Finally, a Chess variant board has been developed that accommodates three players, without compromising ANY of the rules, strategies, or competitive challenges that make Chess the best board game in the world. The only changes from conventional chess are some protocol issues that must be followed to maintain order where the teams border each other, which is simple and necessary. Also, please notice that the trajectory lines orienting from the outer rank, are simply visual aids to help guide diagonal moves passing through the center.
If the path is clear, a diagonal move starting from the outer rank can pass through the center and sweep back around to where it originated. The complexities of the third player are infinite. Your threatened piece may be allowed to maintain occupancy as your position is beneficial to the threatening player. But how long can it last? This scenario may exist all over the board.
There are multiple trust and doubt situations between all players. An unexpected move might well result in a cascading massacre. Defense is crucial since a diagonal move through the center, or a horizontal move around the center can sneak up behind you. A player can be checkmated by a combination of both other players or ultimately one player can checkmate both other players at the same time.
Not for me this game!
I started to learn 2 player chess last week. Fired it up on my Android Tab and was check mated on the second move.
Um….for those of us just developing our 2 man game, learning this looks like back to square one! Which one is that again? Got to have a go though…
Wow, being an avid chess player I can’t express how happy I am to see this. However, won’t two players gang up on one player? Not sure how you could make it fair to all players. It does bring a new challenge to the game.
It brings Sheldon Cooper ( The Big Bang Theory) to mind
) 
God invented Adam and Eve, he didn’t invent Adam, Eve and Steve! Unnatural. ;-P
God invented a whole planet of several billion people. I’m sure he could spare 3.
Unnatural is believing a giant invisible man “invented” people :-p
Was there a variant of chess called Tri-chess, or am I dreaming it up? It allowed three players and had a hexagonal board…
Mat, tell that to the organisers of the London Marathon :-\
Won’t move 1 always be r x r? Seems pretty dumb to me.
Doesn’t fix the problem of every other 3 man chess game invented, that the two weaker players inevitably will gang up against the strongest
wouldn’t the Rook be able to spin all the way around the outside?
This just screams “SEX.”
I don’t know, I am still a big fan of Fischer Random Chess – it is “normal” chess, but really throws a monkey wrentch into the standard openings that are so common. If I never see a queens pawn opening again, I will be a happy man…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess960
@DrGee – nope, the green lines between the players’ pieces (first three rows) can’t be crossed if the move would result in capture or check. Not checking before you call it dumb might be… less than brilliant? ;o)
wow… this brings competitive chess to a whole new level!
@Silviu just what I was thinking, it just need Sheldon’s new chess pieces too
Next challenge:
Create an AI to handle it!
(just a quick thought)
if you could choose any 2 people to sit down with at this chess table, who would they be?
@whodat, Derren Brown and his clone.
oooOOOOoooohhhhhh………………..
Just what the game needs – more time spent thinking between moves.
Sheldon’s was cooler
I have to disagree with “that make Chess the best board game in the world” when the Go (“weiqi” in Chinese, “baduk” in Korean) is still the king of difficult choices and strategies. Even the most advanced computers are far from competing with even competent practitioners.
The number of spaces on the board is much larger (over five times the spaces on a chess board—361 vs. 64). On most turns there are many more possible moves in Go than in chess. Throughout most of the game, the number of legal moves stays at around 150–250 per turn, and rarely goes below 50 (in chess, the average number of legal moves is 37).
Now 3 player Go that would be easy to create (just add a third colour) but man that would cause some headaches.
J
So what was wrong with 2 man chess? I heard it was quite popular!
3 Man Chess – the ultimate brain busting chess game
Hardly. Its the three tiers high set, that has me in tears.
More interesting variation that you can try Online is http://www.ThreeChess.com it is playable on hexagonal board, it is multiplayer and absolutely free
anyone ordered this? i have on 18/05 and haven’t seen my order or any kind of confirmation
I ordered it recently and got confirmation the following day and the board a couple days later. Its an awesome variation imo.
can this be bought in europe somewhere?