Three-dimensional chess

File:Spock McCoy 3D chess.jpg

Three-dimensional chess in the 23rd century.

Three-dimensional chess is a variant of the ancient Earth game chess.

It was an accustomed pastime of Kirk and Spock aboard the USS Enterprise in the 23rd century and its popularity extends into the 24th century.

Play

Movement of pieces is similar to that of traditional chess. The main difference is that in the course of a move, pieces may move up or down any number of levels. Again, it should look like a legal move in traditional chess when seen from above.

According to the Star Fleet Technical Manual, the starting positions of King and Queen pieces are on their own respective attack boards with their own set of Rooks and Pawns. Knights, Bishops and the remaining Pawns occupy the first two ranks of each color's fixed boards.

Moves

• Aldabren exchange
• El-Mitra Exchange
• Kriskov Gambit
• Queen's gambit

History

Commander Spock was an exceptional chess player, his game was consistently logical. However, he often had a difficult time predicting or effectively responding to the unexpected moves made by his frequent opponents, Captain Kirk and Doctor McCoy. Spock introduced chess to young passenger Charles Evans, who disliked the involved nature of the game. After losing he destroyed Spock's chess pieces. Spock also played a game of chess against the Kelvan expedition leader, Rojan. He observed during their match that Rojan's game was "off," which suggests that it was not the first time they had played each other. (TOS: "Where No Man Has Gone Before", "Charlie X", "By Any Other Name")

Spock also enjoyed playing chess against a rival logical mind, that of the Enterprise computer. In 2266 he detected programming errors in the computer's databanks because of faulty chess moves made by the computer. He later introduced the tampering and unreliability of the computer's records as defense evidence in the court-martial of Captain Kirk. (TOS: "Court Martial")

When the Enterprise was apparently helpless against the alien Balok's threats to destroy them, Spock compared the situation to chess, suggesting that they were checkmated and the game was over. However, a comment from McCoy led Kirk to reject Spock's chess analogy and try playing poker with the alien instead. (TOS: "The Corbomite Maneuver")

Kirk and his senior officers used a chess-based code phrase as transporter clearance in 2268, when Garth of Izar planned to escape from the Elba II insane asylum. Chief engineer Scott declined to beam Garth, disguised as Kirk, to the Enterprise, because Garth did not know the code response "queen to king's level 1" when Scott queried with the code phrase "queen to queen's level 3." (TOS: "Whom Gods Destroy")

Counselor Deanna Troi managed to beat Lieutenant Commander Data at a game of 3-D chess in Ten Forward, prompting Data to honor their bet to make Troi a Samarian sunset in the "traditional style". (TNG: "Conundrum")

Commander William T. Riker defeated both Ferengi Doctor Farek and a Ferengi guard at a presumably-alien variant of 3-D Chess; the former defeat again in Ten-Forward, and the latter while a captive of the Ferengi along with both Deanna and Lwaxana Troi. (TNG: "Ménage à Troi")

Commander Benjamin Sisko, also a fan of the game, kept a three-dimensional chess set in his quarters aboard Deep Space 9. (DS9: "Move Along Home", "The Nagus", "The Maquis, Part I", "Statistical Probabilities")

Appendices

Appearances

• TOS:
  • "Where No Man Has Gone Before"
  • "The Corbomite Maneuver"
  • "Charlie X"
  • "Court Martial"
  • "By Any Other Name"
  • "Whom Gods Destroy"
  • "Day of the Dove"
• TNG:
  • "Unnatural Selection"
  • "Pen Pals"
  • "Q Who"
  • "The Price"
  • "Ménage à Troi"
  • "Suddenly Human"
  • "Galaxy's Child"
  • "The Nth Degree"
  • "Conundrum"
  • "Lower Decks"
  • "Booby Trap"
• DS9:
  • "Move Along Home"
  • "The Nagus"
  • "If Wishes Were Horses"
  • "Dramatis Personae"
  • "The Homecoming"
  • "Second Sight"
  • "The Maquis, Part I"
  • "Statistical Probabilities"
• ENT:
  • "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II"
  • "These Are the Voyages..."

Background

Collectibles company Franklin Mint produced two different tridimensional chess sets; one based on the TOS four "attack board" version, and a second based on the TNG six-boarded version.

Apocrypha

The Pocket Books novel entitled "The Klingon Gambit" also made several references to three-dimensional chess.

The novelization of Star Trek makes a quick - and foreshadowing - reference; as the two fight their way through the Narada (largely a fistfight rather than the gun battle seen in the film), Kirk, marveling at Spock's highly effective use of Suus Mahna (thinking to himself, "he even fights logically"), concluded, correctly, that the Vulcan must play a "mean game" of 3-D chess.

See also

• Board game
• Space Checkers aka Three-dimensional checkers

External links

• Three-dimensional chess at Wikipedia
• Template:NCwiki
• Star Trek 3D Chess
• Kobayashi Maru Variant of Star Trek 3-D Chess
• Parmen - Free Tridimensional Chess Software
• Tridimensional Chess Rules
• 3D Chess
• Tournament rules for Three-dimensional Chess

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