Hexagonal chess file f). Ranks 1–6 each contain 11 cells, rank 7 (filled with black pawns in the initial setup) has 9 cells, rank 8 has 7, and so on. Rank 11 contains exactly one cell: f11. The diagrams show how each piece moves. As in chess, the knight can jump over other pieces. A player's three bishops, relegated to different colours, can never meet. The queen moves as rook plus bishop. There is no castling in Gliński's chess. Pawns move straight forward and capture obliquely forward to an adjacent cell (shown as crosses in the diagram); the pawn's capturing move direction
Three-player chess have three cells obliquely adjacent, and three cells adjacent at points. Circular boards have three- or four-sided cells, but not triangular or quadrilateral. Some variants incorporate fairy chess pieces in addition to standard chess pieces. The introduction of a third player drastically alters the style of play, even when standard pieces are used. Many chess openings are useless due to the extended board and third player. Each player must think twice as far ahead—anticipating the moves of both opponents, with the added complexity that the next player may move to attack either opponent. If a player trades off pieces with