How to Build a Tiered Chessboard

3D Chessboard Supplies

You’ll need a tool to cut the 1×1 wood dowels. I used a miter saw, but any type of saw will work. A hand saw would even work, but there’s a lot of cutting, so that could get really tiring really fast. After cutting the wood, the only other supplies you’ll need are some stain, to make the dark squares, and some wood glue to put it all together. No nails or screws–it’s all held together with glue. 

The 3D Chessboard Pattern

The first thing I had to do was plan the design of the three-dimensional chessboard. You can’t have any squares that are the same height next to each other. But I also wanted the heights to look random, not the highest and lowest squares in the corners. And, I wanted the king or queen to be on the very highest square. So I spent some time coming up with a pattern that works. Luckily, you don’t have to, you can just use mine.

You can download the 3D chessboard pattern or just look at the image below. It shows how tall each square on the chessboard is (in inches). It also lists how many of each height you need for the chessboard.

Cut the Square Dowels

Using the numbers on the pattern, start cutting the wood dowels into pieces. I suggest cutting the shortest pieces first because you don’t want to end by cutting a half-inch piece off of a 2-inch piece of wood. You have a lot more control when the wood is longer. I used a miter saw to cut, but most types of hand or power saws should be fine. You can see in the photo that some of my cuts were not very accurate. That’s okay, it will give the different heights more variety. 

Check the chessboard

With all of the dowel pieces ready, try them out! Use the pattern and put them together to form the chess board. This is a good double-check to make sure you have the correct number of heights. This is also where you mark which squares should be dark and which should remain light-colored. Then separate them by color.

Technically, if you are just going to use this board for chess, not checkers, you don’t need to have darker and lighter-colored squares. If you want a monocolored board, just skip the next step.

Stain the Dark Chess Squares

Once you have identified which dowel pieces need to be dark (and I double and triple-checked this), then use wood stain to darken them. I used ebony stain, but any dark color would work. To stain wood, I wear rubber gloves and dip a small rag into the stain, then rub it over the wood. When one whole piece is coated, I use another, clean rag and wipe off any extra stain. You can read my post about refinishing a midcentury table if you’d like more information about staining.

Arrange the Pieces into a Chessboard Pattern

Now, place the dark and light pieces alternating, following the pattern for height. This double-checks that you have all of the correct pieces and they are the correct color.

Taking one row of eight at a time, glue the pieces of the row together. I clamped a straight scrapboard to my work surface so that the bottoms would all be perfectly aligned. Then I applied wood glue to the smaller piece and pressed it onto the larger piece that goes next to it. Once all eight squared are glued together, use another wood clamp to squeeze the whole row together while it dries, about 24 hours.

Repeat the same process with the next row. I could do three rows each day because I only had 4 wood clamps, but I am used to my DIY project taking a lot longer than necessary (just look at our horizontal wood fence that took at least 5 years).

Prepare the 3D Chessboard Base 

I cut my base ½-inch wider than my chessboard squares (8¾ x 8¾) because I thought an edge would look nice. You could cut your base to fit exactly under the chess squares or make it larger. It’s personal preference. You can also stain the base, I did not.

Add Trim to the Base Board

The trim is optional and makes the woodworking a little more difficult. I used a ½-inch board and cut it with 45º mitered edges the same length as my base board, 8¾ inches long. I stained the trim pieces with the same ebony stain as the darker squares. Then glue or nail the trim to the base.

Try fitting everything together before you glue anything to the base. Remember that the space inside the trim needs to be exactly the same width as the chessboard squares.

Glue the Chessboard Together

Apply glue to the base, inside the trim. Then take each row, one at a time, and place it on the base. Make sure you are following the pattern to the rows all end up in the correct place. Starting with the second row, apply glue to the bottom of the row, from the top of the shortest square down. This will hold the rows together more securely, but you don’t want any glue above the shortest square or it might show. Wipe off any extra glue with a damp rag.

Add Chess Pieces and Play 3D Chess

Chess on a multi-tiered chess board is played with the same setup and rules and regular chess, but just a warning, it’s a little harder to play at first. The varying levels mess with you brain a little. It’s fun though!

Best of all, because it has seven levels, it matches a fantasy novel that my daughter is writing set on a planet with seven planes, or layers. Pretty cool, huh?