These rules describe exactly how the current Bishops game engine behaves. As of April 18, 2026

♟️ Players & Turn Order

• There are four players: White, Grey, Black, Pink.
• Turns proceed clockwise.
• On your turn, you make one normal chess move with your own pieces.

🧩 Board Layout

• The board is 12×12.
• The central 8×8 area is the main play zone.
• The four 2×2 corner blocks are permanently out of play.
• No piece may enter any corner-block square under any circumstance.

⚔️ Movement & Captures

• All pieces move as in standard chess.
• Any piece may capture any opposing color; the engine does not enforce alliances.
• Check and checkmate apply normally, and you may put any king in check.
• A player in check must get out of check on their turn.

🪙 Pawn Rules

• Pawns move and capture like standard chess pawns.
• A pawn promotes when it reaches the far edge of the central 8×8 area in its direction of travel.
• Promotion is to a Queen.

🔄 King/Queen Swap

• On your first turn only, you may swap your King and Queen.
• The engine treats this swap as a setup action, not a move.
• After swapping, you must still make a normal move before your turn ends.

🏰 Castling

• Castling is allowed in both directions, following standard chess conditions.

💀 Elimination

• When a king is checkmated or a player resigns, that color is eliminated.
• All of that player’s pieces are removed from the board.
• Play continues with the next player in clockwise order.

⚔️ Duel Phase

• When only two colors remain, the game becomes a standard chess duel.
• The duel is played entirely on the central 8×8 area.

🛠️ Engine Notes

• The King/Queen swap is explicitly implemented as a setup action, not a full move.
• Any printed or external rules that differ from this page are not enforced by the current engine.