Date: Tue, 13 Aug 1996 12:34:54 -0400 (EDT) From: Alex Trotter <uburoi-AT-panix.com> Subject: three-sided chess HEXAGONAL CHESS unorthodox play on a board formed from hexagons. The earliest version was suggested by the Viennese engineer Siegmund Wellisch in 1912. He chose a hexagonal board as the most logical for THREE-HANDED CHESS, and 91 hexagons as the nearest equivalent, for three players, to the 64 squares used by two players in orthodox chess. So that no adjacent hexagons are of the same colour a third is needed, and he chose red. [Accompanying diagram shows the array of pieces.] The king's move is to one of the six (or three or four) adjoining hexagons, the knight's move is to the nearest hexagon of the same colour (and so three knights are needed to cover the board), the rook's move is in straight lines through the sides of the hexagons. There are no bishops. The queen combines the moves of the rook and knight. The pawns are advanced through the sides of the hexagons to arrive or capture on one of the two hexagons lying ahead. Forms of hexagonal chess using a board of overall quadrilateral shape have been devised, but the version that has had the most success in modern times is a two-handed game using a board similar to Wellisch's, the players sitting at opposite angles. It was introduced by Wladyslaw Glinski (1920- ), a Polish-born Londoner. The forces differ from those of Wellisch in that each side has only two knights, but has three bishops and one extra pawn. The moves of the pieces, also different, are described in Glinski's book, *Rules of Hexagonal Chess* (1973). Glinski's version achieved some popularity, and in 1976 the British Hexagonal Chess Federation was formed. A visit by Glinski to his homeland in 1978 generated much interest there and in 1980 an International Hexagonal Chess Federation was formed, the first world championship being held in 1987. Other than Britain, the countries showing the most interest are Poland, Hungary, [Czechoslovakia], [USSR], Yugoslavia, Italy, and the USA. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- entry from *The Oxford Companion to Chess* 2d ed. (David Hooper & Kenneth Whyld), 1992. --- from list avant-garde-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---
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