Hi Drow,

Your question is an interesting one, so in addition to
replying to you directly, I'm also "posting" my reply
to the millennium_3d_chess@yahoogroups.com reflector.
If you haven't already joined this email reflector,
then you can easily do so by sending an email to
millennium_3d_chess-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Question: "Shouldn't there be some rule or pawns
stopping the back row (rook 2 rook) from moving? Like
in traditional chess, the "pawns", the army must move
first, before the generals can attack."

The answer follows...

* * *

The advantage of most 3D games is the tremendous
increase in piece mobility, and Millennium 3D Chess*
is no exception to this general rule.

When I first developed the rules for Millennium 3D
Chess*, I tried very hard to avoid the creation of
special, unusual or mandatory rules such as requiring
a pawn to be moved prior to allowing a larger chess
piece the ability to move via changing levels.
Instead, I chose to extended the traditional 2D chess
rules to allow for multiboard play without creating
special requirements or mandatory moves. For
example, there is a 3x8x8 chess variant called "Chess
in the Third Dimension" by Skor-Mor which includes a
series of mandatory rules regulating the changing of
levels. Unfortunately, these mandatory rules changed
the entire "flavor" of the chess game which in-turn
made it very difficult to find opponents who agreed
with these "odd" playing rules. These unusual rules
caused a significant distraction instead of improving
the playability of the game.

All of the basic strategies of traditional 2D chess
can be applied to Millennium 3D Chess* which yields a
very enjoyable and playable chess game. The only
major exception that these new 3D chess openings are
different than the tradition 2D chess openings due to
the added mobility. Plus, since there isn't 500
years of opening "history" with Millennium 3D Chess*
as there is with traditional 2D chess, then these new
opening strategies may become the new "Ruy Lopez" of
"Caro-Kann" openings of this new era!

To this end, the strategy for playing and winning
Millennium 3D Chess* is in many ways similar to
traditional 2D chess. Following the teaching of Aron
Nimzowitsch, who (in my humble opinion) was one of the
world's greatest chess instructors, any player who
successfully controls the center, attacks the enemy
back rank while protecting his/her own back rank will
have the best chance to win. For example:

OPENING: While traditional 2D chess has only 20
possible White opening moves, Millennium 3D Chess* has
102 possible White opening moves with 10,816 possible
positions after Black's first move. Because of this
added level of complexity, even a traditional chess
grand master may have to rethink his/hers opening
moves! However, this extra level of complexity also
translates into a tremendous amount of mobility for
the major pieces. Aron Nimzowitsch wrote, "An
important rule for the beginner is the following: If
it were possible to develop the pieces without the aid
of pawns, the pawnless advance would be the correct."
In Millennium 3D Chess*, this pawnless opening advance
is possible and recommended. However, the beginner
must also be cautioned against falling victim to a
"Fool's Mate" where the opponent quickly positions
his/her Queen directly over the beginner's King and
usually the Queen is supported by a Bishop or Rook. In
this situation, the King is commonly trapped behind
his pawns and the game ends in checkmate.

MIDDLE GAME: Excellent advice about how to play the
Millennium 3D Chess* middle game also comes from Aron
Nimzowitsch as he wrote, "Thou shalt not wander
about!" Select an objective, whether it is the
capturing of a specific piece or controlling a pivotal
square, and play towards winning your objective. Other
Aron Nimzowitsch recommendations include, "Exchange in
order not to lose time by retreating" and "Destroy the
defender by exchanging."

END GAME: Again following Aron Nimzowitsch's advice,
the end game should be played by centralizing the King
and rallying all isolated detachments. Restated, it is
during the end game when the King should be moved into
the center of the board while charging the enemy with
the remaining Pawns and Pieces. At this stage of the
game, a passed pawn can be the deciding factor, which
also means that the lowly Pawns should not have been
pointlessly sacrificed during the middle game. Enjoy
the Play!

FINAL COMMENT: If the above Millennium 3D Chess*
Beginner's Strategy is useful to you, then you should
consider reading Aron Nimzowitsch's book, "My System"
published by Hays Publishing, Dallas, Texas, USA. This
book was written for traditional 2D chess -- however
-- the lessons learned will be very valuable to any
Millennium 3D Chess* player.

*Trademark

Copyright 2002, 2001 William L. D'Agostino.
All rights reserved.





--- Drow <modayz@...> wrote:
> Shouldn't there be some rule or pawns stopping the
> back row (rook 2 rook) from moving?
>
> Like in traditional chess, the "pawns", the army
> must move first, before the generals can attack.
>
> From the rules it seems that the
> rook/bishop/queen/king can move first by
> "energising" ;) to another level.
>
> Maybe strategic positioning of pawns on the second
> level and third level blocking the upward movement?
>
> I haven't finished reading all the rules yet, going
> through them now. But it just seems wrong to be able
> to move the back row before pawns (knights are
> exceptions of course.)
>
> Your thoughts would be welcome.
>
> Mo
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>


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