Three Way Chess; Boom.

Chess is one of the few games in which I actually participate. Most games and activities I have a passive attitude towards and really only get involved with if somebody actually asks me to do something with them (which is becoming increasingly common; hm), but chess is the exception. I love chess and most variations on it, though I have yet to sample 3D chess. But one of my favourite forms of chess is almsot certainly three-way circle chess.

Three-way circle chess is a lot simpler than you might think. You sit three people in a triangle/circle thing and place chessboards in the gaps. Each person plays two boards, one as white and the other as black. You then play chess. However, there is a key difference - any piece you take may be used on the other board.

Now there are some more rules to it, but that's the basic set up. And when Skald, Pipistrelle and I found ourselves with not much else to do and three chessboards to hand, guess what we did?

We played three-way chess. And it was mad.

Basically, Pipistrelle mixed up her Queen with her King because they looked exactly the same, and this led to a confusing and perhaps untrue checkmate against her. (Skald 1, Pipistrelle 0, Pisces N/A.) At this point, Pipistrelle played a harrowing game against myself which ended in the eventual destruction of all her forces - leaving me with twice the number of usual pieces to try and kill Skald with. (Skald 1, Pipistrelle 0, Pisces 1.)

It was late through the Skald/Pisces game that I realised that I was close to being dead. Almost constantly in check, Skald had a plan in place and was executing it pretty nicely. And then I realised that I could strategically place pieces so that Skald's attempts were thwarted. After I realised this, the game was mine. I had an entire army of pieces. How could I not have won?

Actually, Skald came very close to thwarting my very own plans. It came down to the fact that he used his pieces better than I, but I used brute force with my army and prevailed eventually. He only folded under extreme odds and was overwhelmed by the number of pieces I sent after him. In the end, checkmate was inevitable. Final scores: Skald 1, Pipistrelle 0, Pisces 2. I suppose I won there. But it could well have gone to a three-way tie, like in 'Cars'. But not. We weren't racing.

Of course, there's a way to play three-way chess where you use only one board, but that's insane, and better left for another time... Muhahahaha.

Pisces out.