (GothamChess), and Nemo play several games of 4-player chess on chess.com — first free-for-all, then teams. The stream is chaotic and comedic, with players learning the format on the fly, debating alliances, and making tactical blunders while joking about coordination failures. ---
Key Concepts
4-Player Chess
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Chess variant with four players on a single board, each controlling pieces from one corner; players can checkmate opponents to earn points and eliminate them
Free-for-all mode
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All four players compete independently; ganging up on one player is common but frowned upon by some
Teams mode
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Two teams of two; goal is to checkmate either opponent; teammates cannot take each other's pieces
Points system
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Capturing pieces and delivering checkmates earn points; checkmate is worth significantly more (around 20 points) than material alone
Promotion in 4-player chess
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Pawns must travel much further to promote than in standard chess, reaching the opposing side of the board
Delay/increment
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Time controls include a move delay, giving players a few seconds buffer before their clock runs down
Notes
§Game 1 – Free-for-All (Chaotic Setup)
- Colors assigned incorrectly at the start; admins instructed the group to abort and reset
- Players ignored the abort and just played on with swapped colors
- Hikaru started low on time due to setup confusion; others jokingly stalled him with small talk ("How was your day, Hikaru?")
- Nemo unfamiliar with the rules but performing surprisingly well
- Key observation: king and queen placement on the board is swapped vs. standard chess — Hikaru jokes this vindicates Hollywood films that always get it wrong
- Levy was the first eliminated; ended with very few points
- Hikaru checkmated and accumulated the most points despite queen loss
- Alexandra had a moment where she could have taken Hikaru's queen for ~20 points and won, but chose not to in order to preserve long-term trust/alliance
§Free-for-All — Alliance Dynamics
- Players debated forming alliances mid-game ("do you want to gang up on Hikaru or free-for-all?")
- Compared to Risk and poker in terms of reading opponents and timing alliances
- Alexandra's decision to forgo the winning queen capture framed as a long-term trust investment
- Levy proposed a joke insider tip: next game would be teams, with himself and Nemo as "by far the two best players" against Hikaru and Alexandra
§Game 2 – Teams (Hikaru + Alexandra vs. Levy + Nemo)
- Fast time control — described as "bullet chess"
- Communication was poor; players often forgot who their teammate was and nearly captured their own teammate's pieces
- Hikaru and Alexandra struggled to coordinate attacks
- Levy and Nemo coordinated better; Levy delivered checkmate
- Key lesson: trading queens early in teams is a significant mistake (leaves king exposed, reduces attacking power)
- Hikaru noted his strategy was "too solid" and not optimal for the teams format
§Game 3 – Teams (Rematch, same teams)
- Alexandra attempted a quick queen trade/scholar's mate-style opening; backfired
- Hikaru defended well but Alexandra's king became overexposed after early pawn grabs
- Levy checkmated Alexandra; Nemo and Levy won again
- Post-game analysis: the knight on k3 going away after the pawn grab was the critical weakening move
§Game 4 – Teams (Levy + Alexandra vs. Hikaru + Nemo)
- New team pairings
- Levy and Alexandra attempted to coordinate but struggled with pawn direction confusion (disorientation from board orientation)
- Discussion of en passant existing in 4-player chess — confirmed yes, but very rare
- Hikaru and Nemo won; Hikaru described as "too solid to checkmate"
- Final game ended with Levy blundering his queen in an overexcited tactical sequence; Hikaru responded with "what?" and the game was lost
§Observations on 4-Player Chess as a Format
- Teams mode preferred over free-for-all by most players — free-for-all leads to ganging up and feels unpleasant
- Board orientation is genuinely disorienting — players confuse which direction pawns move, especially for teammates on adjacent sides
- Coordinate system not visible by default; can be enabled in settings (cog wheel → coordinates)
- Pre-moves can also be enabled in settings
- The format rewards piece coordination and king safety principles from standard chess, but promotion timelines and tactical patterns are very different
Actionable Takeaways
- Don't trade queens early in 4-player teams chess — it leaves your king exposed and removes your most powerful attacking piece
- Enable coordinates in chess.com 4-player settings (cog wheel → first option) to avoid confusion about pawn promotion squares
- In teams mode, identify your target early and both players commit to attacking the same opponent rather than splitting focus
- King safety still matters — grabbing pawns that open your king is punished the same way as in standard chess
- En passant is legal in 4-player chess, though rare in practice
Quotes Worth Keeping
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"It reminds me of how when you learn to pre-move in bullet and then you started winning all of a sudden." — Nemo to Levy
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"I'm playing random moves and trying to fix the overlay." — Hikaru
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"Taking Alexandra's Queen is like when Rock Lee takes off his belt — that's when you unlock his full powers." — Levy
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"Why does no one ever checkmate Hikaru?" / "I think he's just scary." — Levy and Nemo
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"I got so excited, I thought my move was so smart, and then Hikaru went 'what' and I was like… oh." — Alexandra