Three-dimensional chess#Raumschach

Lionel Kieseritzky (1806–1853) developed Kubikschach (German for "Cube chess") in 1851.{{sfnp|Dickins|1971|p=16}} He used an 8×8×8 board, labelling the third dimension with Greek letters 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.{{sfnp|Pritchard|1994|p=305}}

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.

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.

File: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.

{{Raumschach diagram

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|rd|nd|kd|nd|rd

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|Ud|bd|qd|Ud|bd

|pd|pd|pd|pd|pd

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| | |xo| |xo

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|pl|pl|pl|pl|pl

|bl|Ul|ql|bl|Ul

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|pl|pl|pl|pl|pl

|rl|nl|kl|nl|rl

|Raumschach starting position.{{sfnp|Dickins|1971|p=17}} Unicorns are on Bb1, Be1, Da5, and Dd5. White's pawn on Bd2 can move to cells with a white dot or capture on cells marked "×". Black's unicorn on Dd5 can move to cells with a black dot or capture the white pawn on Aa2.

}}

White moves first. The game objective, as in standard chess, is checkmate. Rooks, bishops, and knights move as they do in chess in any given plane.

{{unordered list|style=list-style-position:inside

|A rook moves through the six faces of a cube in any rank, file, or column.

|A bishop moves through the twelve edges of a cube.

|A knight makes a (0,1,2) leap (the same effect as one step as a rook followed by one step as a bishop in the same outward direction) enabling it to control 24 different cells from the board's center.

|A unicorn moves in a manner unique to a 3D space: it moves through the corners of a cube (i.e. along a space diagonal), any number of steps in a straight line. Each unicorn can reach a total of 30 cells of the 125-cell gamespace; each player's pair can reach 60.

|The queen combines the moves of a rook, bishop, and unicorn. The queen has a total of 26 different directions to move: 6 faces plus 12 edges plus 8 corners.

|The king moves the same as the queen but one step at a time.

|A pawn, as in chess, moves and captures always forward toward the promotion rank (rank E5 for White, rank A1 for Black). This includes moving one step directly upward (for White) or downward (for Black), and capturing one step diagonally upward (White) or diagonally downward (Black), through a front or side cube edge. In Raumschach there is no pawn initial two-step move (and consequently no capturing en passant), and no castling.

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{{Raumschach diagram

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|White's knight on Cc3 can move or capture on cells marked "×".

}}

{{-}}

==Star Trek Tri-Dimensional Chess==

File:StarTrekChess.jpg (from the episode "Court Martial")]]

Tri-Dimensional Chess, Tri-D Chess, or Three-Dimensional Chess{{efn|There is some discussion whether this game should be called "Tri-Dimensional Chess" as in the Star Trek Star Fleet Technical Manual{{sfnp|Schnaubelt|1975|p=T0:03:98:3x}} or "Three-Dimensional Chess" as in The Star Trek Encyclopedia{{sfnp|Okuda|Okuda|Mirek|1997|p=342}} and as on Memory Alpha.}} is a chess variant which can be seen in many Star Trek TV episodes and movies, starting with the original series (TOS) and proceeding in updated forms throughout the subsequent movies and spinoff series.{{sfnp|Pritchard|2007|p=226}}

The original Star Trek prop was crafted using boards from 3D Checkers and 3D Tic-Tac-Toe 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.{{cite web |title=Vintage Chessmen by Peter Ganine |date=12 October 2011 |website=Dansk the Night Away |url=http://danskthenightaway.blogspot.com/2011/10/vintage-chessmen-by-peter-ganine.html |access-date=2 June 2014}} The design retained the 64 squares of a traditional chessboard, 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{{sfnp|Okuda|Okuda|Mirek|1997|p=509}} – 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 by Franz Joseph, who created starting positions for the pieces and short, additional rules.

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.{{cite book |last=Bartmess |first=Andrew |title=The Federation Standard Tri‑D Chess Rules |edition=Revision 5.0 |year=2005}} 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'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.

{{multiple image |caption_align = center |total_width = 364 |align = right

|image1 = Star trek chessboard.JPG

|width1 = 574 |height1 = 582

|caption1 = The Tri‑D chessboard

|image2 = Parmen_graphic.jpg

|width2 = 450 |height2 = 461

|caption2 = Playing Parmen

}}

Plans for constructing a Tri‑D chessboard can be found on The Chess Variant Pages, as well as in Bartmess' Tri‑D Chess Rules. Details for building a travel-size board are included on Meder's website.

There is software for playing Tri‑D Chess. Parmen (possibly named after a lead character in the episode "Plato's Stepchildren") 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.{{cn |date=August 2024}}

File:Parallel Worlds Chess init config.png]]

• Alice chess – two adjacent 8×8 boards{{efn|"Alice Chess, a well-considered variant, may also be classified as a 3‑D game."{{harvcol|Pritchard|1994|p=305}} "In a sense, it is a three-dimensional game, since the board can be thought of as measuring 8×8×2 (in squares)."{{harvcol|Schmittberger|1992|p=197}}}}
• Cubic chess – a 6×6×6 variant
• Dragonchess – three stacked 8×12 boards, a fantasy variant
• Flying chess – two adjacent 8×8 boards
• Millennium 3D chess – an 8×8×3 variant retaining most of the rules of standard chess{{sfnp|Pritchard|2007|p=227}}
• Parallel worlds chess – an 8×8×3 variant with two armies per player
• Space shogi – a 9×9×9 shogi variant

