Check out Janggi (Korean Chess), our featured variant for December, 2024.

Enter Your Reply

The Comment You're Replying To
Doug Chatham wrote on Tue, May 14, 2002 12:27 PM UTC:
I've recently had a strange idea for an 84-square chess variant, and I'd
like to get some comments on it.

I call it Three-Layer Wedding Cake Chess.  The bottom layer is a standard
8x8 chess board with the standard chess piece placement.  Above the middle
16 squares is the second layer, an initially empty 4x4 board.  Above the
middle four squares of the second layer is the third layer, an initially
empty 2x2 board.

The goal is to get your queen and king on the top layer before the
opponent's king and queen can reach the top layer.

There is no check, checkmate, or any true capturing.  A piece (including
P,R,B,N,Q, or K) can move onto a square occupied by an enemy piece only if
the square immediately above that enemy is empty.  When such a move occurs,
the enemy piece is 'elevated' to the square immediately above its current
positions.  If a player can elevate an enemy piece, he or she must do so. 
If more than one elevation is possible, the player can choose which one to
carry out.

A player may move a piece to the square immediately below that piece if
that square is empty.

Pieces move on the top layers just as they do on the bottom layer, except
that pawns may only promote on the bottom layer.

FIDE rules apply except as I've contradicted them above (so, for example,
there are no 3D moves other than the ones given above,).

Previous variants inspiring and influencing this one include Bachelor Chess
(the wedding theme), Pyramid Chess (board layout), Reenterent Chess (each
square on the top two layers acting like a reentering square for 'captures'
on the square immediately below), Losing Chess ('captures' compulsory), and
Elevator Chess (inspiring the term 'elevate').

I hope you find this entertaining.

Edit Form
Conduct Guidelines
This is a Chess variants website, not a general forum.
Please limit your comments to Chess variants or the operation of this site.
Keep this website a safe space for Chess variant hobbyists of all stripes.
Because we want people to feel comfortable here no matter what their political or religious beliefs might be, we ask you to avoid discussing politics, religion, or other controversial subjects here. No matter how passionately you feel about any of these subjects, just take it someplace else.
Avoid Inflammatory Comments
If you are feeling anger, keep it to yourself until you calm down. Avoid insulting, blaming, or attacking someone you are angry with. Focus criticisms on ideas rather than people, and understand that criticisms of your ideas are not personal attacks and do not justify an inflammatory response.
Quick Markdown Guide

By default, new comments may be entered as Markdown, simple markup syntax designed to be readable and not look like markup. Comments stored as Markdown will be converted to HTML by Parsedown before displaying them. This follows the Github Flavored Markdown Spec with support for Markdown Extra. For a good overview of Markdown in general, check out the Markdown Guide. Here is a quick comparison of some commonly used Markdown with the rendered result:

Top level header: <H1>

Block quote

Second paragraph in block quote

First Paragraph of response. Italics, bold, and bold italics.

Second Paragraph after blank line. Here is some HTML code mixed in with the Markdown, and here is the same <U>HTML code</U> enclosed by backticks.

Secondary Header: <H2>

  • Unordered list item
  • Second unordered list item
  • New unordered list
    • Nested list item

Third Level header <H3>

  1. An ordered list item.
  2. A second ordered list item with the same number.
  3. A third ordered list item.
Here is some preformatted text.
  This line begins with some indentation.
    This begins with even more indentation.
And this line has no indentation.

Alt text for a graphic image

A definition list
A list of terms, each with one or more definitions following it.
An HTML construct using the tags <DL>, <DT> and <DD>.
A term
Its definition after a colon.
A second definition.
A third definition.
Another term following a blank line
The definition of that term.