Ed he is someone that I play chess with on USCFLive. He has been wanting to play real time Gothic Chess for a long time!

Don't forget to sign up for this one...winner gets a free copy of Vortex. Program is available from here:

http://www.GothicChess.org/vortex.zip

and the tournament is here:

http://brainking.com/en/Tournaments?trg=8679&tri=41215&trnst=0

I will be posting two interesting games on here later this evening. One I playe with ChessCarpenter, but did not record all of the moves (was providing email support to some during the time I was playing) but I just reverse-engineering the missing components and i was able to create the terminal position. Just a "fun game" but it got into a major tangle that is well worth replaying.

Another game I played today with GrosPaul that contained a very sublte, sneaky mate attempt on his part this is well worth the price of admission (free)

I think GrosPaul is Spirou here on BK. More later.

I see there was a BradJr on just now, was that you?

I think some names appear even after they have left. We are checking into this.

Uhm, I talk but I get no reply. Is this just because no-one likes to answer? Or can't they here me? It looks great, except for some java-related problems I always have.

I see andreas made it in to the site, but some names on there I do not recognize. Maybe you can post your GCL names here. I take it Luke is PinkPanter then?

It's PinkPanter

EdTrice: "deadly" I doubt yet. What is for sure it is you who "kill" me!!! LOL

So who is the mysterious PinkPather [sic] player on GothicChessLive? Anybody know?

Thanks for the game Spirou, you are deadly when playing a live game!

I see you connected, now just click on the TEXT "experts" and you will enter the expert room. There are no pictures outside the lobby area yet. You are almost there!

EdTrice: Ok! I will continue my quest on email :-))

I am online as "GothicInventor" in the live site. Check the "Experts" room first, I tend to hang out there.

Did you get an email from the responder? DON'T CHANGE the password it issues you, this has not been implented yet.

Send an email to GothicChessInfo@aol.com if you still have problems

EdTrice: I registered but "Login failed, try again". I tried more than once and always the same answer.
What to do???

EdTrice: Thanks; from you that is a great compliment. As an aside,dokesa is about to win our Match by mating me.

A great game!

This game is fairly even until move 18;when I sacrificed a Knight for 2 Pawns to relieve pressure on my Kingside. Ratings are those at the time of the game. Game:396028 Match:17050. My rating was 1592 dokesa's was 1936. I am White. 1.)Nh3 d6, 2.)i3 e5, 3.)Bi2 h6, 4.)f3 Ah7, 5.)Af2 g5, 6.)0-0 Nc6,(completes my first objective of Castling quickly by using a Gothic King's Indian set-up. Now I plan to bring pressure against his Centre to create a weakness.) 7.)Nc3 b6, 8.)d3 Bb7, 9.)e4 Bf6, 10.)g4 Cg7, 11.)Be3 Nj6,(I have some Queenside pressure verses dokesa's Kingside set-up;but there are no noticeable weaknesses so far as I can see so far.)12.)Nd5 Ne7, 13.)Nxf6 Axf6, 14.)Nj4 i5, 15.)Nh3 Qd7, 16.)d4 0-0-0?!(Seems to a strategic error;because of my Queenside pressure appears too great. Unfortunately,I can not take immediate advantaage.)17.)d5 Ba6, 18.Nxi5!?(disrupts his Kingside Pawn Formation; thus relieving some of the pressure on that side. I believe this justifies the sacrifice.) 18.)....h6xi5, 19.)Axi5 Ci6,(Now I must submit to a temporary,but fairly weak Counter Attack.) 20.)Aj4 Ci8, 21.)h4 Nh7, 22.)h5 j5, 23.b3 Rj7, 24.c4!(preparing to bring my Chancellor to the b-file via d3.)24.)....Ri7, 25.)Cd3 Ri4, 26.Ah3 Ni5? (forces my Archbishop to its best square for defense. His attack is fizzling;since he must weaken his Queenside to make it work. He does not have the Time.) 27.)Ag7! Nh7, (Now it is my turn.) 28.Cb4 Bb7, 29.)Qd2 Ah8, 30.)a4 Rf8?? (Severely weakens his Queenside; my next 2 moves will seal his fate.) 31.)Cb5 (threatens Cxa7+; thus forcing his response.)31.)....Kb8, 32.a5! Ba6!? (Delays my attack for only 1 move.) 33.)Cb4 Qc8, 34.)a5xb6! (He looses a piece if he retakes;and simplifies my task. So he must Retreat)34.)....Bb7, 35.Rxa7!!(deprives his King of its escape square at a8;and assures my Mate.) 35.)....c6??(no worse move exists;although I can not find anything much better.) 36.)d5xc6 Nxc6, (Now it is mate in 2.) 37.Qxd6+ Qc7, 38.)Qxc7# This was my first of 4 wins against 1900+ players.(2 others against dokesa and 1 against facepan.) I have a draw against Hercules Beast,a 2000+ player. These are brainking ratings. This match is a 4 win match;currently tied at 3 wins each. I do believe dokesa will win this match.

EdTrice: He is such a nice man.. it was a pleasure to play him.. even though I lost! LOL

Glad you liked it. Claude is working on that chat bug that popped up, should be a little better implemented by tomorrow night.

EdTrice: .. thankies sooooooooo much for inviting me in..

To all those who haven't yet.. You don't know what you are missing.. it is so kewl to be able to play this game live.. and chat live as well.. From start to finish..

Whoo hoo! The wave of the future!

Make sure you check your emails for the password that is sent to you. Some people are reporting not seeing it, when their spam filters are set too aggressively.

