Chess Chess was a tactically and intellectually advanced Human board game played by two opponents , one controlling white pieces and the other controlling black . History . In 2154 , Ensign Travis Mayweather and Lieutenant Malcolm Reed played chess while inhabited by Organian s . Lieutenant Reed told Ensign Mayweather that he was the best player of chess aboard the starship . ( ) By 2265 , a three - dimensional variant had been devised and was available to the crew of the . James T . Kirk and Spock frequently enjoyed playing it together . ( ) In 2266 , during a confrontation with the First Federation vessel Fesarius , Spock likened the situation to chess in which one is lost when overpowered . However , Kirk noted that it ' s rather like poker , a game in which one can overcome a losing situation by bluffing . ( ) Another variation of chess was used in Spock ' s memory test in 2286 , which featured the game on a spherical grid . ( ) When the computer of the was affected by nanite s , it responded to an inquiry with " " Pawn to King Three , Knight to Rook Four , Queen to Bishop Three " " . ( ) According to Captain Jean - Luc Picard , dealing with the Romulan s was " always a game of chess " . ( ) On stardate 44390 . 1 , two chess tournaments took place aboard the USS " Enterprise " - D . ( ) One of the false memories planted into Geordi La Forge ' s brain after being brainwashed by the Romulans was of making second place in a chess tournament on Risa . ( ) Benjamin Sisko and Jadzia Dax played a game of chess in early 2371 . ( ) A house featured in the holonovel Janeway Lambda one had a chess set on display , its pieces set up . ( ) Despite the game ' s inherent complexity , some individuals have been dismissive of it . When Harry Kim referred to Kal - toh as " Vulcan chess " , Tuvok claimed that " " Kal - toh is to chess as chess is to tic - tac - toe " " . ( ) The Doctor claimed that his " cousin " ( programming - wise ) was a prize - winning chess program , not an electric shaver as Tom Paris joked . ( ) In 2375 , Lieutenant Commander Data told the Ba ' ku resident Artim that his chess routines were quite advanced . ( ) Appendices . Background information . In the final draft script of , an ultimately unused line of dialogue referred to the chess pieces used aboard the as " Antarian metal chess pieces " . In a revised draft script for , a game of chess , played in Captain Kirk ' s quarters , was featured at the start of the episode ' s teaser . In a memo to Gene Roddenberry ( dated ) , Robert Justman suggested omitting the chess game and instead having the entire teaser set on the " Enterprise " s bridge . An unfilmed line from suggests that the Mordock Strategy was a strategy in Benzite Chess . The script of described the Cardassian game of Kotra as being " a cross between chess and " . The chess nomenclature used for the computer ' s lines in , , has become highly uncommon in the early 21st century , in favor of the far more efficient , which was developed during the early decades of the 20th century . In the writers ' first draft script of , Phlox correctly ascertained that Captain Archer had recently been playing chess , a deduction he arrived at after finding that Archer ' s pet beagle , Porthos , had mistakenly eaten a pawn from the game . In an ultimately omitted scene from the final draft script of , Malcolm Reed admitted to hating chess . Three chess sets " " like the one featured in the episode " ' " were sold during the It ' s A Wrap ! sale and auction on eBay , and two three - dimensional chess sets were sold in the Christie ' s auction " " .