Stefan Gruber's Hexagonal Chess
is partially an answer to Douglas Hoffstadter's
challenge to translate traditional square lattice
chess into a hexagonal lattice version, which he
calls chesh¹. Of interest to Hoffstadter
is the interpretation of the Knight move.

Gruber's is a game of 3 player chesh where the Bishop is
missing, like the version originated in 1912².
The newer translation satisfies the desire to fill the
loss of missing Bishops.

Gruber's combination of Bishop and Knight
aspects results in the hexagonal hero:
The Elf.

Elves have territory similar to Bishops. Each
of 3 Elves always remain on one color for the
entire game.

Elves are also like Knights because both
jump in a way that may land them anywhere within a
circular ripple.

2007 update
A finished wood set has been finished in Bali
designed by Gruber and carved by Katut Dragons
more custom designed sets can be made to order

Some characters have changed.
Elves are now Elephants
Hats are now Pawns
Wizards are now Queens
and they don't use magic. Kings are still Kings but they resemble a Home

A new rule has been embraced by the Seattle think tank
to determine what happens when the 1st team is checkmated.
That team becomes a Zombie team, and can still move on its turn.
None of the pieces can capture or be captured.
No other team can pass through a Zombie piece.
If a Zombie Pawn reaches the opposite side before a
second team is checkmated the team will come back to life.

The Hexagonal Chess Group meets semi-regularly to play in
Seattle, WA. contact: leashlessness@yahoo.com
¹see metamagical themas