Bughouse, the most frenetic of chess variants, is continuously growing in popularity. Most scholastic tournaments (whether local or national) offer a bughouse tournament as a side event. Such tournaments are extremely popular, and one can only expect to see more of them.
For those who are not familiar, bughouse is a variant in which two teams of two players compete against each other. Bughouse is played on two boards; one teammate takes White while the other takes Black. Normal chess rules apply. The primary novelty is that captured pieces are handed to one's partner who has the option of placing the piece on an empty square on any turn.
A typical game of bughouse in progress.
Bughouse is often beloved by students, but decried by coaches. Let's take a quick look at some of the positive and negative sides of students playing bughouse.
Positives:
Negatives:
Overall, bughouse is a fun and energetic way to focus on tactical play while developing teamwork skills. Just be careful to exercise moderation, and don't let it get in the way of your students' serious chess play.