[dbecker]

I've played a fair amount of bughouse. You are right about the point about bughouse strategy. Stipulated.

These guys are enjoying themselves. They feel rejuvenated for work after playing it for a few minutes.

Why impose your priorities on them and claim "it's a terrible game" and suggest they need a "solution."

It'd be like Lebron James telling you not to play H-O-R-S-E because it won't help you become competitive with him at basketball. If you like playing H-O-R-S-E, it doesn't matter that it won't help you beat him.

[ThePawnBreak]

I think it's because when one of them figures out he can win almost every game by simply moving very fast, the game won't be enjoyable any more. And that is bound to happen sooner or later.

[xenophanes]

I'm not imposing anything on anyone. Rulesets have a logic of their own.

[camperman]

I find it amusing that because of your self-imposed slavery to The Rules, you could never have come up with the game of bughouse in the first place. Two boards? Chess is played with one! That's the rules! Dropping pieces on the board? That's a terrible idea! Once a piece is captured, it's captured! Four players? What heresy! Chess is the purest form of mind to mind combat!

Besides, this article has very little to do with bughouse per se and everything to do with relaxing the mind in between work sprints. Seymour Cray used to do it by digging tunnels. I doubt that his tunnels conformed to the Rules of Tunnels but he did get quite a bit of work done in his lifetime, which is the point here.

[dfan]

His self-imposed slavery is to logic, not to The Rules.