<p>Chess is a universally known game of logic and strategy and has served as a hallmark not only for human, but also artificial intelligence. However, transitioning the game to the digital age has introduced multiple options and opinions on how a chess board should be displayed on computer screens. Here, we ask whether presenting a chess layout from above in 2D or from a player’s perspective in 3D impacts processing of the displayed positions. In a high-powered online study, we found that check and non-check positions were discriminated faster when presented in 2D rather than in 3D mode. As participants overwhelmingly reported more familiarity with 2D settings, we argue that this advantage is consistent with training effects. Moreover, this advantage was largely independent of the temporal overlap with performing another unrelated reaction task, which suggests that the 3D disadvantage arises from a lengthening of capacity-limited information processing stages. Indeed, a more fine-grained analysis implied more pronounced training effects at processing 3D stimuli, hinting at yet underexplored potential for this representation mode.</p>