Dragonchess

Dragonchess is a three-dimensional fantasy chess variant created by Gary Gygax, co-creator of the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons. The game was introduced in 1985 in issue No. 100 of Dragon Magazine.

Boards and pieces

The Dragonchess gameboard consists of three 12×8 chess boards stacked vertically. The upper board represents the air, the middle board represents the land, and the lower board is the subterranean world.
The Dragonchess game pieces are an ensemble of characters and monsters inspired or derived from fantasy settings in Dungeons & Dragons. Intricate inter- and intra-level game piece capabilities are defined. As in chess, White moves first and then players take turns, and the game is won by delivering checkmate to the enemy king.

Middle board (level 2)

King (K)

Move notation

Recording moves is done the same as in algebraic notation for chess, extended to a 12×8 board, with the addition of a numeric prefix in front of each square coordinate to identify the level. So for example, White's Elemental starts on square 1g1 ; Black's King starts on 2g8; and so on.