Skip to content
Surf Wiki
Save to docs
general/chess-variants

From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

Parallel worlds chess

Three-dimensional chess variant

Parallel worlds chess

Three-dimensional chess variant

The three "levels" of the board

Parallel worlds chess is a three-dimensional chess variant invented by R. Wayne Schmittberger in the 1980s. The gamespace comprises three 8×8 chessboards at different levels. Each side commands two full chess armies on levels 1 and 3. Level 2 begins empty and obeys its own move rules.

Game description

Each player controls two complete chess armies, initially on levels 1 and 3. White moves first. The first player to capture either enemy king wins the game. | | |rd|nd|bd|qd|kd|bd|nd|rd |pd|pd|pd|pd|pd|pd|pd|pd | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |pl|pl|pl|pl|pl|pl|pl|pl |rl|nl|bl|ql|kl|bl|nl|rl

| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

|rd|nd|bd|qd|kd|bd|nd|rd |pd|pd|pd|pd|pd|pd|pd|pd | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |pl|pl|pl|pl|pl|pl|pl|pl |rl|nl|bl|ql|kl|bl|nl|rl

|Starting setup. Level 2 obeys its own rules and can be thought of as an interdimensional wormhole.

Move rules

On each turn, a player may move up to three of their , including pawns. (On the first turn, however, White may move no more than two pieces.) Each piece moved can move only once in the turn. The only stipulation is that none of these moves may end on the same level. (They may begin on the same level, however.)

All pieces except kings can move straight up or down one level to an empty square. (Thus captures are not permitted when moving to a new level.)

On levels 1 and 3, moves, captures, and pawn promotions follow the same rules as in standard chess. On level 2, special rules apply:

  • All pieces move as chess queens;
  • Captures are not permitted;
  • A pawn that moves to the last does not promote.

Rules for pawns that move from level 2:

  • If a pawn on level 2 moves to the owner's last rank on levels 1 or 3, it immediately promotes.
  • If a pawn on level 2 moves to the owner's first rank on levels 1 or 3, on that level it can, on a future turn, move only one step to the second rank. Once on the second rank, it regains its normal two-step option.

References

Bibliography

  • {{cite book
  • {{cite book |editor-last=Beasley |editor-first=John
  • {{cite book |url-access=registration
Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about Parallel worlds chess — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report