Comments/Ratings for a Single Item

It would be wonderful if the full rules of tri-dimensional chess could be
explained in more detail, from experimentation it appears highly plausible
that it is possible to play it as a serious game.

quick note: web page for  Andrew Bartmess and tridim chess has changed 
to  http://www.grigor.org/tactical.htm

Full tournament rules: http://private.addcom.de/meder/3dschach/chess3d.htm

Parmen (TriD playing program): http://www.hemptrek.com/parmen.html

In your diagram illustrating the possible rook moves, two of the 
moveable boards are not above or below corners. It's implied from
your written description that the moveable boards can only occupy
spaces above or below corner squares of the 4x4 boards. Is this a
mistake or have I misunderstood something?
Seamus

There's an intrigueing tri-D Star Trek chess variant at:

http://www.chessvariants.com/3d.dir/kobayashimaru.html

Brian Cady

thanx i've been looking 4 the board an rules 4 ages. ta very much!!!!

I have the tri-D chess set from franklin mint.  There is TOS version and a
TNG version.  The TOS version has 4 2X2 movable boards where as the TNG
board has  6.  I own the TOS one but I do not think franklin mint is
selling them anymore.  I managed to find a set of rules made in the 70's
in one of the Star Trek Giant Poster Books.  I belive it is volume
14 that has the rules in it.  There is also a version of tri-d chess that
you can play against a computer at this site. 
http://members.lycos.co.uk/cmparkin/goodies.htm

Hi,
For rules written by Anderw Bartmess, same person who wrote them for the
Poster Book, look here:
http://www.grigor.org/startrek.htm

Hi I just found this site its great!
I own the chess set aswell from franklin mint.
If anyone knows its curent value id apreciate it..not that Id ever sell
it..its to prized a possesion...im just curious what its worth now
also for any of u that have the set or are interested in it and want the
book..ebay curently has an auction selling the orig book that comes with
it

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2187694975&category=155&rd=1

sorry i did not find ur site earlier to let the members know the book was
for sale hopefully anyone who really needs to replace their copy will see
this before auction ends.

Live long and prosper
:)

hello,

just found your site, i was looking a round the web to find out the value
of my star trek chess set, i payed way to much for it when the franklin
mint put it out. i have it still sitting in the box it was shipped to me
in. anyone interested in buying it send me an offer at
[email protected]

thanks
David

I just received a FREE TRIDIMENSIONAL CHESS SET!! 


           THANK YOU FRANKLIN MINT  *********


  SINCERELY,

      CAROLYN

This site is great. The way to set up the board is almost like getting a
rule book for free!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jay, 
    The current price for a set NOW as of 2004 is about $250-350 in a good
condition - very good condition.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chris,
     You can get some good high gloss gold paint and buy a cheep set/set
peices, then use a toner like used on a car let set for a day or 2 the
paint gold(smooth side to side strokes work well for the king to look
good)
Also check ebay because i see peices all the time. If you shop smart, you
can get a good set rather cheap. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

                          (The other site on how to build a chess set is
also very good if you do not have a lot of money to waste on a set you can
build one for about $20-30)(I built one following the instructions a the
site- http://www.chessvariants.com/3d.dir/starboard.html)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

                           LIVE LONG AND PROSPER

I cannot complain about the quality of this site, as I had no idea what to
do with the board before I got it.  I like the Star Trek movies, but I've
never been a real fan of any of the shows, so the only place I'd ever seen
one of these tables was in the window of the Franklin Mint store.  

All of a sudden, for Christmas 04 I get one of these from the Franklin
Mint; certificate and everything from my neighbor.  I cannot believe that
she spent that much money on me for Christmas.  If she did, then I am
absolutely flattered.  $200 plus dollars?   Insane!  

I have to admit that it is really cool lookin'.   I just wish it didn't
have the Star Trek logo as I am a huge Star Wars fan, and never the twain
shall meet.  

My only complaint about the site is that if the moveable boards are
supposed to be able to connect to the bottom or the top of any of the
stationary boards, then why do they slip out so easily from underneathe? 
I can't get those pieces to stick in like that.  Especially if there was
the weight from any of the pieces on them.  And one can't say it's
because the pieces aren't well made, because Franklin Mint prides
themselves on precision, and wouldn't put a piece on their shelf if it
didn't serve its function properly.     Go Star Wars.

I note that this page offers a variation of the Tournament rules of
http://home.arcor.de/jens.meder/3dschach/chess3d.htm in that this page's
variation starts the King & Queen in a different position than does the
Tournament version of the rules.  Also here is allowed the movement of an
attack board under White's [home] Board.  Not complaining, just
comparing.

