Three-man chess

Three-man chess is a chess variant for three players, invented by George R. Dekle Sr. in 1984. It is played on a hexagonal board made up of 96 quadrilateral cells, and each of the three players controls a standard army of chess pieces. White moves first and play passes clockwise around the board. Pieces move as they do in ordinary chess, and castling, the pawn's initial two-step move, en passant capture and promotion all apply, with some special features for the unusual board geometry: a queen or bishop crossing the centre of the board changes square colour, a pawn reaching its fifth rank gains extra movement, and a pawn may promote on the back rank of either opponent or on the far rank opposite its owner. The first player to checkmate an opponent wins, and a stalemated player simply loses turns. The game was included in World Game Review No. 10, edited by Michael Keller.