The present invention relates to games and more particularly to a chess game apparatus.
The game of chess is a well-known ancient war game which is quite popular. Traditionally, the game is played by two players on a two-dimensional checkered game board having 64 squares. In the game of chess, there are a number of different classes of pieces, i.e., kings, queens, bishops, knights, rooks and pawns. The manner in which each of these classes of pieces may be moved on the game board is defined by the rules of the game so as to be different from the permitted movement of other classes. It is this difference in the manner in which various pieces may be moved which renders the game relatively complex, and no doubt adds to the game's popularity by making the playing of the game a rather stimulating mental exercise.
Therefore, since the ultimate goal behind the game of chess appears to be to challenge the minds of the players, games similar to chess have heretofore been devised which are played in three dimensions. The rationale behind these three-dimensional games was that if a two-dimensional game is found mentally stimulating, a three-dimensional game would be even more intellectually stimulating and consequently more enjoyable. Typically, however, these prior art three-dimensional games have deviated from the traditional game of chess, either by adding more classes of pieces, more squares to the playing area, or even more players. As a result of these deviations, a certain amount of the historical charm of the game was naturally lost.
It is, accordingly, an object of the present invention to provide a novel chess game apparatus which is three-dimensional and which is played in a manner closely paralleling the traditional game of chess.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a novel chess game board comprised of four vertically spaced-apart layer members, each one of the layer members having the same number of playing squares as the others.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a novel chess game apparatus which is three-dimensional and permits selective introduction of variations to the conventional game of chess as a natural extension of the game.
It is additionally an object of the present invention to provide a novel chess game apparatus which has a game board of 64 squares comprised of four vertically spaced-apart parallel layers, each layer having 16 squares thereon, and which is played by the two players using the standard pieces of a conventional chess set.
In accomplishing these and other objects, there has been provided in accordance with the present invention a chess game apparatus having a checkered game board made of four vertically spaced layers. Each layer has sixteen squares thereon so that the game board has a total of 64 squares, as a conventional chess board. The game is played by two players using the pieces of a conventional chess set. The chess pieces are arranged on the various layers in a predetermined manner at the commencement of a game and the moves of the pieces are defined so that they may be moved in the three-dimensional playing area. The moves of each class of pieces are defined, however, so that they closely approximate the moves of the same pieces in a traditional chess game. Thus, a novel three-dimensional chess game apparatus is provided which is played in a manner closely paralleling a traditional game of chess, but has the added mental stimulation of being played in three dimensions.
A better understanding of the present invention may be had from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an assembled game board of a chess game apparatus according to the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a view taken above the line 2--2 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a top view of one of the similar layer members making up the game board of FIG. 1; and
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the playing area provided by the game board of FIG. 1, showing the positions of the pieces of a conventional chess set thereon at the commencement of a game of three-dimensional chess.
Referring to the drawings in more detail, there is shown in FIG. 1 a preferred form of game board generally indicated by the numeral 101. The game board 101 has four identical layer portions or members 102, one of which is shown in FIG. 3. The upper side of each layer portion 102 has a checkerboard design of 16 playing squares 104 formed thereon. The squares 104 are all uniform in size and arranged in rows so as to form a square-shaped playing area on each layer member 102. The layers 102 are identified from top to bottom by the designations 102a-102d, respectively. The layers 102 are spaced vertically apart, preferably one above the other, by support members 102 with the checkered pattern of squares 104 of all the layers 102 being aligned in the same sense so that one checkerboard pattern of squares 104 corresponds with the others, as shown in FIG. 4. An exemplary one of the squares 104 is identified in FIG. 3.
Holes 105 are formed in each of the corners of the layers 102, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. Threaded portions 103a of the support members 103 are inserted through the holes 105 and other support members 103 are screwed onto the projecting thread portions 103a, thereby to support the layers members 102. The layers 102 are preferably supported so as to be parallel with respect to each other and the support members 102 may be tubular in shape. The manner in which the support members 103 support the layers 102 is shown in detail in FIG. 2. Attachments 106 and 107 are shown for securing the bottom layer 102d and the top layer 102a to their adjacent support members 103, respectively. It is noted that other conventional members and means could be employed for supporting the layers 102 in a spaced-apart relationship.
Referring now to FIG. 4, the playing area provided by the game board 101 is shown therein. For explanation purposes, the squares 104 of the game board 101 are numbered from 1 to 64. As shown in FIG. 4, the squares of the layer members 102a, 102b, 102c and 102d are numbered, respectively, from 1-16, 17-32, 33-48 and 49-64. Half the squares are of one color r such as, black, while the other half of the squares are of another color, such as, white. The pieces of a conventional chess set are indicated by letters on the game board 101 in their positions at the commencement of a game of chess. The following designations are used for identifying the chess pieces on the game board 101. The pieces are assumed to be black and white as they usually are in the game of chess.
