Shatranj for four players originated in India during the Muslim era. It was mostly played without dice, and generally with stakes involved. The four players play by themselves (although informal alliances are possible). The green army was associated with spring, element air, and humour blood. Red was associated with summer, element fire, and humour choler. Black was associated with autumn, element earth, and humour melancholy. White was associated with winter, element water, and humour phlegm.

The king, rook, knight, and queen (the queen appears only after promotion), move as in orthodox chess. Pawns, too, move as in orthodox chess, but have no initial double move. There are two sets of pawns for each player that move in different directions. Pawns promote to queen only. The fil jumps two squares diagonally. Kings can be captured. The player whose king remains alone on the board wins the game. A player that captures an enemy king appropriates his pieces.

One mustn't thoughtlessly exchange pieces with an opponent because this will leave the other two players with piece majorities. Remember that the Fil is a quite weak piece that could be sacrificed for a pawn, if this will strengthen the attack.