Comments and Questions:

I have the 1994 Official Star Trek Tridimensional Chess Set in MINT
condition with all of the appropriate certificate and other paperwork.  I
gave it to my father as a birthday present when they first came out.  He
has since returned it to me a few years ago saying that he had never
taken
the time to even take the pieces out of the box.  As I am not an avid
Trekkie I have no use for it myself.  I do realize that this collectible
does have a significant value, though.  If you know of anyone that might
have a serious interest in this please feel free to foward my e-mail
address.  I am also looking for an online venue to arrive at a true value
of this item.  My best comparison, as yet, has been ebay.  I haven't
seen
any sold in Mint condition yet, though.  Any suggested web sites would be
greatly appreciated.

William 
[email protected]

The editors received the following correspondance from Rainer Hecker:

Dear Sirs and Madam’s,

thank you for this fascinating Page about “Star Trek Chess”. But if my
information is correct you have made two mistakes:

No movable Level (or in Star Trek terminology “Attack Board”) is ever
placed below, always above a corner! For some reasons: 1. Continuous use
would wear the Boards and Pins so that the Attack Boards would hold any
longer upside down. 2. I have never an Attack Board below a corner,
neither in the original series nor in any of its following series.

The position of the pieces at the start of the game is not correct.
According to my sources the queen and king start the game on the Attack
Boards occupying the places of the knights in your diagram. the knights
start the game on the Main Boards on the outer lines occupying the places
of the bishops in your picture. The bishops start on the inner lines
occupying the places of king and queen in your diagram.


yours sincerely
Rainer Hecker

FYI...

According to the regulation tridimensional chess rules the board setup listed on this site were not correct. The setup of the board is: Black/Gold (lower levels going from the outtermost edges toward the 'middle' or towards White/Silver):

Attack board 1:

Outside: Rook | Pawn

Inside: King | Pawn

Attack board 2:

Inside: Queen | Pawn

Outside: Rook | Pawn

Main board lower level starting from attack board 1 side going toward attack board 2 side:

Knight | Pawn

White/Clear Bishop | Pawn

Black/Blue Bishop | Pawn Knight | Pawn

White/Silve (upper levels going from the outtermost edges toward the 'middle' or towards Black/Gold):

Attack board 3 (top of set in the same line as attack board 1):

Outside: Rook | Pawn

Inside: King | Pawn

Attack board 4 (top of set in the same line as attack board 2):

Inside: Queen | Pawn

Outside: Rook | Pawn

Main board upper level starting from attack board 3 side going toward attack board 4 side:

Knight | Pawn

Black/Blue Bishop | Pawn

White/Clear Bishop | Pawn

Knight | Pawn

In summary the knights go where the bishops are, the bishops go where the king/queen are, and the king/queen go where the knights are...in the sketch on this site.

This diagram can be found in the Star Trek Star Fleet Command Technical Manual, copyright 1975, ISBN: 0-345-34074-4, page TO:03:98:31

Thnx...

[email protected]

I Thought The Game Is Good Fun. I may have taken hours to play but at least
the game is challanging(With a few minor modifications to the rules).

My mate and I build one out of wood and now my most of my year like
playing the game.

Just come nto possession of the 3-d chess set ... thought I knew chess!
Thank you so much for enlightening me!!!

I have a GENUINE STAR TREK Tridimensional Chess Set made by FRANKLIN MINT.
I want to sell it. Does anyone know how much it is worth and where you can sell it.

[email protected]

The links to Andrew Bartmess' page are broken. They should be changed to
http://www.yestercade.net/tactical.htm

I like this game, but it will be hard to make board... Isn't there game,
created by 'Star Wars' fans? There also was shown chess variant: in
'Episode IV, A New Hope' C-3PO and Chewbaca played game on circular
board, where some wild space creatures were pieces :). By the way, it would
be interesting to remember different chess games, wich was showwn in films
or described books, and when thinked up, like this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stealth_chess

To Flowerman's Chess in films, Bill Wall has had since early days:
http://www.chessville.com/billwall/ChessInMovies.htm. Far bigger topic is Chess in Literature, which can be found many places.

Do you play 3D chess? 
     How would you like to join a club where you could meet, greet and compete with other play 3D chess players? I putting together an 3D chess club just for 3D chess player using a patented 3D chess set of my own design, which would be the exclusive property of the club. The only place one will be able to use it or see it will be at the club; or on my web site: www.3dchesstower.com.
     No computers! 
     Tell me what you think.
     Visit my website: www.3dchesstower.com, and or email me: [email protected].
     Your most critical opinion is appreciated.

