More Information on this item |
Kriegspiel is September's Recognized Chess Variant of the month. |
Rate this page! | Skip to comments
27 November 1988
by David E. Rutan
Here are instructions on how to build a Star Trek Tridimensional Chess Set. Or more clearly: This is how I built mine.
I consider myself qualified to write this file because I've constructed a total of three Tri-D sets. The first one was cardboard and wood (missing, presumed destroyed,) the second was as described below (but as I was living at home, my mom, the whirling dervish, knocked it over), and the third, also as below, sits proudly with my other chess boards on display.
If you find a better/easier way, do it, maybe my instructions will help you avoid a few mistakes.
This is what a Tridemensional chess board BASICALLY looks like from the side:
--- Attack Board ! ----- Black's Board / / / ----- Neutral ! / ! / --- Attack Board Stand ** / ! **/ ----- White's Board *** / ***** (/) (///) Base
This is how it would look from the top view.
------- ------- ! ! ! ! ! ! ---OXXX-----XXXO--- ! X X ! X X ! ---XXXX--+--XXXX--- ! ! ! ! ! ---+--+--+--- ! ! ! ! ! BLACK'S BOARD ---+--+--+--- ! ! ! ! ! OXXXXXXXXXXXO ! ! ! ! ! ---+--+--+--- NEUTRAL BOARD ! ! ! ! ! OXXXXXXXXXXXO ! ! ! ! ! WHITE'S BOARD ---XXXX--+--XXXX--- ! X X ! X X ! ---OXXX-----XXXO--- ! ! ! ! ! ! ------- ------- X shows where boards overlap as you look down from the top. O shows where an attack board pin can be seen. Attack board pins are located on the corners of all three main boards.
I built my board from plexiglass, copper pipe, bic pens, a few small bolts, and a brass lamp fixture.
Things you will need:
For the stand, you will need:
(As before, if you can make your base easier/better/differently... hey, it's your set! A good alternative might be to use flexable tubing. Also, you could trace a stand out of wood and just cut it out with a scroll saw.)
Well, now you only lack chessmen. If you're the artistic type maybe you can fashion your own like the ones on the show, otherwise you'll have to do like me, I bought a cheap chess set with the right size pieces (2-5/8 king is a good size). I filled my pieces with wax and glued felts to the bottoms (again with household cement.) That way, the pieces don't slide around as much.
I hope these instructions make sense to you and you succeed in constructing one of the most interesting chess variations I know of. If you haven't already, check out my file on the rules of Star Trek Tri-D Chess.
Any comments, suggestions or corrections are always welcome.
David Rutan, (email removed contact us for address) dspring.com.
The above was authored by: David E. Rutan.
.
Last modified on: September 06, 2001.
Date | Name | Rating | Comment |
---|---|---|---|
Poor | hard to follow no pictures no workshop genouis show pictures of each step and I can do it but I need reference! | ||
Brenna Sharp | Excellent | I've wanted one for years and now can seriously contemplate building one. What was stopping me was knowing just what it was supposed to look like and whether the 'out boards' really were supposed to move and if so how many could and to where. The how-to looks reasonably clear and re-create-able. Thank you for the info! | |
Trekie boy | Good | I had a bit of trouble on the base but the material is great. The board on Charlie X (and episode with tri dementional chess) is red and clear for the main board and white and clear for the add on boards (the verticla ones). that is just a suggestion to anyone who reads this. Thanks it really works! | |
Poor | im no work shop genious. i dont know how to do all this stuff.i only have cardboard and paper. | ||
Good | can you explain how a board moves in more detail |
This item has a total of 13 comment(s), 11 rating(s), and an average rating of Good. View all comments for this item.
Provide feedback on this page!
Last modified: Monday, August 23, 2004