Introduction to 3-D Chess
For many years the name of 3-D Chess has been heard by chess players. As a matter of fact, it has been in existence so stories are told for over 200 years; however, very few people have seen such a game. Not being able to locate the game, they have created their own rules as they believe 3-D Chess is played. There are presently as many versions to 3-D Chess as there are people who play it.
The so-called original 3-D Chess games which were so it has been told invented in Russia which is logical as they are known to be excellent chess players were nothing more than extensions of regular chess. The game being discussed is also known by the names of Space Chess, Stereo Chess and a few other names. Three Dimensional Chess seems to have been introduced into the United States in 1908. It is too complicated to be discussed at any length here except to say that it is an eight-level game with 64 squares on each level. Stereo Chess has 64 men on a side for a total of 128 men. Like three-level 3-D Chess, Stereo Chess is only one game and not eight games. It has the same men as regular chess in addition to such pieces as Fools, Squires, Prince, Princess and Archbishops. Because of the many pieces and the multitude of levels, Stereo Chess is a very time consuming and complicated game. The subject was taught at the New School for Social Research by Ervand George Kogbetliantz who published a short pamphlet called Space Chess in 1952.
Idea to Reality
In 1960 I decided to design a game of 3-D Chess; however, it wasn’t until 1966 that the idea took shape. I grew tired of playing chess where the first moves were standard, so I developed the first prototype and rules. They were far too complicated to be played, however, so they were revised. In September 1966, Jeff Riddick agreed to help me perfect the game. One night after we agreed on the board to use, we sat up till the wee hours debugging and revising the rules to basically what they are today.
Originally we never expected to put the game on the market. Instead, they were sitting in our homes. They were such conversation pieces and so easy, yet challenging to play, that we ended up building and giving them to our friends. We soon discovered that it was beginning to be very time consuming and expensive. We then decided to see if we could market the game.
After a great deal of research and meetings with many people, we secured the copyrights and proceeded to market the game. We travelled the entire state of Florida and New Orleans giving demonstrations. During the Christmas season of 1967, we were unable to supply the demand. In 1968 the game became available all over the world through Alabe Crafts, Inc. of Cincinnati, Ohio. This was the first 3-D Chess game commercially available and is basically now recognized as the original 3-D Chess game that is playable by everyone.
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