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Tri-Dimensional Chess
Commence Software's Tri-Dimensional Chess is a multi-platform game written in the Java programming language. It runs on the popular operating systems Windows, macOS and Linux, as well as other operating systems that support the Java Standard Runtime Environment (SRE). It is inspired by the game introduced in the original Star Trek television series of the late 1960s. This game is based on Jens Meder's "International Rules for Three-Dimensional Chess," which were created as an extension of the "FIDE Laws of Chess" for conventional chess.
As a life-long student of conventional chess, the author of this software was intrigued by the notion of extending chess into a third dimension. Whereas conventional chess boards are ubiquitous, it is very uncommon to find a physical Tri-Dimensional chess board. This limited access to boards, as well as opponents, makes learning the game challenging. Commence Software's Tri-Dimensional Chess solves this problem by providing a virtual board and opponent.
A Tri-Dimensional Chess board is comprised of three static main boards and four moveable attack boards, as seen in the game available from The Noble Collection. The chess pieces move in a conventional manner but can traverse, land and attack on multiple levels.

Star Trek Tridimensional Chess board
sold by The Noble Collection

The game interface is similar visually and mechanically to tournament style conventional chess games (e.g. Chess.com). Moves are entered by selecting source and destination squares. The board expands and collapses to assist in visualizing the three-dimensional game volume. When initiating a move, the possible destination squares are highlighted. For example, in figures 1 and 2 below the White Knight in square a1W can move to squares b3W and b3N. Opponent moves are also highlighted. In figures 3 and 4 below the Black Knight moved from square b6B to square c4N.

1. Player's move, collapsed board
2. Player's move, expanded board

This game is provided free of charge for non-commercial use as entertainment and a learning tool.
Please consider a small donation to assist with administrative fees and future development.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

3. Opponent's move, collapsed board
4. Opponent's move, expanded board