--- description: Photographer Yale Joel recalls how he shot a memorable portrait of a Hungarian mathematician and his three-dimensional chessboard. title: Portrait of a Mathematician and His Three-Dimensional Chessboard image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6d2d5e1e36fcf7ae/69884c61428a9e0633ccce2a/140821-3d-chess-board.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [architecture & design](/tag/architecture-design/) ## architecture & design Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Portrait of a Mathematician and His Three-Dimensional Chessboard by [Ben Cosgrove](/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 21, 2014 3:39 PM CUT  Dr. Ervand Kogbetliantz with his three-dimensional chessboard, New York City, 1952. Dr. Ervand Kogbetliantz with his three-dimensional chessboard, New York City, 1952.Yale Joel—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images by [Ben Cosgrove](/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 21, 2014 3:39 PM CUT An Army combat photographer during World War II, Yale Joel joined the staff at LIFE in 1947, where he made a name for himself as the guy whose great strength was the impossible or tricky shot using unusual (and often self-invented) equipment. In a 1993 interview with John Loengard, the Bronx-born technical wizard explained how the memorable portrait above came about: --- > “” --- Asked if Kogbetliantz’s game, played on an eight-tiered board with 64 pieces to a side, really worked, Joel replied: --- > “” --- [\[Buy the book, _LIFE Photographers: What They Saw_ (Bulfinch Press, 1998)\]](http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/life-photographers-john-loengard/1114270250 "undefined")  Dr. Ervand Kogbetliantz with his three-dimensional chessboard, New York City, 1952. Yale Joel—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3880761/the-man-who-invented-a-three-dimensional-chessboard/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3880761/the-man-who-invented-a-three-dimensional-chessboard/"},"headline":"Portrait of a Mathematician and His Three-Dimensional Chessboard","datePublished":"2014-08-21T15:39:53.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:03:37.402Z","description":"LIFE photographer Yale Joel recalls how he made a memorable portrait of a Hungarian mathematician who designed a three-dimensional chessboard.","url":"https://time.com/3880761/the-man-who-invented-a-three-dimensional-chessboard/","keywords":["architecture & design","chess","invention","1952"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6d2d5e1e36fcf7ae/69884c61428a9e0633ccce2a/140821-3d-chess-board.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ben Cosgrove","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6d2d5e1e36fcf7ae/69884c61428a9e0633ccce2a/140821-3d-chess-board.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Three-Dimensional Chessboard","caption":"Dr. Ervand Kogbetliantz with his three-dimensional chessboard, New York City, 1952.","creditText":"Yale Joel—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/architecture-design/","name":"architecture & design"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3880761/the-man-who-invented-a-three-dimensional-chessboard/","name":"Portrait of a Mathematician and His Three-Dimensional Chessboard"}}]}] ```