One problem with the Star Trek Tri-D chess game is that, essentially, all
it was really was a clever visual prop.  Wah Chang crafted a piece of
artwork which allowed the actors to simply move the pieces about without
actually knowing how chess is played and without the audience really
catching on, even amateur or inexperienced players of the real game, since
you can assume a different rule set works.  Hobbyists have attempted to fit
rule systems into what was seen on the TV series, which included the small
2x2 boards being moved around.  But all this is actually unnecessary if you
a) forget about moving the small castle-boards and b) consider the board as
a coordinate system.

In the episode 'Charlie X' when Mr. Spock attempts to explain to Charlie
Evans that the basic principles of chess are mathematical, I realised that
this applies to the algebraic notation used to define the chess space and
the whole picture of a rational Tri-D chess game fell into place for me.

Try this: the small castle boards remain fixed at the corners of the upper
and lower boards, permanently.  Their grids are identified as AB12, AB78,
GH12 and GH78 respectively.  The home boards have the grids CDEF1234 and
CDEF5678.  It's the middle board, the 'neutral field board' as it's
called in the Franz Joseph technical manual, which bridges the four small
'castle boards'.  It's coordinate grid would be ABGH3456.

This makes the challenge of the game a matter of tracking the coordinates
of the squares of the various boards in combination and understanding that
it distributes the traditional orthogonal chess space into a
multidimensional packet.  The players must be aware of where the moves for
the pieces require a shifting between boards and how attack lanes proceed
across and through this distribution.  Psychologically, it would model the
viewpoint of a spacefaring culture which has developed faster-than-light
propulsion and the techniques for navigating in three and four dimensional
space.  No special rules for play are necessary, only the capacity to think
in mathematical terms across multiple dimensions (the boards).

Check out:

http://webspace.webring.com/people/gi/interrupt27/ST3d/NotationST3DChess.txt

Clear explanations, excellent site with all the information I required.

Congratulations and thank you.

I think I have spotted one minor error.

I think that there is an error with the last diagram which shows the moves:
The path of the lower white castle should go over the far to squares of the movable/attach board, not the nearest two as shown.

Many thanks,

Norman

I have added a couple more pictures from the third episode of the well-done fan-series Star Trek Continues.

WOW.  I had never heard of Star Trek Continues.  I just watched the first episode and was blown away!  It's incredible that a compeltely ameture production was able to look that good and fit the style and feel of the original series so perfectly.  And the story was excellent.  If it continues at this quality level, it will definitely surpass the quality of the original series (which, although ground-breaking for the time, had a ton of very marginal episodes.)

Where can it be found? I could enjoy it, too no idea that people on this website like star trek but in retrsopective it seems likely :)!

Just a small update on the post by Jaymes. Taking the picture shown in the article for the starting position, the left hand side is the Queens side and the right hand side is the Kings side. The Kings and Queens should be on the movable levels next to the Rooks (or Castles). The back rank on the top and bottom levels should have the Knights at each side with the two Bishops on the centre ranks. At least, this is the setup shown in the pamphlet I got with my official Star Trek Tridimensional Chess Set almost 30 years ago.

Hi There! Ganine's Gothic chess pieces were indeed used on the original series. You can see them in The Naked Time, and Day of the Dove. I believe there may be other instances. I can tell you that Star Trek Continues would never have use Chess pieces that were not authentic. Loved your article. - Doug Drexler

Thanks for the information. I looked through the scenes in these two episodes, and I found the Gothic set in "The Naked Time," but I could not find any scene with 3D Chess in "Day of the Dove." Curiously, both episodes had Sulu wielding a sword.

According to the the World Tri Dimensional Chess Federation's rules, the starting positions illustrated here are quite correct. As they were originally created by a military fighter pilot, to help teach aerial combat tactics, in a three dimensional space, aren't they more pertinent to the original idea of 3D chess in Star Trek?

Franz Joseph admitted he wasn't really a chess player, so the Bartmess starting positions lack any real integrity.

I'd be interested in anyone else's thoughts on this.

The premise for tri dimensional chess set's presence on federation star ships was to teach three dimensional combat tactics, which is something the Bartmess and Meder rules patently fail to do, by blocking circumventing moves.
The rules presented here, on chess variants, are not complete and lack rules for castling but also advocate inverted attack boards, which, if nothing else, are highly impractical.
Not only were the World Tri Dimensional Chess Federation rules written by a fighter pilot, to teach three dimensional aerial combat, which is more in keeping with the original theme, they also start the king and queen in the centre files and provide the most reasonable method for castling, as the attached images demonstrate.

King's side castling


Queen's side castling