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True 4D+ Chess variants[Subject Thread] [Add Response]
Johnny Luken wrote on Wed, Oct 9, 2013 10:38 PM UTC:
I've seen a few references to higher D (4D+) variants on here, but nothing
beyond stacking boards, which is of course just stretching 3D space. 

Naturally, its not particularly practical to implement such games at
present-not too many 4D+ GUIs around as yet. However there is another
preceding and more important core approach to play (or at least simulate) a
higher D chess game, or more intricate chess variants in general. More on
that later...

Its pretty interesting (for me at least) to think about how such a
fundamental and well balanced abstract concept as chess transfers into
higher dimensions. A 6D Chess game for example would, as far as I can make
out, have 4,096 pawns/pieces for either side, 6 straight simple sliders, (6
choose (compound level)) compounds for each level, (eg. (6 choose 2)=30
double compound pieces, still just the one, extremely powerful, queen), and
(((range*number of orthonogal axes acted simultaneously upon)-2) leapers
(eg 2 2-range leapers acting across 3 axes, the 1:2:2:0:0:0 and
1:1:2:0:0:0).

Quite a bit more going on than FIDE Chess...

But how on earth would a mere human get any kind of appreciation for such a
game? A game with an incomprehensibly large branching factor, that would
take a solid year to play?

This is where I segway into the concept of macrocommands. :)

Ben Reiniger wrote on Thu, Oct 10, 2013 12:26 AM UTC:

4+ dimensional chess variants have their own category here (is it the only one small enough still to fit on one search result page?). I'm not sure what you mean by the 4d games here being "stretched 3d".

Here are my personal opinions on some of our 4d games:
Chesseract: pure 4d, some strange pieces
Timeline: not very chesslike, but pure 4d geometry
Hyperchess, Walkers&Jumpers, Sphinx Chess: 'mixed' (2+2)d geometries
Fabulous Flying Kittens: I still don't understand how this works
TessChess: my own, perhaps too pure and therefore subject to analysis paralysis

See also the sister wikidot
http://chessvariants.wikidot.com/start
http://chessvariants.wikidot.com/3d-design
for some other (non-game-specific) (3+)d comments.


Johnny Luken wrote on Thu, Oct 10, 2013 11:57 AM UTC:
I guess I was misinformed. I was referring to someone casually referring to
a 3D game where he then stacked more boards as 7D/8D etc, which was just 3D
on a stretched board.

In any event there certainly aren't any 4D+ variants on here (or if there
were they would be contracted to 3*3 or 2*2 boards and only that for 5 or
6D) as we reach a limit in how we can represent and play games, which is
what I was attempting to discuss-more intricate chess variants with a much
higher branching factor and how we could play and get an appreciation for
them.

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