How to play Three-Player Chess

Three-Player Chess

The ancient strategy game of chess dates back to 1,500 years ago with the two-player board game originated in northern India.  Also known as Three-handed, Three-man, or Three-way chess, Three-player chess adds twists to the popular game.

The Equipment

The game uses a hexagonal chessboard that has a playing field of 96 squares. The board is divided into three areas with 32 squares each.

Each area is annotated with letters and numbers along the side. Three sets of 16 chess pieces (chessmen) are used. Each set is comprised of the traditional chess pieces - one king, one queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights, and eight pawns. 

Each player places their chess pieces on the side of the board with letters on them. 

Setup

The board is arrayed in eight rows and eight columns of squares, with a black square on the lower left corner of each player’s side. Arrange the starting positions of the chessmen according to the illustration below.

Movement

All the principles concerning the movement of the pieces are the same as in classic chess. Each player plays against each other, especially at the beginning stage of the game. In order to play a game against two opponents it is required to enable to move chess pieces forward and towards the right or to the left side of a chessboard. Such a possibility exists for the pieces coming across the rosette consisted of six squares in the center of the chessboard.

King: The king is the most important piece in the game and also the weakest. The king can move in any direction but only one space at a time. The game is lost by the captured player if it is captured.

Queen: Queens are the most powerful pieces and can move in any direction, any number of squares.

Rook: Rooks can move horizontally or vertically any number of squares.

Knight: Knights move in an “L” shape, either two squares horizontally and one square vertically,  or two squares vertically and one square horizontally. Knights are the only pieces that can pass over other pieces that are in their movement path.

Bishop: Bishops can move diagonally any number of squares.

Pawn: Pawns can only move forward, unlike other pieces. Normally it moves only one square at a time except on its first move where it has the option to move up to two squares. Pawns cannot capture other pieces in front of them. However, if there is a piece one square diagonally forward of them, it can move in that direction to capture it. If a pawn manages to reach the other end of the board, it is promoted to a queen. 

Rule Variations

1. As with two-player chess, a player says “check” when the opponent’s king piece is in danger. Checkmate is achieved when the opponent’s king piece is about to be captured and can no longer escape. In three-player chess, a player whose king is in checkmate position loses a turn and waits. The player can continue the game when their king is freed with the help of the third player. The game continues until the first checkmate is delivered. The player who delivered the checkmate is the winner. The losers are both the player who was checkmated and the third player who did not prevent the king under direct attack from being captured. 
2. After the first king is captured, the game continues. The player who managed to deliver a checkmate receives a kind of “bonus” — he or she takes over the pieces of the checkmated player and plays with two sets of pieces until ultimate checkmate is delivered.
3. Similar to the second variation, the game continues after the first king is captured. The pieces of the checkmated player are not removed from the chessboard nor can they be played. However, they can be captured and replaced when a player wants to set their piece on the occupied square. The game continues until the delivery of an ultimate checkmate. 

You Are Ready!

The nature of conquering and surviving is familiar to all who have played chess. Three player chess combines all of the infinite varieties of a classic game of chess with the addition of complex psychological elements. Alliances are formed and broken if players so wish. A player must be focused not only on attacking and protecting his/her own pieces but also in protecting other players threatened by the third one.
Now that you have learned the rules of this exciting chess variant, find your two companions and prepare to have fun!

Download the manual here.