3P3 Chess Board

The chess board is comprised of 46 hexagons in three colors: umber, amber and sand (dark, medium and light), and organized into three "tridrants" (rhymes with hydrants) separated by a dashed white line. The red arrows in each tridrant indicate the direction the pawns travel. The sand-colored hex at the center of the chess board does not belong to a tridrant.


drawing of Hexes Chess 3P3 chess board

Rank, File and Tridrant Coordinates

Rank, file and tridrant coordinates are not necessary to play but they are useful for noting chess moves because they create an address for every hex on the chess board, and they are necessary when recording a match on a scoresheet using notation.

The chess board is organized into three identical (but rotated) tridrants. Each hex has an address determined by its rank and file coordinates, and its tridrant. The sand-colored hex at the center of the chess board is the exception. It does not lie within a tridrant and is identified simply as 6.
(See below.)


drawing of Hexes Chess 3P3 chess board with coordinates identified

Each tridrant has five ranks by three files. Note that the files bend 60° at the third rank. (See below.) The files are lettered a-c. The ranks are numbered 1-5. The tridrants are lettered W, B and R (White, Black and Red). For example, the coordinate a5W identifies the location at the intersection of the a-file and the 5th rank on White's tridrant.

drawing of Hexes Chess 3P3 chess board with coordinates identified
Exploded view of White's tridrant with files separated.