6D Chess is the final installment in the nD Chess series, which began with 3D Chess, 4D Chess, and 5D Chess. These games take chess from the regular 2D environment to boards of successively higher dimensions. This is accomplished, in essence, by adding one orthogonal axis per dimension.
The rules of standard chess apply, subject to the following:
- 6D Chess is played on a 2x2x2x2x2x2 board. Each of the eight 2x2x2 cubic sub-boards is connected to its three neighbors (4-east or 4-west, 5-up or 5-down, 6-east or 6-west) such that each space in a sub-board is orthogonally adjacent to its counterparts in the neighboring boards. These three connections, along with the three within any 2x2x2 cube, give each space six orthogonally adjacent neighbors. The board is perfectly symmetric along all six axes.
- Diagonal motion of the Queen and Bishop takes place in any plane defined by two of the board's six axes (i.e., they do not move "triagonally," "quadragonally," etc.). In other words, a diagonal step consists of two orthogonal steps, each along a different axis.
- The King moves only orthogonally.
- The Knight has a non-capturing and a capturing move. When not capturing, it moves one step triagonally (i.e., to a space three orthogonal steps away, with each step along a different axis). When capturing, it moves one step orthogonally.
- Pawns move one orthogonal step in the direction of the opponent's King row (up, 4-east, 5-up, or 6-west for White), capture as they move (i.e., no diagonal captures), and promote on the opponent's King row.
- No castling, en passant, or two-step Pawn moves, and stalemate is a loss.
In the variant, Pawns can capture enemy Pawns along any diagonal. This rule allows for Pawn interaction which does not exist in the principal game because the Pawns are on inverted rows.
The nD Chess series attempts to preserve as much from standard chess as is possible through the translation to higher dimensions. The boards in each variant contain 64 squares, starting with 4x4x4 in the 3D version, and progressing to 4x4x2x2, 4x2x2x2x2, and 2x2x2x2x2 in the 6D variant. Each game begins with the regular complement of 32 pieces which retain, as far as practicable, their move definitions. The Rook in all four games slides along an orthogonal and the Bishop along a diagonal. The Queen combines the powers of the Rook and Bishop. The Knight in the 3D, 4D, and 5D versions moves in the familiar fashion by taking two steps in a line followed by a perpendicular step.
The principal differences from regular chess motion lay in the King, Pawns, and 6D Knight. The King is confined to orthogonal motion in the 5D and 6D versions (and in the variants of the 3D and 4D games) because otherwise its mobility leads to frequent draws. The Pawns in each game move one orthogonal step in the direction of the opponent's King row and promote upon reaching that row, a natural definition which was adopted in Raumschach. In the 3D and 4D versions they capture, as might be expected, to either side of a square to which they could move. In the 5D and 6D games they capture as they move; otherwise they are too powerful. The 6D Knight has a unique definition because the regular Knight's move is impossible (there are no dimensions of the required three units in length). Finally, castling, en passant, and the Pawn double step, which serve no purpose in these games, have been eliminated.
Believe it or not, this is not the first attempt at a 6D version of chess. For a description of previous efforts, check out the History section that comes with the game.
For another 4D chess variant, try Chesseract. For other hypergames, there's Hyperspace, Skava, Superstring, Wormhole, and Tessa. |
