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The Laws of the World
Tri Dimensional Chess Federation

  1. The game objective
    1. The game of Tri Dimensional Chess consists of two opposing players taking turns moving playing pieces (hereafter referred to as a 'piece') of matching player colours, or smaller parts of the board the game is played on, to different locations on multiple, chequered square patterned stages, arranged in a specific configuration (hereafter referred to as the 'board').
    2. Each piece may be categorised as a specific type and, as such, is assigned a particular pattern of movement allowable on each turn.
    3. Following these patterns of movement, pieces may be moved to occupy a square already occupied by an opponent’s piece. In this case, the opponent’s piece is removed from play and is said to be ‘taken’.
    4. If any move results in allowing a piece to take the opponent's king piece (hereafter referred to as a 'king'), the opponent is said to be in 'check'.
    5. A player in check is required to make a move on their subsequent turn that renders their king no longer in check.
    6. A player in check who is unable to render their king no longer in check on their subsequent move is said to be in 'checkmate' and their opponent has won the game.
    7. If a player has no legal move but is not in check, the game is said to be a 'stalemate' and the game result is a draw.
    8. The game may also be declared a stalemate by mutual consent of both players should it be deemed impossible for either side to win by checkmate.
  2. The game board
    1. The board consists of three square boards (hereafter referred to as 'levels'), each with the upper surface subdivided into four ranks and four files. The subdivisions are alternately coloured to correspond to each player's piece colour to produce a chequered pattern.
    2. The three levels are suspended one above the other and offset horizontally by exactly half a level's width, in such a way as to place half of the squares on any level directly over or under half the squares on the next level above or below.
    3. Each level is oriented so as to present the same coloured square directly above or below the corresponding square on the level above or below.
    4. A plan view of the appropriately arranged levels, allowing for the offset of exactly half of each level, renders a chequered pattern eight squares long and four squares wide. These squares correspond to eight ranks and four files.
    5. Four additional levels, each subdivided into two ranks and two files, are suspended above the extreme outside corners of both the lowest and highest levels (each hereafter referred to as an 'attack board'). These are also coloured with a matching chequered pattern and oriented to have the square overlapping the corner of its adjoining level match the colour of that corner square.
    6. Each attack board may be later repositioned and suspended in the same manner over all four corners of any level.
  3. Setting up
    1. Each player starts the game with a total of sixteen pieces, comprising of:
      1. one king
      2. one queen
      3. two bishops
      4. two knights
      5. two rooks
      6. eight pawns
    2. Each player places their pieces on the two most extreme outside ranks of squares on their respective levels.
    3. A bishop is placed in each end of the rearmost file, with a king and queen on the squares between them, the queen being placed on a square of matching colour.
    4. A pawn is placed on each of the four squares of the second rank of each player's starting level.
    5. A rook is placed on each of the extreme outside rear corners of both attack boards on the player's level.
    6. A knight is placed on the inside squares of the attack board, adjacent to the rooks.
    7. Two pawns are placed on the second rank of each of the attack boards on the player's level.
  4. Horizontal movement
    1. The king
      The king may move one square in an orthogonal or diagonal direction on a single move.
      To take an opponent's piece, it moves onto the square occupied by the piece.
      The king may never make a move that allows it to be taken by an opponent’s piece in the subsequent move. Placing a king into check is an illegal move.
      The king may perform a move referred to as 'castling' by either:
      1. replacing the rook on the outside rear square of the king's attack board with the king and relocating the rook to the king’s corner square of the king’s starting level
      2. moving the king to the inside rear corner of the queen’s attack board and moving the queen’s rook to the queen’s starting position
      provided:
      1. Neither the king, the rook nor the attack board involved has previously moved in the game.
      2. The king is not currently in check.
      3. The intervening knight and bishop, and if appropriate, the queen, have been moved and all of their starting positions are vacant.
      4. Stopping on the destination square does not cause the king to be in check.
    2. The queen
      The queen may move in a single direction, orthogonally or diagonally, until it is stopped by another piece, takes an opponent’s piece, or reaches the edge of the board.
    3. The bishop
      A bishop may move in a single diagonal line until it is stopped by another piece, takes an opponent’s piece, or reaches the edge of the board.
    4. The knight
      A knight may move orthogonally a single square and then diagonally a single square away from its position at the start of the move.
      The knight’s move is not impeded by any other pieces occupying intermediate squares, and the knight may move provided the destination square is not occupied by a piece belonging to the moving player.
    5. The rook
      A rook may move in a single orthogonal line until it is stopped by another piece, takes an opponent’s piece, or reaches the edge of the board.
    6. The pawn
      Pawns may only move orthogonally forward, towards the opposing side of the board, one square in a single move with the following exceptions:
      1. A pawn may not move forward, towards the opponent’s board edge, orthogonally onto a square occupied by an opponent’s piece. If a square diagonally forward of the pawn’s current square is occupied by an opponent’s piece, the pawn may make a forward diagonal move and take the opponent’s piece.
      2. If a pawn has not previously been moved in the game, it may be moved forward two squares on its first move, provided the two squares are unoccupied.
        In subsequent moves it may then only be moved one square per move.
      3. If, immediately following a pawn’s initial move of two squares, an opposing pawn makes a forward diagonal move to the last square passed over by and directly behind that pawn, the pawn that made the initial move is taken and removed from play. This taking move is called 'en passant'.
    7. The attack board
      Any attack board may be moved orthogonally by either player as their move, either to an adjacent corner on the same level or to a corner on an adjacent level a maximum of two squares away horizontally, provided only one square of the entire attack board is occupied by a single piece belonging to the moving player other than the king.
      During the move, an attack board may be rotated 180° around its vertical axis.
      An attack board move may never cause a pawn to move backwards towards the player's starting edge by the end of its move.
      This includes moving the attack board sideways whilst rotating it 180° so as to position the pawn one rank backwards.
  5. Vertical movement
    1. Squares are considered to be the same position as those located directly above or below with regard to horizontal movement.
      A piece may change levels provided the continued horizontal path conforms to the piece’s legal move, irrespective of its vertical movement.
    2. To move a piece to a different level, the piece is first moved along its horizontal path.
      At any intermediate point on the path, the piece may be repositioned to an unoccupied square directly above or below the next square on the path and the horizontal move is continued.
      The intermediate point may include the starting square or the destination square.
    3. With regard to determining vertical direction of travel, attack boards are considered to be at the same level as the main board they are positioned on.
    4. A piece may leave the edge of a level or attack board if there is an unoccupied square directly above or below the hypothetical square to which the piece has moved. This then becomes the square the piece continues its horizontal move on.
  6. Further rules
    1. If a pawn’s move results in it reaching the furthest point on the opposite side of the board, it may be immediately replaced with a piece of its owner’s choice of any other type, except a king.
    2. The furthest point is considered to be the rear rank of the opposing player's starting edge.
    3. Where further progress forward on the same file is facilitated by an attack board positioned on the opponent’s starting edge, the pawn may be promoted only when it has reached the rear rank of that attack board.
    4. A pawn on the front rank of an attack board that moves to an extreme rear corner of the opponent's starting level may be immediately promoted.
    5. An attack board located at either of a player's extreme rear corners may not be moved if the corner of the level on which the attack board is positioned is occupied by an opponent's pawn, so as not to cause the opponent's pawn to be immediately promoted.