GB2611510A - Giant three dimensional chess based puzzle game - Google Patents

Abstract

A set of giant chessmen comprises individual chessmen assembled from geometrically shaped sub-units which interlock to form edges and vertices which outline frames that correspond to chessmen of traditional shapes. The chessmen are constructed such that their outlines are complementary to one another, and they may be stacked in various configurations for storage and movement. The chessmen may be hollow, having edges and vertices but not surfaces. Each of the 32 chessmen is made up of a minimum of 12 individual pieces of material which may be wood, metal, plastic or any other suitable medium. Each chessman has 4 vertical pieces that form the vertical frame of the chessman and horizontal crossbeams which are assembled to represent the various pieces. The constructed shapes also indicate the way in which each piece may move. The chessmen may be stacked for storage.

Description

Key Words For the purpose of this disclosure and to avoid ambiguity, the word "chessmen-refers to the 32 individual units which are laid out and controlled by opposing players during a game of chess. In standard chess terminology, the word "pieces" may refer to the chessmen themselves, however in this disclosure, because each of the chessmen is made up of subunits which are interlocking, the expression "pieces" will refer to the interlocking subunits of which the chessmen are made, rather than the chessmen themselves. Furthermore, for the purpose of this disclosure, the chessmen being discussed are separated into two groups, namely the pawns and the officers. In this instance, the term, "officers" refers specifically to all chessmen that are not pawns, namely, Kings, Queens, Rooks, Knights and Bishops.

Background of the Invention

Chess is a game which is traditionally played on a board which is small enough to be placed on a table. A typical size for the King in a standard set of chessmen would be 3.25 inches in height. The invention disclosed in this document is a set of chessmen which are much larger in size than standard table-top chessmen and are designed to be played on a large, floor-based chessboard.

This disclosure is for a set of giant chessmen that are to be played on a chessboard that the players will walk upon. The nature of this invention is that the set of giant chessmen is designed to be assembled by the end user from pieces which are fabricated out of a suitable material (such as wood, metal, plastic or other suitable media). The fabricated pieces of this invention are a three dimensional puzzle for the end user to solve as the pieces are assembled. The puzzle that the end user would solve in this invention would result in the assembly of a set of giant chessmen which being comprised of interlocking pieces, embody the allowed moves that each of the giant chessmen may make during a chess game following standard chess rules. Unlike traditional chessmen, the giant chessmen disclosed in this invention are lattice structured, that is to say that they are formed in such a way that the chessmen are not solid, three dimensional shapes, rather, they are frames and outlines of solid three dimensional shapes where the individual pieces form edges and vertices (but not faces) of the shapes which represent chessmen of corresponding identity. Furthermore, it is the nature of this invention that the set of giant chessmen which the end user would assemble are all of the same, cross sectional dimensions which is square when viewed from above (plan), and also of the same width when viewed from any of the front, side or rear points of view. The heights of the -1'5-,n-,es of the giant chessmen are in regular ratios to one another. The result of having the giant chessmen with corresponding cross sectional and transverse dimensions and proportionate heights is that the giant chessmen in this invention may be stacked in various configurations for storage. The nature of this invention is that the floor surface area that would be required to store the entire set of giant chessmen would be a fraction of the surface area that the giant chessmen would occupy were they simply to be arranged adjacent to one another rather than being stacked, on top of each other. It is the nature of this invention that in addition to being stacked, one on top of the other for storage, the giant chessmen may be completely disassembled back into their constituent pieces to further reduce the surface are and overall volume of the total combined set of giant chessmen. This allows for a set of giant chessmen that may be transported from one location to another and reassembled at any location where the use of such a set of giant chessmen may be desired.

Detailed Explanation Although there are 32 chessmen in a complete chess set, there are only 6 types of chessmen. These six are the Pawns, the Rooks, the Bishops, the Knights, the Queens and the Kings. Each player will have 8 pawns, 2 each of Knights, Rooks and Bishops and one each of Kings and Queens. The purpose of this invention is to represent each of these chessmen with a distinct geometric shape such that the chessman is quickly and easily distinguished from all other chessmen. In addition to this, this invention encodes the way in which the chessman may be moved into the shape.

