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2D chess was designed to teach strategy. As combat became 3D in space, the game was adapted. Now that time travel is a commonly used plot device, don't you think they should have 4D chess? Where you move your pieces back and forwards through "time"?
Registered: Jun 2003
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Incidentally, Diane Duane describes 4D chess in her books. The pieces don't move backwards in time, but they do move forward - you can "phase out" a piece in a move, scheduling it to "phase in" again at a given turn. Thus, you can do some "time on target" bombarding, so that at some later stage of the game, you actually perform several moves per turn: moving a piece, AND phasing in a number of other pieces. There must be some limitations to that, but they aren't enumerated in the books. Nor is it known what happens when a piece tries to phase in atop another piece, of same or opposing color.
Our Trek heroes (notably, McCoy!) do this with 3D chess and time. But it should be doable with 2D chess and time, creating a fancy form of "3D chess" for us to enjoy.
quote:Nor is it known what happens when a piece tries to phase in atop another piece, of same or opposing color.
Yes, it is. In one book (I forget which), McCoy defeats Spock, playing, as Spock puts it, "Kamikaze Chess, Doctor?" The pieces simply annihilate each other with a small burst on energy. Later, they re-wire the game console to blow up invading Romulans.
-------------------- "The best defense is not a good offense. The best defense is a terrifyingly accurate and devastatingly powerful offense, with multiply-overlapping kill zones and time-on-target artillery strikes." -- Laurence, Archangel of the Sword
Registered: Mar 1999
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-------------------- "The best defense is not a good offense. The best defense is a terrifyingly accurate and devastatingly powerful offense, with multiply-overlapping kill zones and time-on-target artillery strikes." -- Laurence, Archangel of the Sword
Registered: Mar 1999
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