[Astromancer]

Pyramid Chess

Supposedly inspired by a throwaway line in a novel from Terra written the century they first landed on their moon. But not created until around the four hundredth anniversary of that event. This elegant chess varient is beloved by those teaching naval stratetgy because it is amazing at teaching three dimensional thinking in tactical situations. Plus the problem of handling more than one p roblem at a time is also stressed.

The gameboard is pyramidal in structure. Eighty-one squares on the bottom board and only one square on the top. The classic winning move is to put the enemy King in Checkmate while getting your Queen to the top square. However, as there are half a dozen ways to win or lose, focusing on those two alone is a quick way to lose.

The game has spread outside the Third Imperium because it's linked to the Imperium's admirals being good at lateral thinking and winning battles.

If, on a scale of one to five, Chess is ranked a difficulty 2 game, and Go is ranked at 5, Pyramid Chess is surprisingly a three because of the simple elegance of its rules. But it is as efficient as Go in teaching tactical and strategic thought.

Not is popular as chess or playing cards in cultural imagery or metaphor, but the striking imagery of the game gets used.