FIG1 Shows the Queen. The Queen has an "X" shape at the top. This indicates that the Queen may travel diagonally across the board. Also on the Queen are grooves which indicate a parallel line in which the Queen may also move. The queen is the highest valued of the chessmen. It is also the most complicated of all the chessmen in this disclosure.

FIG 2 Shows the King. For this invention the King is represented with the topmost piece in the colour of the opponent's chessmen, which makes the King distinguishable as the piece one must trap in order to defeat one's opponent.

FIG 3 shows the Bishop. The Bishop is mitred at 45 degrees which is the same angle that it moves at on a chessboard. The Bishop's allowed movement is at 45 degrees to the edges of the chessboard.

FIG 4 shows the knight. The top of the knight is steppedindicating that the knight may move only in an "L" shape.

FIG 5 shows the rook. The rook may move either horizontally or vertically along the chessboard and may move any number of squares.

FIG 6 shows a pawn, the lowest value piece in the game of chess. Pawns in this invention are (like in traditional arrangements) shorter than all other chessmen. The pawns in this invention are represented as rectangular cuboid structures. They may usually only move one square at a time and may only do so in a forward direction unless they are capturing an opponent's piece, in which case they may move diagonally.

In this invention, the chessmen are all constructed from pieces of wood (or other material) shaped so that they may be interlocked and fastened together in a lattice structure so that they may be strong enough to withstand use and abuse. The purpose of this invention is to have a giant chess set which may be delivered in kit form and be assembled by the end user.

Each of the 32 chessmen is made up of a minimum of 12 individual pieces of material (although wood was used in the prototype, the material may be metal, plastic or any other suitable medium). Each chessman has 4 vertical pieces that form the vertical frame of the chessman These vertical pieces are proportional to one another in that the height of the vertical pieces for the pawns is two thirds of the height of the corresponding vertical pieces for the officers. The horizontal pieces that are crossbeams for the pawns are all the same size, that size is again a ratio of the height of the vertical pieces. The crossbeams (horizontal for the pawn) are half the length of the vertical for the pawn and as such, a third of the length of the vertical for the officers (although the Knight and Bishop have asymmetric verticals of two different lengths, the crossbeams are a third of the length of the longer verticals for the bishop and the Knight). The same size of crossbeams used for the pawns are used for the lower crossbeams on all of the chessmen, thus all of the chessmen will have the same cross-sectional dimensions if viewed from above. For the Rooks, the same crossbeams are used once again, hence the Rook would be identical to the pawn were it not for the fact that the rook is a third taller than the pawn. The rook and the pawn are rectangular cuboids and can actually be turned upside down (or downside up) without changing the "shape" or the representation. These are the only chessmen in this invention which have that functionality of symmetry. All other chessmen in this invention are asymmetrically shaped and while the bases (lower aspect) of all the chessmen are the same as one another, the crowns (upper aspect) are of differing shapes and structures. These ideas are represented in FIG 7, 8, 9 and 10. FIG 7 shows the most complicated of all the chessmen, the Queen, broken down into the 14 pieces of which it is made. FIG 8 is an illustration of a partially assembled Queen in semi-exploded form, showing three of the crossbeams, the crown and all of the columns. FIG 9 and FIG 10 are a similar representation of the Pawn with all the individual subunits laid out in FIG 9 and the pieces partially assembled in a semi-exploded view in FIG 10.

While the chessmen are comprised of edges and vertices but not full surfaces, the vertical columns of the chessmen extend in length beyond the boundaries of the horizontal crossbeams. The edges of the vertical columns are as such at a 90 degree angle to the vertical plane, and as such they are parallel with the floor. This allows the chessmen to be stable when placed upon a flat surface, it also allows the crowns of the chessmen to be inverted into one another and form a rectangular cuboid as shown in FIG12. The cross sectional area of each of the chessmen when viewed from directly above is square, this means that as long as one of the edges of any chessmen is parallel with one edge of the board, they will be the same width when viewed from either side or from the front or the back. The fact that all the chessmen have the same cross sectional area also makes it possible to stack the chessmen. The stacked chessmen take up significantly less floor space than if they were all laid out and that is embodied in this design. An example of how the chessmen may be stacked for storage is shown from various points of view in FIG 13-16: FIG15 is an overhead view of the chessmen, demonstrating that the entire set of 32 chessmen may be stacked into an area which is equivalent to 6 of the squares on which the game is played. A rough outline of a human frame is depicted in these illustrations for the sake of scale and comparison. The approximate height of the human being would be 5 feet and 11 inches (180cm). This demonstrates that when all 32 chessmen are stacked in this (and many other) configurations, an average sized human being will still be able to reach the apex of the tower.

