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3D chess from Star Trek

Star Trek is a science fiction phenomenon. For many decades, there are several Star Trek television series made, broadcasted, and repeated. Besides, there are several Star Trek movies, fan clubs, magazines, books, etc. In a number of Star Trek episodes, a three dimensional chess variant is played. The rules were reconstructed by a fan of the series, Andrew Bartmess, and given below in a description by James Dixon, reworded by Hans Bodlaender. See also:


Three dimensional Chess, from Star Trek

Several fans of the science-fiction series Star Trek have designed rules for the three dimensional chess game, played in this series, and its followups. One of these was James Dixon, an undergraduate student Astronomy of the University of Texas at Austin when he invented the rules, based on a description of the game (probably that of Andrew Bartmess). He made these rules in the beginning of the 90's, and posted them on the electronic news. Below, you find a reworded version of these rules.


General information

The board of this game is constructed, using information given in the Starfleet Technical Reference Manual.

The three dimensional board consists of seven different levels. Three of these have size four by four, and have a fixed position; the four others have size two by two and can be moved by the players. The position of the fixed levels looks like a staircase: each next level starts above the third row of the previous level, while the other sides of all fixed levels are parallel. The movable levels find themselves initially above the outermost corners of the upper and lower level; i.e., one of its corner has a corner of the board below it, while the other three corners have no fixed level board below it.

When the movable levels go to a different spot, they will always be above or below a corner of a fixed level, with three squares extending from the level. Note that always black squares are above and below black squares, and white squares are above and below white squares.

side view with fixed and movable levels

Starting position

The position of the pieces when the game starts is depicted below; the board is `flattened' for ease of display.

Movable levels

Each of the movable levels can be above or below any corner of one of the three fixed levels.

Hence, there can be a movable level below and above the same corner.

Players may, when it is their turn, either move a movable level (under some restrictions), or move a piece.

Moving movable levels

A player can move a movable level when one of the following conditions is fulfilled (and of course, the move doesn't leave him in check):

When he moves a movable level, there are the following choices, provided the movable level is not moved to a position, already taken by another movable level:

Movement of Pieces

Movement of pieces is similar to that of orthodox chess, but there are two additional rules. First, when we look to the board from above, the piece should be able to make a normal chess move to the square he wants to go to. Secondly, each step taken, the piece can go up or down one or more levels; where going up or down a level always means going from a movable level to a fixed level or vice versa. (Think of it as follows: fixed levels have heights 2, 4 and 6. Movable levels can have heights 1, 3, 5, or 7.) These are the only two additional conditions.

Thus, it is possible that a piece moves over another piece: see the diagram above.

General notes

James Dixon wrote about the game:

One will notice that when playing 3D chess it will take a considerable amount of time just to move to the neutral level(the fx-lvls are referred to as the white, neutral, and black levels -- the lower, middle, and upper respectively), in fact longer for black(can the reader guess why?). But after that phase of the game is reached the game can become very complex, very quickly. After a few games one can see how 3D chess can improve starship tactics and inspire three-dimensional thinking (Khan's deficiency and undoing).

Note

The Federation Standard version of Tri-D Chess may be found at Andrew Bartmess' page.

Some pictures of this set, and other 3D sets can be found at: Jeff Elmore's site.

Tridimensional Star Trek Chess sets can usually be found on ebay (www.ebay.com). The best way to search for it is to enter "Star Trek Chess" (without the quotes) in the ebay search box. Note: we have no association with ebay, and are not necessarily recommending its use.


Written by Hans Bodlaender. Materials based on texts of Andrew Bartmess and James Dixon. With thanks to C. Hallock, for spotting an error.


WWW page created: 1995 or 1996. Last modified: Nov 1, 2000. . .
Created on: 1996. Last modified on: September 29, 2001.

See also:

Building a Tridimensional Chess Board. Author: David E. Rutan

Comments

DateNameRatingComment
2005-11-30rosal234 NoneI like science fiction movies, and I love Star Wars. I watch the reruns too! My husband is more of a trekie than me, as he knows everything about them. He loves to play chess too, and I have tried getting a tridimensional set from that place in Las Vegas where they have the show, but was not able to. Hope I can get this one for him now. Merry Christmas sweetheart!
2005-07-14mats Excellentlol
2004-12-25Nikjagr Excellent
I cannot complain about the quality of this site, as I had no idea what to
do with the board before I got it.  I like the Star Trek movies, but I've
never been a real fan of any of the shows, so the only place I'd ever seen
one of these tables was in the window of the Franklin Mint store.  

All of a sudden, for Christmas 04 I get one of these from the Franklin
Mint; certificate and everything from my neighbor.  I cannot believe that
she spent that much money on me for Christmas.  If she did, then I am
absolutely flattered.  $200 plus dollars?   Insane!  

I have to admit that it is really cool lookin'.   I just wish it didn't
have the Star Trek logo as I am a huge Star Wars fan, and never the twain
shall meet.  

My only complaint about the site is that if the moveable boards are
supposed to be able to connect to the bottom or the top of any of the
stationary boards, then why do they slip out so easily from underneathe? 
I can't get those pieces to stick in like that.  Especially if there was
the weight from any of the pieces on them.  And one can't say it's
because the pieces aren't well made, because Franklin Mint prides
themselves on precision, and wouldn't put a piece on their shelf if it
didn't serve its function properly.     Go Star Wars.   
2004-08-05Trekie boy Excellent
This site is great. The way to set up the board is almost like getting a
rule book for free!

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Jay, 
    The current price for a set NOW as of 2004 is about $250-350 in a good
condition - very good condition.

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Chris,
     You can get some good high gloss gold paint and buy a cheep set/set
peices, then use a toner like used on a car let set for a day or 2 the
paint gold(smooth side to side strokes work well for the king to look
good)
Also check ebay because i see peices all the time. If you shop smart, you
can get a good set rather cheap. 

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                          (The other site on how to build a chess set is
also very good if you do not have a lot of money to waste on a set you can
build one for about $20-30)(I built one following the instructions a the
site- http://www.chessvariants.com/3d.dir/starboard.html)

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                           LIVE LONG AND PROSPER
2004-04-25Chris None Does anyone know where I could get a Gold Pawn, and a Gold King, for this item? I lost them( darn cat) and so need replacement pieces

This item has a total of 30 comment(s), 21 rating(s), and an average rating of Good. View all comments for this item.

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Last modified: Monday, August 23, 2004