Chess on a Really Big Board an awful idea. Each player has 256 Pawns and 256 pieces. The average length of a game is likely to be more [than] 2000 moves." Betza also considered starting positions with 16 (one chess set) or 64 (four sets) pieces instead of 32 (two sets), but eventually rejected them. They are as follows: Betza also suggested "Four Board Great Chess", which would have more pieces than the rose that could not make their full moves on smaller boards, and having pawns on the third rank and about 24 pieces in the two rows behind them; and similarly, "Four Board Great
White and Black in chess with an extra tempo. As late as the mid-to-late 19th century, the practice of White moving first had not yet become standard. George Walker in his popular treatise "The Art of Chess-Play: A New Treatise on the Game of Chess" (4th edition 1846), set forth the rules of London's St. George's Chess Club promulgated in June, 1841. "Law III" provided that the player who moved first had the choice of color; if the players played more games at the same sitting, the first move would alternate, but each player would continue to use the same colored pieces as he had