This is my first attempt at a 3D chess set, and if you were considering such a set, I’ll share my experience with building it. The very first thing to consider is they type of chess piece you plan to use. Since boards overlap each other halfway, the tallest piece, usually the King, must be able to fit between the boards. I discovered this problem for myself too late and had to use pieces that would fit between the boards. So, once you have your chess pieces measure the height of the tallest piece and add a bit more for clearance. This is the distance you’ll need between the chess boards, which includes the smaller attack boards that are 2×2 squares.
Next, plan out your base, I choose a simple base, but if you search the internet, you will see a variety of base structures. I used plexiglass for the entire chess set. Mostly because after Covid, the store I work at threw away the shields for the sales counters, and I used one of these to make the chess set. The plexiglass made a good set because it allows the player to see through the boards to the different layers of the game.
When designing the chess boards, it must be remembered that the middle board overlaps the lower board halfway, and the top board overlaps the middle board halfway. The 2×2 attack boards overlap on one corner square, (or as close as you can.) The 4×4 boards were 6 inches by 6 inches and the 2×2 attack boards were 3 inches by 3 inches. I suppose you can make these any size you wish, but this size seems sufficient.
I created my set out of cardboard first, making a pattern, then used this to lay out the design on to the plexiglass.
My wife had a nice grid sheet that she uses for sewing projects which helped. Once the pieces were traced out with a dry erase marker, I used a jig saw to cut them out.
Now it was time to create the playing boards. I chose to color in the blocks with permanent marker. Using a fine marker and ruler to draw the grid, I laid out the boards. Four 2×2 boards (3 inch by 3 inch) and three 4×4 boards (6 inch by 6 inch). Each square of the chess board works out close to 1 and 1/2 inches square. I coated the colored squares with a craft sealant like Mod Podge or the equivalent, to protect the color areas from wear.
Once the boards were finished, I glued together the base, making some last-minute adjustments, I added a few support pieces.
A side from using super glue, I also added hot glue to support the boards. If I were going to do this design again, I would use two center step pieces, one on each side of the boards, rather than just a single up the middle. I drilled holes through the 4 corners of each 4×4 board and put small bolts pointing up in each corner, glueing them in place. I glued the three 4×4 boards in place. WARNING, all boards should end up with all right rear corners being blue (or dark) in color. With the attack boards, they get a hole drilled in the center and a bolt is placed into the center of each. For the center spindle leg that holds these board in place on the bolts that are put in the corners of the 4×4, I used ball point pen cases. I cut them to the correct length and attached these as spindle legs to the attack board bolts with glue. It was difficult to find the exact size bolt to snuggly fit the pen casing, but I did find a metric size that came quite close. The lower end of the spindle leg does not get attached to any of the 4×4 boards but is to be able to be moved from place to place by sliding the plastic case over the bolt that sticks up in the corners of the 4×4 boards.
Rules for 3D chess can be found online. https://www.chessvariants.com/3d.dir/startrek.html https://www.yestercade.net/tactical.htm https://meder.spacechess.org/3dschach/chess3d.htm
I printed off the various rules listed above and put them in a small folder. Most of the rules are consistent, but there are a few variations. YouTube does have a video that you might find helpful.
The board does look a bit rough. A better method of sawing would make the cuts straighter, and possibly a different means of coloring the squares in. I’d also color the underneath of the board rather than the playing surface if I were to build another. And as mentioned before, I’d either use two supports for the playing boards, one on each side, or abandon that all together and attempt a different type of stand. One other thought I had that if you wanted to be able to spin the board, turning it from player to player, building it on top of a lazy Susan might be a good idea.
I hope this helps if you are considering to build your own 3D chess set.
Zavel
Vulcan Quest - Vuhlkansu Pthan 