![Kieseritzky Cubic Chess board](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Kieseritzky_Cubic_Chess_board.png)
Three-dimensional chess (or 3‑D chess) is any
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 ...
that replaces the two-dimensional
board with a three-dimensional array of cells between which the pieces can move. In practical play, this is usually achieved by boards representing different layers being laid out next to each other.
Three-dimensional variants have existed since at least the late 19th century, one of the oldest being ''Raumschach'' (), invented in 1907 by
Ferdinand Maack and considered the classic 3‑D game. Maack founded a Raumschach club in Hamburg in 1919, which remained active until World War II.
Chapter 25 of
David Pritchard's ''The Classified Encyclopedia of Chess Variants'' discusses some 50 such variations extending chess to three dimensions as well as a handful of higher-dimensional variants. Chapter 11 covers variants using multiple boards normally set side by side which can also be considered to add an extra dimension to chess.
"Three-dimensional chess" is used colloquially to describe complex, dynamic systems with many competing entities and interests, including politics, diplomacy and warfare. To describe an individual as "playing three-dimensional chess" implies a higher-order understanding and mastery of the system beyond the comprehension of their peers or ordinary observers, who are implied to be "playing" regular chess.
Three-dimensional chess has often appeared in
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
—the ''
Star Trek
''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...
'' franchise in particular—contributing to the game's familiarity.
Kubikschach
Lionel Kieseritzky
Lionel Adalbert Bagration Felix Kieseritzky (russian: Лионель Адальберт Багратион Феликс Кизерицкий; – ) was a Baltic Germans, Baltic German chess master and Chess theoretician, theoretician, famous for ...
(1806–1853) developed ''Kubikschach'' (German for Cube Chess) in 1851. He used an 8×8×8 board, labelling the third dimension with
Greek letters
The Greek alphabet has been used to write the Greek language since the late 9th or early 8th century BCE. It is derived from the earlier Phoenician alphabet, and was the earliest known alphabetic script to have distinct letters for vowels as w ...
alpha through theta. This format was later picked up by
Maack in 1907 when developing ''Raumschach''. According to
David Pritchard, this format is:
the most popular 3‑D board amongst inventors, and at the same time the most mentally indigestible for the players ... Less demanding on spatial vision, and hence more practical, are those games confined to three 8×8 boards and games with boards smaller than 8×8.
Raumschach
Ferdinand Maack (1861–1930) developed ''Raumschach'' (German for Space Chess) in 1907. He contended that for chess to be more like modern warfare, attack should be possible not only from a two-dimensional plane but also from above (aerial) and below (underwater). Maack's original formulation was for an 8×8×8 board, but after experimenting with smaller boards eventually settled on 5×5×5 as best. Other obvious differences from standard chess include two additional pawns per player, and a special piece (two per player) named
''unicorn''.
Board
The Raumschach 3‑D board can be thought of as a cube sliced into five equal spaces across each of its three major coordinal planes. This sectioning yields a 5×5×5 (125 cube) gamespace. The cubes (usually represented by squares and often called ''cells'') alternate in color in all three dimensions.
![Raumschach gameboard](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Raumschach_gameboard.png)
The horizontal levels are denoted by capital letters A through E. Ranks and files of a level are denoted using
algebraic notation. White starts on the A and B levels and Black starts on E and D.
Rules
White moves first. The game objective, as in standard chess, is
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 ...
. Rooks, bishops, and knights move as they do in chess in any given plane.
''Star Trek'' Tri-Dimensional Chess
''Tri-Dimensional Chess'', ''Tri-D Chess'', or ''Three-Dimensional Chess'' is a chess variant which can be seen in many ''
Star Trek
''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...
'' TV episodes and movies, starting with
the original series
''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry that follows the adventures of the starship and its crew. It later acquired the retronym of ''Star Trek: The Original Series'' (''TOS'') to distingui ...
(TOS) and proceeding in updated forms throughout the subsequent movies and spinoff series.
The original ''Star Trek'' prop was crafted using boards from 3D Checkers and
3D Tic-Tac-Toe
3D tic-tac-toe, also known by the trade name Qubic, is an abstract strategy board game, generally for two players. It is similar in concept to traditional tic-tac-toe but is played in a cubical array of cells, usually 4x4x4. Players take turns pla ...
sets available in stores at the time (games also seen in TOS episodes) and adding chess pieces from the futuristic-looking ''Classic'' chess set designed by
Peter Ganine in 1961. The design retained the 64 squares of a traditional
chessboard
A chessboard is a used to play chess. It consists of 64 squares, 8 rows by 8 columns, on which the chess pieces are placed. It is square in shape and uses two colours of squares, one light and one dark, in a chequered pattern. During play, the bo ...
, but distributed them onto separate platforms in a hierarchy of spatial levels, suggesting to audiences how chess adapted to a future predominated by space travel. Rules for the game were never invented within the series – in fact, the boards are sometimes not even aligned consistently from one scene to the next within a single episode.
The Tri-D chessboard was further realized by its inclusion in the ''
Star Trek Star Fleet Technical Manual
The ''Star Trek Star Fleet Technical Manual'' (, Ballantine Books 1975, reprinted 1986, 1996, 2006) is a fiction reference book by Franz Joseph Schnaubelt, about the workings of Starfleet, a military, exploratory, and diplomatic organization f ...
'' by
Franz Joseph
Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I (german: Franz Joseph Karl, hu, Ferenc József Károly, 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 2 December 1848 until his ...
, who created starting positions for the pieces and short, additional rules.