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 Pebble in the Sky by Isaac Asimov, Legend of the Galactic Heroes,{{cite web |title=3D Chess - Gineipaedia, a Legend of the Galactic Heroes wiki |website=gineipaedia.com |url=https://gineipaedia.com/wiki/3D_chess |access-date=2023-07-22}} Nova, Blake's 7, UFO, Starman Jones, Unreal 2, the Legion of Super-Heroes franchise, Doctor Who, The Big Bang Theory, and The Lego Movie. The concept is parodied in Futurama as "tridimensional Scrabble".{{cite web |title=3‑D Scrabble - The Infosphere, the Futurama Wiki |website=theinfosphere.org |url=https://theinfosphere.org/3-D_Scrabble |access-date=2019-10-11}}

• 5D Chess with Multiverse Time Travel

{{notelist}}

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book

|last=Dickins |first=Anthony

|year=1971

|title=A Guide to Fairy Chess

|publisher=Dover Publications Inc

|location=New York

|isbn=0-486-22687-5

|orig-year=1969

}} (corrected repub. of
{{cite book |title=A Guide to Fairy Chess |year=1969 |edition=2nd |publisher=The Q Press |place=Richmond, UK}})

• {{cite book

|last1=Okuda |first1=Denise

|last2=Okuda |first2=Michael

|last3=Mirek |first3=Debbie

|year=1997

|title=The Star Trek Encyclopedia

|publisher=Pocket Books

|isbn=0-671-53607-9

}}

• {{cite book

|last=Pritchard |first=D.B.

|author-link=David Pritchard (chess player)

|year=1994

|title=The Encyclopedia of Chess Variants

|publisher=Games & Puzzles Publications

|isbn=0-9524142-0-1

}}

• {{cite book

|last=Pritchard |first=D.B.

|author-link=David Pritchard (chess player)

|year=2007

|editor-last=Beasley |editor-first=John

|title=The Classified Encyclopedia of Chess Variants

|publisher=John Beasley

|isbn=978-0-9555168-0-1

|url=https://www.jsbeasley.co.uk/encyc/encyc.pdf

}}

• {{cite book

|last=Schmittberger |first=R. Wayne

|year=1992

|contribution=3D Chess Sets

|title=New Rules for Classic Games

|publisher=John Wiley & Sons Inc

|isbn=978-0471536215

|pages=[https://archive.org/details/newrulesforclass00rway/page/103 103–07]

|url-access=registration

|url=https://archive.org/details/newrulesforclass00rway/page/103

}}

• {{cite book

|last=Schnaubelt |first=Franz Joseph |author-link=Franz Joseph (artist)

|year=1975

|title=Star Trek Star Fleet Technical Manual

|publisher=Ballantine Books

|isbn=0-345-34074-4

}}

• {{cite book

|last1=Hooper |first1=David |author-link1=David Vincent Hooper

|last2=Whyld |first2=Kenneth |author-link2=Kenneth Whyld

|year=1987

|title=The Oxford Companion to Chess

|publisher=Oxford University Press

|contribution=Three-dimensional chess

|pages=351–52

|isbn=0-19-281986-0

}}

• {{cite web |title=Three Dimensional (index) |website=The Chess Variant Pages |url=http://www.chessvariants.org/index/mainquery.php?type=Any&category=3d&orderby=LinkText&displayauthor=1&displayinventor=1&usethisheading=Three+Dimensional}}

;Raumschach:

• {{cite web |title=Raumschach |editor1=Balden, Bruce |editor2=Bodlaender, Hans |website=The Chess Variant Pages |url=http://www.chessvariants.org/3d.dir/3d5.html}}
• {{cite web |title=3‑D Chess FAQ File |editor1=Moeser, David |website=The Chess Variant Pages |url=http://www.chessvariants.org/3d.dir/555.html}}
• {{bgg|34848|Raumschach}}
• {{cite web |title=Raumschach |author=Friedlander, Ed |url=http://www.pathguy.com/chess/Chess3D.htm}} – a simple program (in Java)
• {{cite web |title=Raumschach |website=Jocly.com |url=https://www.chessvariants.org/play/jocly/raumschach}}

;Star Trek Tri‑D:

• {{cite web |title=3‑D Chess from Star Trek |author=Bodlaender, Hans |website=The Chess Variant Pages |url=http://www.chessvariants.org/3d.dir/startrek.html}}
• {{cite web |title=Tridimensional Chess Rules |author=Bartmess, Andrew |url=http://www.yestercade.net/tactical.htm}} – commercial site; history of Standard Rules
• {{cite web |title=Star Trek 3‑D Chess Rules |author=Roth, Charles |url=http://www.thedance.net/~roth/TECHBLOG/chess.html}} – free summary of Standard Rules
• {{cite web |url=http://meder.spacechess.org/3dschach/indexe.html |title=3‑D chess |author=Meder, Jens}} – Tri‑D Chess Tournament Rules, boards, and more
• {{cite web |author=Klein, Michael |title=3‑D Chess |url=http://www.3dschach.de/start_.asp}} – Tournament Rules game library and more

{{Memory Alpha |Three-dimensional chess}}

• {{bgg|3499|3-D Chess}}
• {{cite web |title=Tri‑D Chess Tracker |url=http://trekpropzone.com/tdchess/tdchess_loginform.htm |url-access=registration}} – Tri-Dimensional Chess Tracker; web-based Perl program

{{Chess variants|state=collapsed}}

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