Dragonchess is a
three-dimensional
Three-dimensional space (also: 3D space, 3-space or, rarely, tri-dimensional space) is a geometric setting in which three values (called ''parameters'') are required to determine the position of an element (i.e., point). This is the informal ...
fantasy
chess variant
A chess variant is a game related to, derived from, or inspired by chess. Such variants can differ from chess in many different ways.
"International" or "Western" chess itself is one of a family of games which have related origins and could be co ...
created by
Gary Gygax
Ernest Gary Gygax ( ; July 27, 1938 – March 4, 2008) was an American game designer and author best known for co-creating the pioneering role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') with Dave Arneson.
In the 1960s, Gygax created an ...
, co-creator of the famed
role-playing game
A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...
''
Dungeons & Dragons
''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical Studies Rules ...
''. The game was introduced in 1985 in issue No. 100 of ''
Dragon Magazine
Dragon Magazine may refer to:
* ''Dragon'' (magazine), an American magazine for ''Dungeons & Dragons'' players
* ''Dragon Magazine'' (Fujimi Shobo), a Japanese light novel magazine
{{disambig ...
''.
Boards and pieces
The Dragonchess gameboard consists of three vertically stacked 12×8 levels. The upper level (blue and white) represents the air, the middle level (green and amber) represents the land, and the lower level (red and brown) is the
subterranean world .
The Dragonchess game pieces (42 per player) are an ensemble of characters and monsters inspired or derived from
fantasy settings in ''Dungeons & Dragons''. Intricate inter- and intra-level game piece capabilities are defined. As in
chess
Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...
, White moves first and then players take turns, and the game is won by delivering
checkmate
Checkmate (often shortened to mate) is any game position in chess and other chess-like games in which a player's king is in check (threatened with ) and there is no possible escape. Checkmating the opponent wins the game.
In chess, the king is ...
(inescapable attack) to the enemy king.
Upper
Sylph
A sylph (also called sylphid) is an air spirit stemming from the 16th-century works of Paracelsus, who describes sylphs as (invisible) beings of the air, his elementals of air. A significant number of subsequent literary and occult works have be ...
(S)
:On level 3:
:* can
move one step diagonally forward, or
capture one step straight forward;
:* can
capture on the square directly below on level 2.
:On level 2:
:* can
move to the square directly above on level 3, or to one of the player's six Sylph starting squares.
Griffon (G)
:On level 3:
:* can move and capture by jumping in the following pattern: two steps diagonally followed by one step
orthogonally outward;
:* can move and capture one step
triagonally to level 2.
:On level 2:
:* can move and capture one step diagonally;
:* can move and capture one step triagonally to level 3.
Dragon
A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...
(R)
:*can move and capture as a chess
king
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
+
bishop
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
on level 3;
:* can capture
remotely (without leaving level 3) on the square directly below on level 2, or on any square orthogonally adjacent to that square.
Middle
Warrior
A warrior is a person specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracies, class, or caste.
History
Warriors seem to have been p ...
(W)
:* can move and capture like a chess
pawn
Pawn most often refers to:
* Pawn (chess), the weakest and most numerous piece in the game
* Pawnbroker or pawnshop, a business that provides loans by taking personal property as collateral
Pawn may also refer to:
Places
* Pawn, Oregon, an his ...
on level 2 but without the initial two-step option;
:*
promotes to Hero when reaching the furthest rank.
Oliphant (O)
:* can move and capture like a chess
rook
Rook (''Corvus frugilegus'') is a bird of the corvid family. Rook or rooks may also refer to:
Games
*Rook (chess), a piece in chess
*Rook (card game), a trick-taking card game
Military
* Sukhoi Su-25 or Rook, a close air support aircraft
* USS ...
on level 2.
Unicorn
The unicorn is a legendary creature that has been described since antiquity as a beast with a single large, pointed, spiraling horn projecting from its forehead.
In European literature and art, the unicorn has for the last thousand years o ...
(U)
:* can move and capture like a chess
knight
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...
on level 2.
Hero
A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ...
(H)
:On level 2:
:* can move and capture one or two unblockable steps diagonally;
:* can move and capture one step
triagonally to levels 1 or 3.
:On levels 1 and 3:
:* can move and capture back to the square on level 2 the Hero previously left.
Thief
Theft is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shorthand term for some ...
(T)
:* can move and capture like a chess
bishop
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
on level 2.
Cleric
Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...