Chess Piece Black White __________________________________________________________________________ King KB KW Queen QB QW Bishops BB BW Knights KNB KNW Rooks RB RW Pawns PB PW __________________________________________________________________________
a table is given below indicating the squares upon which the respective chess pieces are positioned at the commencement of a game:
Black White Chess No. of Chess No. of Piece Pieces Square Piece Pieces Square __________________________________________________________________________ KB 1 3 KW 1 63 QB 1 2 QW 1 62 BB 2 13, 16 BW 2 49, 52 KNB 2 14, 15 KNW 2 50, 51 RB 2 1, 4 RW 2 61, 64 B PW 8 33-36, 29-32. 45-48. __________________________________________________________________________
the standard rules of chess are used in playing this three-dimensional game of chess except for the modifications hereinafter mentioned which are necessary to adapt the game of chess to three dimensions. Reference may be made to United States Letters Patent No. 1,877,154 issued to Walter R. Weaver wherein the standard rules of chess are set out.
The moves of each of the pieces in this three-dimensional chess game are now discussed in order to illustrate how the game would be played by two players or opponents.
A pawn is allowed to move forward one square at a time. Additionally, a pawn may move vertically one level at a time in the direction of the opposite side's king or queen. To capture, a pawn may only capture diagonally as in standard chess. Therefore, a pawn may not capture an opponent by moving to a different level. Further, a pawn may not jump men as in standard chess. In order for a pawn to be exchanged for another piece, it has to move to the level of the opposite side's king to the opposite side of the board from which it started the game.
To illustrate, PW on square 45 would have to move to any of the squares 13-16 in order to be changed for a piece, while PW on square 34 would have to move to any of the squares 1-4. In order to keep track of which pawns have to move to squares 1-4 and which to squares 13-16, the white pawns on squares 33-36 may be marked in order to identify them from the white pawns on squares 45-48.
On layer 102c, the forward direction of the pawns on squares 45-48 is from the line of squares designated 110 to the line of squares designated 111 while the forward direction for pawns on squares 33-36 is just the opposite, i.e., from the line of squares 111 to line 110. Any of these white pawns may be moved vertically upwards from layer 102c to 102b. On layer 102b, the pawns from squares 45-48 may be moved towards the line of squares designated 112 and the white pawns from the square 33-36 may be moved towards the line of squares designated 113. White pawns from the layer 102b may be moved vertically upward to the layer 102a. On the layer 102a white pawns from the squares 45-48 may be moved towards the line of squares designated 114 while white pawns from the squares 33-36 may be moved towards the line of squares designated 115. It is again noted that each move of the pawns is limited to one square or layer at a time, and that the only time a pawn may be moved diagonally is when capturing.
With regard to the black pawns, the manner in which they move is similar to that described for white pawns. Black pawns, however, will be moved vertically downward on the game board 101. The black pawns on the squares 29-32 would be marked differently from the black pawns on the squares 17-- 20 so that it may be determined which is the forward direction of movement for these pawns on layers 102b, 102c and 102d and to which square each particular black pawn has to be moved in order to be entitled to be changed for another piece.
The bishop will move horizontally in a diagonal direction as in standard chess. On any plane 102 it can move diagonally on its own color, but must stop where it reaches the edge of the plane or layer and cannot move vertically in the same move. In a separate move, the bishop will move vertically, or three-dimensionally, by moving diagonally through the planes 102. To illustrate, if the bishop is on square 39, it may move diagonally and horizontally to squares 36, 42, 45, 44 or 34. From square 39 is could move diagonally and vertically to squares 64, 62, 56, 54 on plane 102d; 20, 26, 28, 18 on plane 102b; and square 1 on plane 102a. It cannot combine a horizontal and vertical move and cannot jump over other chess men.
The knights move in an L-shaped three-square movement as in standard chess. In three-dimensional chess this L-shaped movement may, however, be on one layer or by moving vertically and horizontally. To illustrate, the KNW on square 50 could move on one move to any of the following squares: 57, 59, 56, 48, 38, 29, 26 or 31. The knights may jump over pieces in their moves, as in standard chess.
The rooks move in a straight line as in standard chess. This straight line may be either horizontal or vertical. To illustrate, the RW on square 61 could be moved therefrom to any of the following squares on one move: Squares 47, 43, 49, 62, 63, 64, 33, 17 or 13. The rooks cannot jump pieces.
A queen has the combined powers of the bishop and rook described in this specification.
A king moves one square at a time in any direction. To illustrate, the KW on square 63 may be moved to any of the following squares: 62, 58, 59, 60, 64 or 35. As in regular chess, the king may not be moved into check.
The manner in which each of the above-described chess pieces captures may be the same as each captures in standard chess.
Thus, there is provided a novel chess game apparatus which is played in three dimensions in a manner closely paralleling the traditional game of chess. The game board provided in the game apparatus is comprised of four vertically spaced-apart layer members, each layer member having 16 squares thereon. Thus, a game board having 64 squares like a standard chess board is provided. The game is for two opponents and a standard set of chess men may be used for playing the game.
While the preferred form of the game board of the present invention has unique application as described, it is nevertheless to be understood that various modifications and changes may be made in the detailed construction and arrangement of elements comprising the preferred form as well as its intended use without departing from the spirit of the present invention. What is claimed is: