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Tridimensional Chess

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Applet (Windows)

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Jeffrey M. Thompson

Tridimensional Chess

Introduction

Chessboard

Piece Movement

Attack Boards

Starting Positions

Castling

Pawn Promotion

Applet Information

7.1. System Requirements
7.2. Applet Help

7.2.1. General
7.2.2. Menu Items

last modified: 03.07.25

1. Introduction

This document specifies details for the Tridimensional Chess game variation. This game is based upon the reasoning expressed in the white paper Musings on 3D Chess.

2. Chessboard

Arrangement	Markings	Dimensions
Slant (custom)	Constant	6x10x7

This board is 6x10x7 with boards offset in the Y direction and constant cell markings. 64 cells of 420 in the chessboard volume are usable. A special feature is the attack boards - four 4x4 movable boards.

The board consists of three main boards on levels B, D, and F. These are also known as White's Defending Board, Neutral Field Board, and Black's Defending Board respectively. The main boards are fixed in position.

The four attack boards start with two each at levels A and G. They may occupy levels A, C, E, and G.

3. Piece Movement

Piece	Moves
Piece	Vectors	Illustration
Rook	(±n,0,0) (0,±n,0) ±(0,n,n)
Bishop	(±n,±n,0) (±n,0,0)±(0,n,n) (0,±n,0)±(0,n,n)
Queen	(±n,0,0) (0,±n,0) (±n,±n,0) ±(0,n,n) (±n,0,0)±(0,n,n) (0,±n,0)±(0,n,n)
King	(±1,0,0) (0,±1,0) (±1,±1,0) ±(0,1,1) (±1,0,0)±(0,1,1) (0,±1,0)±(0,1,1)
Knight	(±1,±2,0) (±2,±1,0) (±2,0,0)±(0,1,1) (0,±2,0)±(0,1,1) (±1,0,0)±(0,2,2) (0,±1,0)±(0,2,2)
Pawn First (White)	+(0,1,0) +(0,2,0) +(0,1,1) +(0,2,2)
Pawn (White)	+(0,1,0) +(0,1,1)
Pawn Attack (White)	+(±1,1,0) +(0,1,0)+(0,1,1)
Pawn First Move (Black)	-(0,1,0) -(0,2,0) -(0,1,1) -(0,2,2)
Pawn (Black)	-(0,1,0) -(0,1,1)
Pawn Attack (Black)	-(±1,1,0) -(0,1,0)+(0,1,1)

4. Attack Boards

The attack board can move to one adjacent pin position, provided the board is either vacant or occupied by only one of the player's Pawns. An occupied attack board cannot be moved to an inverted pin position. An empty attack board can be moved by either player; an attack board occupied by one pawn can only be moved by that pawn's player. Movement of an Attack Board counts as the player's move.

Generally, an attack board has five possible moves. It can move to the two adjacent corners on the same level, it can move to the adjacent corners on the levels two above or two below, or it can invert so that the playing surface is two levels below (or above) its starting level.

5. Starting Positions

Rank	Level G
10	BR	BQ			BK	BR
9	BP	BP			BP	BP
	Level F
9		BN	BB	BB	BN
8		BP	BP	BP	BP
	Level B
3		WP	WP	WP	WP
2		WN	WB	WB	WN
	Level A
2	WP	WP			WP	WP
1	WR	WQ			WK	WR
File	a	b	c	d	e	f

6. Castling

Pieces	Queen-side	King-side
King-Rook (White)	K: e1A-a1A R: a1A-b1A	K: e1A-f1A R: f1A-e1A
King-Rook (Black)	K: e10G-a10G R: a10G-b10G	K: e10G-f10G R: f10G-e10G

7. Pawn Promotion

Piece	Position
Pawn (White)	(x,9,F)
Pawn (Black)	(x,2,B)

A pawn riding on an attack board can be promoted by moving the attack board past the pawn promotion rank and level.

8. Applet Information

Launch the applet:

Please be aware that the applet is alpha quality code. Please email bug reports to jmthompson_97@yahoo.com.

8.1. System Requirements

The applet is written in Java 1.4.1, so your machine and browser combination must support this. The following lists the systems and software on which the applet has been tested.

Mac OS X 10.2.6

Java 1.4.1 installed (through Software Update)

Safari v1.0 (through Software Update or from Apple's web site)

Windows 2000

Java 1.4.1 installed (installer is here)

Mozilla Firebird v0.6, Mozilla v1.4, or Internet Explorer 6

8.2. Applet Help

8.2.1. General

Chessboard Rotation

Rotate the chessboard by moving the scroll bars.

Piece Movement

Select a piece by clicking the mouse within the square where the piece is. It will highlight. Then select a destination square.

Attack Board Movement

Select an attack board by clicking the mouse within the attack board stand. It will highlight. Then select a destination square. To invert, select the attack board's attachment square.

Castling

To castle, select your King. Then hold down the shift key, and click the destination square.

8.2.2. Menu Items

File Menu

New Game Start a new game.
Concede Give up the current game.

View Menu

Show Hints When selected, the selected piece's possible positions are highlighted on the chessboard.
Show Labels When selected, display the board coordinate labels.

Zoom In Magnify the chessboard.

Zoom Out Make the chessboard smaller.

Help Menu

Online Help Opens a browser window to this document.
About Tridimensional Chess Displays the about box.