(C)
:On any level:
:* can move and capture like a chess
king
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
;
:* can move and capture to the square directly above or directly below on an adjacent level.
Mage
Mage most commonly refers to:
* Mage (paranormal) or magician, a practitioner of magic derived from supernatural or occult sources
* Mage (fantasy) or magician, a type of character in mythology, folklore, and fiction
*Mage, a character class in s ...
(M)
:On level 2:
:* can move and capture like a chess
queen
Queen or QUEEN may refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom
** List of queens regnant
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
.
:On levels 1 and 3:
:* can
move one step orthogonally.
:On any level:
:* can move and capture one or two steps (blockable) directly above or directly below to one of the other levels.
King
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
(K)
:On level 2:
:* can move and capture like a chess
king
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
;
:* can move and capture to the square directly below on level 1 or directly above on level 3.
:On levels 1 and 3:
:* can
move to (only) the same square on level 2 the King previously left.
Paladin
The Paladins, also called the Twelve Peers, are twelve legendary knights, the foremost members of Charlemagne's court in the 8th century. They first appear in the medieval (12th century) ''chanson de geste'' cycle of the Matter of France, where ...
(P)
:On level 2:
:*can move and capture as a chess
king
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
+
knight
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...
.
:On levels 1 and 3:
:*can move and capture like a chess
king
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
.
:On any level:
:*can
move to the other levels using a knight-like move: one level up or down followed by two steps orthogonally, or two levels up or down followed by one step orthogonally.
Lower
Dwarf
Dwarf or dwarves may refer to:
Common uses
*Dwarf (folklore), a being from Germanic mythology and folklore
* Dwarf, a person or animal with dwarfism
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities
* Dwarf (''Dungeons & Dragons''), a humanoid ...
(D)
:On level 1:
:* can
move one step straight forward or sideways, or
capture one step diagonally forward;
:* can
capture on the square directly above on level 2.
:On level 2:
:* can
move one step straight forward or sideways, or
capture one step diagonally forward;
:* can
move to the square directly below on level 1.
Basilisk
In European bestiaries and legends, a basilisk ( or ) is a legendary reptile reputed to be a serpent king, who causes death to those who look into its eyes. According to the ''Naturalis Historia'' of Pliny the Elder, the basilisk of Cyrene is ...
(B)
:* can move and capture one step diagonally forward or straight forward on level 1, or
move one step straight backward;
:* automatically
freezes (immobilizes) an enemy piece on the square directly above on level 2, whether the Basilisk moves to the space below or the enemy moves to the space above, and until the Basilisk moves away or is captured.
Elemental
An elemental is a mythic being that is described in occult and alchemical works from around the time of the European Renaissance, and particularly elaborated in the 16th century works of Paracelsus. According to Paracelsus and his subsequent fo ...
(E)
:On level 1:
:* can move and capture one or two steps orthogonally;
:* can
move one step diagonally;
:* can
capture in the following pattern: one step orthogonally followed by the square directly above on level 2.
:On level 2:
:* can move and capture in the following pattern: the square directly below on level 1 followed by one step orthogonally.
Move notation
Recording moves is done the same as in
algebraic notation for chess, extended to a 12×8 board, with the addition of a numeric prefix (
1,
2, or
3) in front of each square coordinate to identify the level. So for example, White's Elemental starts on square 1g1 (level 1, square g1); Black's King starts on 2g8; and so on.
Notes
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
External links
Dragonchessby Edward Jackman, ''
The Chess Variant Pages
''The Chess Variant Pages'' is a non-commercial website devoted to chess variants. It was created by Hans Bodlaender in 1995. The site is "run by hobbyists for hobbyists" and is "the most wide-ranging and authoritative web site on chess variants". ...
''
More on Dragonchessby
Hans Bodlaender
Hans Leo Bodlaender (born April 21, 1960) is a Dutch computer scientist, a professor of computer science at Utrecht University. Bodlaender is known for his work on graph algorithms and parameterized complexity and in particular for algorithms relat ...
, ''
The Chess Variant Pages
''The Chess Variant Pages'' is a non-commercial website devoted to chess variants. It was created by Hans Bodlaender in 1995. The site is "run by hobbyists for hobbyists" and is "the most wide-ranging and authoritative web site on chess variants". ...
''
*
Dragonchessa simple program by Ed Friedlander
(Java
Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...
)
{{Chess variants, state=collapsed
1985 in chess
Board games introduced in 1985
Chess variants
Fairy chess
Gary Gygax games