Rules development
The complete Standard Rules for the game were originally developed in 1976 by Andrew Bartmess (with encouragement from Joseph) and were subsequently expanded by him into a commercially available booklet. A free summary in English of the Standard Rules is contained on Charles Roth's website, including omissions and ambiguities regarding piece moves across the four Tri‑D gameboard 2×2 ''attack boards''.
A complete set of tournament rules for Tri-Dimensional Chess written by Jens Meder is available on his website. Meder's rules are based on
FIDE
The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( Fédération Internationale des Échecs), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national c ...
's rules more than Andrew Bartmess' Standard Rules, with some deviations too. A repository of Tournament Rules games can be found on the website of Michael Klein.
Board details
Plans for constructing a Tri‑D chessboard can be found on ''
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" ...
'', as well as in Bartmess' ''Tri‑D Chess Rules''. Details for building a travel-size board are included on Meder's website.
Software
There is software for playing Tri‑D Chess. ''Parmen'' (potentially named after a lead character in the episode "
Plato's Stepchildren
"Plato's Stepchildren" is the tenth episode of the third season of the American science fiction television series '' Star Trek''. Written by Meyer Dolinsky and directed by David Alexander, it was first broadcast on November 22, 1968.
In the ep ...
") is a Windows application written by Doug Keenan and available free on his website. A free Android version of Tri‑D Chess is offered by AwfSoft.
Other three-dimensional chess variants
![Parallel Worlds Chess init config](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/Parallel_Worlds_Chess_init_config.png)
*
Alice chess
Alice chess is a chess variant invented in 1953 by V. R. Parton which employs two chessboards rather than one, and a slight (but significant) alteration to the standard rules of chess. The game is named after the main character "Alice" in Lewis C ...
— two adjacent 8×8 boards
*
Cubic chess — a 6×6×6 variant
*
Dragonchess
Dragonchess is a three-dimensional fantasy chess variant created by Gary Gygax, co-creator of the famed role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons''. The game was introduced in 1985 in issue No. 100 of '' Dragon Magazine''.
Boards and pieces
The ...
— three stacked 8×12 boards, a fantasy variant
*
Flying chess — two adjacent 8×8 boards
*
Millennium 3D chess
Millennium 3D chess is a three-dimensional chess variant created by William L. d'Agostino in 2001. It employs three vertically stacked 8×8 boards, with each player controlling a standard set of chess pieces. The inventor describes his objective ...
— an 8×8×3 variant retaining most of the rules of standard chess
*
Parallel worlds chess
Parallel worlds chess is a three-dimensional chess variant invented by R. Wayne Schmittberger in the 1980s. The gamespace comprises three 8×8 chessboards at different levels. Each side commands two full chess armies on levels 1 and 3. Level 2 b ...
— an 8×8×3 variant with two armies per player
*
Space shogi
Space shogi is a three-dimensional shogi variant invented by George R. Dekle Sr. in 1987. The gamespace comprises nine 9×9 shogi boards stacked vertically. Each player controls a standard set of shogi pieces.
Space shogi was included in ''Wor ...
— a 9×9×9
shogi variant
A shogi variant is a game related to or derived from shogi (Japanese chess). Many shogi variants have been developed over the centuries, ranging from some of the largest chess-type games ever played to some of the smallest. A few of these variant ...
In fiction
As well as in ''Star Trek'', multi-dimensional chess games are featured in various fictional works, usually in a futuristic or science fiction setting. Examples include
''Nova'', ''
Blake's 7
''Blake's 7'' (sometimes styled ''Blakes7'') is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. Four 13-episode series were broadcast on BBC1 between 1978 and 1981. It was created by Terry Nation, who also wrote the first ...
'',
''UFO'', ''
Starman Jones
''Starman Jones'', a 1953 science-fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein, features a farm boy who wants to go to the stars. Charles Scribner's Sons published the book as part of the Heinlein juveniles series.
Plot summary
Max Jones works the fami ...
'', ''
Unreal 2
''Unreal II: The Awakening'' is a first-person shooter video game developed by Legend Entertainment and published by Infogrames under the Atari brand for Microsoft Windows, the game was later ported to Microsoft's Xbox console by Tantalus. I ...
'', the
Legion of Super-Heroes
The Legion of Super-Heroes is a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Otto Binder and artist Al Plastino, the Legion is a group of superpowered beings living in the 30th and 31st c ...
franchise, ''
Doctor Who
''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...
'', ''
The Big Bang Theory
''The Big Bang Theory'' is an American television sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, both of whom served as executive producers on the series, along with Steven Molaro, all of whom also served as head writers. It premiered on CBS ...
'', and ''
The Lego Movie
''The Lego Movie'' is a 2014 computer-animated adventure comedy film written and directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller from a story by Lord, Miller, and Dan and Kevin Hageman. Based on the Lego line of construction toys, its story focu ...
''. The concept is parodied in ''
Futurama
''Futurama'' is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of the professional slacker Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1000 years a ...
'' as "tridimensional ''
Scrabble
''Scrabble'' is a word game in which two to four players score points by placing tiles, each bearing a single letter, onto a game board divided into a 15×15 grid of squares. The tiles must form words that, in crossword fashion, read left t ...
''".
Notes
References
Bibliography
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)
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Further reading
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External links
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;Raumschach:
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*
*
* — a simple program (in
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 ...
)
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;''Star Trek'' Tri‑D:
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* — commercial site; history of Standard Rules
* — free summary of Standard Rules
* — Tri‑D Chess Tournament Rules, boards, and more
* — Tournament Rules game library and more
*
* — Tri-Dimensional Chess Tracker; web-based Perl program
{{Chess variants, state=collapsed
Chess variants
1907 in chess
Board games introduced in 1907
Fictional games
Three-dimensional board games
Star Trek