Tridimensional chess (1975)

Originally a stage property built by Irving A Feinberg, for the Star Trek television program, the most popular 3D Chess variant, tri dimensional chess was included in the 1975 Ballantine Books publication of Franz Josef Schnaubelt's Star Trek Star Fleet Technical Manual.
Andrew Bartmess, a chess player and Star Trek fan, encouraged by Schnaubelt developed a full set of rules of play.
The military fighter pilot and noted chess player, John Hawkins, wrote a set of rules based on aerial combat tactics and these are now the official rules of the World Tri Dimensional Chess Federation.
A full set of rules covering tournament games was written by Jens Meder.
The game is played using much the same move patterns as standard chess but incorporating vertical movement across three different board levels.
Tri Dimensional Chess also incorporates four board sections which may be moved around and between the three levels.