FIG 11 shows 16 of the chessmen, that is, one set of chessmen to be controlled by one of the players. In this illustration, there are 16 Pawns, 2 Rooks, 2 Bishops, 2 Knights, One Queen and One King.

The pw,ko is the simplest chessman in this invention. The pawn is assembled from 4 vertical columns and 8 horizontal crossbeams. Each of the crossbeams would have the same dimensions as any of the other crossbeams and each of the vertical columns would also have the same dimensions and be indistinguishable from any of the other vertical columns. FIG 9 shows the 12 pieces that would be assembled to make the pawn, and FIG 10 illustrates a partially assembled pawn demonstrating how the pieces would interlock in order to form the stable three dimensional structures.

The Bkhop in this invention is represented by 4 vertical columns and 8 crossbeams (a total of 12 individual pieces.). 2 of the crossbeams in the representation of the Bishop are mitred an angle of 45 degrees so as to provide the bishop with a triangular crown with a side set at a 45 degree slant. This is in keeping with the movement which the Bishop is allowed to make, namely, the Bishop may move at an angle of 45 degrees to the edges of the Chess board. In other words, the Bishop will always move in a diagonal direction and as such, once a Bishop commences on a square of one colour, it cannot migrate to a square of a different colour, but must remain on the same coloured square throughout the game. The Bishop, like the other chessmen has the same cross sectional area as all other chessmen when viewed from the top (plan) and because the cross sectional area of the Bishop is square, that means that the width of the Bishop will be the same along either axis as the width of any of the other pieces. This also means that when the pieces are to be stowed, they can be stacked one on top of the other. While the shape of each individual Bishop has a mitred crown, it is the nature of this invention that any 2 Bishops either of the same or of opposing colours may be brought together such that when their crowns interface, they do so in an interlocking fashion and the resulting shape of bringing the two Bishops together is a rectangular cuboid as shown in FIG 12 with 2 Bishops stacked, one on top of the other.

The Rooks in this invention are rectangular cuboids. Each rook has 4 vertical columns and 8 horizontal crossbeams. The vertical columns for the Rooks in this invention are the same height as all the other vertical columns for the officers in this invention (with the exception of the vertical columns at the front of Knights and Bishops which are shorter in length to denote the movements that these chessmen are allowed to make). Equally, the horizontal crossbeams are the same length as all the other horizontal crossbeams in this invention with the exception of the horizontal crossbeams which are mitred or extended for the Queens, Bishops and Knights respectively. The cross sectional area of the Rooks when viewed from above (plan) is the same as the cross sectional area of all the other chessmen in this invention. This congruence in the cross sectional and longitudinal dimensions of the Rooks with the cross sectional and longitudinal dimensions of all other chessmen allows for the Rooks to be stacked in a variety of manners when the chessmen are to be stowed. It is the nature of this invention that any 2 Rooks may be brought together such that when their upper surfaces interface, the resulting shape of bringing the two Rooks together is a rectangular cuboid.

The is the most powerful of the chessmen in Chess. The Queen has the combined abilities of the Rook and the Bishop, in that it can move parallel to the edges of the chess board in addition to which is can move at an angle of 45 degrees to the edge of the board. The Queen in this invention has the basic frame of a rectangular cuboid but in addition, it has some distinguishing features at the top. The Queen is comprised of 14 individual pieces of the material used to construct this Chess set. The 14 individual pieces that would be assembled to form the Queen are detailed in the FIG 7. The vertical columns for the Queen are the same length as the vertical columns for all the other officers and the horizontal crossbeams (at the lower portion of the Queen) are the same length and dimensions as the corresponding horizontal crossbeams for all the other chessmen in this invention. Where the Queen differs and is unique from all other chessmen in this invention is that the Queen has a "crown" which is made of two intersecting pieces each of which traverses the frontal plane of the Queen at an angle of 45 degrees. The intersection of these pieces represents the fact that the queen may move as the Bishop does. There are notches cut into the crown of the Queen which intersect with the portions that are set at 45 degrees. These notches are representative of the fact that in addition to the movement at 45 degrees, the Queen may also move in a direction that is parallel to the edges of the playing board.

