The Complete 3D Chess Guide

This guide is the official self-instruction manual for The Original 3-D Chess Game, excerpted (nearly verbatim) from the original written by Lynn R. Johnson of Dimensional Games, Inc in 1971. It covers everything from the history of the game to complete rules, piece movements, special moves, strategy, and annotated example games.

Have your 3-D Chess board in front of you as you read — following along with the diagrams and making the moves on your actual set is the best way to learn.


Contents


How to Read the Diagrams

Board diagrams throughout this guide use the following notation:

  • [X] — dark cube (square)
  • [ ] — light cube (square)
  • Pieces are shown using standard abbreviations: K = King, Q = Queen, R = Rook, B = Bishop, N = Knight, P = Pawn. Uppercase = White; lowercase = Black.

Board coordinates combine a level number with a file letter and rank number. For example, IIA4 means Level II, file A, rank 4. Files run A–H; ranks run 1–8.


Start reading: Notes from the Author →