A game board
Minbar Chess is a game found on the Christa. It is played on a three-tiered board with each layer having a normal chessboard format. The bottom layer is 8 rows by 8 rows, the second layer is 6x6, and the top layer is 4x4. Pieces, some called "vehicles", include towers, cardinals, empresses, and gladiators. Offensives are developed in the game just as in regular chess, such as the Drazi offensive developed on Pluto in 2153 and the Band Offensive developed by Harlan in the pilot episode. A player can also move into "time warp" and gain colonies on the board.
The game has a heavy influence in the pilot, where Harlan bets the ship again Yeehaw Jones in a game of Minbar Chess.
Trivia[]
Many of the moves that are made throughout Minbar Chess games in the series are sci-fi references. The title of the game itself references the Minbari race on Babylon 5. Other Babylon 5 references are the Drazi offensive (a race), and the move B5. Fireball XL5, a British marionette show, creates the move XL5. DS9 refers to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. M5 was an computer in an original episode of Star Trek. VR.5 was a cyberistic show that aired in the mid-90s.