The Kni0;; in this invention is represented by four vertical columns and 8 horizontal crossbeams connecting the verticals. As stated earlier, the knight is asymmetric, meaning that two of the vertical columns are shorter than the other two vertical columns. By the time the crossbeams for the knight are all connected, the shape is similar to the shape of a chair. This embodies the movement of the knight because the Knight is allowed to move one square in any of the rectilinear directions from the square on which it sits in addition to two squares in either direction at right angles to the direction originally chosen. In other words, the Knight moves in an L shape and the right angles on the crown of the Knight denote this shape of the Knight's movement. Furthermore, the knight may move in either direction at a right angle to the first square to complete a move. This "choice" which the knight may make is represented by the fact that the crossbeam which traverses the upper aspect of the two shorter verticals also protrudes outside of the axis of the verticals: one protrusion is at right angles to the vertical on the left, and the other protrusion is a mirror image of the first and is at right angles to the vertical but on the right hand side. These protrusions are visible from the front or the back of the figure and give the Knight a distinct appearance while making it easily identifiable and creating an embodiment of the movement which the Knight is allowed to make. While the shape of an individual Knight is stepped to represent the movement which the Knight may make, there exists in this invention a further layer of functionality. It is the nature of this invention that any 2 Knights may be brought together such that when their upper surfaces interface, they do so in an interlocking fashion as shown in FIG 12 and the product of bringing the two Knights together is a rectangular cuboid.

The I; jog in this invention is a rectangular cuboid with a projection at the apex. The rectangular cuboid is precisely the same shape and size as the rectangular cuboid which is used to represent the Rook. The characteristic difference between the King and the Rook is that the King has as an apex projection which in this invention is the colour of the opposite player's chessmen, that is to say that the King for white will have at its apex a projection which is black and the King that is black will have at its apex a projection which is white. The colour coding of the Kings also serves as a visual representation that this piece is the key to winning the game. In the narrative form, it may be used as an instructional tool to represent the idea that one piece of one's colour is being held hostage by the other team and we must do all that is within our power to get it back.

Claims (4)

1. CLAIMSWhile I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention, other incarnations of this invention may be apparent to those skilled in the art, as such, I intend for my invention to be limited only by the appended claims.I claim 1 A set of giant chessmen including 16 pawns and 16 officers wherein each of the chessmen is assembled from individual, geometrically shaped pieces that when assembled form frames and outlines of simple geometric shapes which remove the mythological abstractions and replaces them with logical symbolism that embody the movements allowed by each of the chessmen in a standard game of chess.
2. 2 A set of giant chessmen including 16 pawns and 16 officers wherein the cross-sectional area of each of the giant chessmen is the same, the width of each of the giant chessmen is the same and the chessmen may be stacked in an interlocking fashion or disassembled back into constituent pieces for storage and movement in an area or volume that is a fraction of the area or volume that would be occupied by the giant chessmen in the configuration in which they would be ready for gameplay.
3. 3 A set of giant Chessmen including 16 pawns and 16 officers wherein each of the chessmen is made up of individual subunits which when assembled form edges and vertices that define frames and outlines which are hollow and without extensive surfaces, therefore being capable of being produced in very large sizes without a proportional increase in weight, such that the set of giant chessmen may be playable by a human being of average size in a game of chess.
4. 4 A set of giant chessmen including 16 pawns and 16 officers wherein the pawns and officers may be stacked or arranged in an interlocking fashion when their upper surfaces are interfaced thus forming between two matching officers of asymmetric shape, a rectangular cuboid of symmetrical shape.