Gothic Chess Live Is Open

http://www.gothicchesslive.com

Gothic Chess live will offer another test demo. We only have 3 board up and running (6 people) so if you want to test out the new site, let me know by sending a personal message.

EdTrice: I like it.

This is what Dan Heisman sent to me in an email:


=====


Ed,



FYI, someone asked me on my www.chess.fm show if I thought that Fischer Random Chess was the wave of the chess future and I said if you were going to change the game, why not go to Gothic Chess instead?



Regards,
Dan H

EdTrice: How did the conversation go about GC on ChessFM? I didn't hear the broadcast, but if they are replaying it, I would be very interested.

Fine. I was interested in your assertion that it's the best chess game and thought you were probably unaware of all the alternatives.

Gothic Chess was mentioned on chess.fm last night, did anyone listen to the broadcast over the web?

ughaibu: Gothic Chess is my game.

Perhaps you'd like chu shogi: http://www.colina.demon.co.uk/chu.html

Thanks Walter. I must still learn much about dark chess.

Congratulations to Matarilevich in winning the tournament. Won every game in taking it too. Yes, he's the player that knocked me out of the Dark Chess Third Quarter 2004 tournament. He is having a rougher time in round two of that tournament, but he blazed the Gothic Chess tournament.

No, the best game ever invented is Backgammon and our(Greek) Fevga(Backgammon variant)..........!
But of course this is too subjective and there are about 45-50 amazing games, including in these the Gothic Chess.

Chessmaster1000: Okay I concede to that; but I do still assert that the BEST CHESS GAME EVER INVENTED is GOTHIC CHESS.

I like this mate the best, I actually saw this once:

1. Nh3 d5 2. Cf3 Bxh3 3. Axh3 Nh6 4. Ae6#

Yes there are 3 move mates with the Archbishop, and many permutations.

1. Af3 h6 2. Ah5 f6 3. Ag6#

tedbarber: There are no 2 move or 3 move mates in Gothic Chess.
Don't bet on this.......
1.Af3 Ah6 2.Ae4 Af4 3.Axh7# mate..........

Thad:There are no flaws in the setup of Gothic Chess. Also in BORING REGULAR 8x8 CHESS there is The Fools Mate for the totally unwary. There are no 2 move or 3 move mates in Gothic Chess.

I think this instructive miniature game is the perfect example of why the King and Chancellor in Gothic Chess are placed in the ideal starting positions. The attractive checkmate from the final position would have been impossible otherwise.

http://brainking.com/en/ArchivedGame?g=745920

On a board with 100 squares, pawns rules get even more complicated.

Should they be allowed 3 steps on one move?
If so, are there now two tiers of en passant captures (one with a 3-move bypass, and one with a 2-move bypass)?

Gothic 100 would be interesting, but the "pawn pollution" problem takes some of the enjoyment out of the game.

Thad: Why do you view the Bishop being able to attack as it does in Gothic Chess as a flaw? All the opponents Pawns are guarded at the start, so what does it matter? Moving that Pawn out of the way may not be a good move either even if it does free up the Bishop. Both players have this threat available to them, so it's equal. Yes, White can do it first, but he's not able to force the issue without getting some other pieces over there to help out. In the meantime Black can move a Pawn to block the Bishop, or put his Knight on the diagonal. If you move your Chancellor on the first turn you attack the other side of the board too. Which will still be true on a 10 X 10 board.

I haven't played Gothic Chess since December, and now that the tournament round finally got going again I'm remembering how the game goes. Janus Chess is the 8 X 10 variant I've been playing recently and though it has a lot in common with Gothic Chess, it's a whole different game. Janus Chess does have the King and Queen side by side and it got me thinking about Bird's Chess and variants. This is why I posted my comment about having the King and Queen together. I think it'd be a very good way to play and eliminates the two things I view as flaws to the other three versions. I hadn't even considered the Bishops being able to come out as you say as a problem. I think of that as a benefit for Bishops and another reason that I'd rather have a Bishop than a Knight on the 8 X 10 board when all things are equal.

A 10 X 10 board with the pieces set up on the back two rows, seems a little too open at the start for me and it might take a few more moves to make the game intersting. Especially them slow walking Pawns. Grand Chess uses a 10 X 10 board, but the majority of the pieces are on the second and third rows. Just the Rooks are in the back rows. That game sure looks like it'd be fun to play. I'd like to give it a try.

Walter Montego: I don't like the way moving one pawn opens an attack with a bishop without ever moving the bishop. Chess does not have this. The only starting position on an 8 x 10 board that eliminates this would be putting the bishops at E1 & F1. I'm sure everyone agrees that this is not good. My proposal is to play on a 10 x 10 board. This keeps everything Ed & others like about the Gothic setup and eliminates the flaw.

The one thing that Henry Bird and Jose Capablanca did when they made up their games was keep the King and Queen together. This isn't the case in Gothic Chess and I view it as a flaw. Ed says he put the pieces as he did so all the Pawns are guarded at the start of the game and certain Chess like formations can be played in the game. I think if the King and Chancellor's positions were switched, the game would be the best possible set up of all these variants. With the Kings on the e squares and the Chancellors on the f squares all the Pawns would be guarded at the start. The board would be even more Chesslike as the left five files and the three right files from White's view would appear as they do in regular Chess. About the only difference would be that castling would be long to the reverse side. This should make possible other similiar openings besides the Indian one. Center Counter, Sicilian Defense, and French Defense type starts. Plus the Chancellor and Archbishop's Knight part of their moves wouldn't step on each other coming off the back row as they do in Gothic Chess.

I think this is an improvement on all three variants. I wish there was a way to set up the pieces for the board as the players would like to have them, instead being forced to use whatever set up is imposed. Screen Chess isn't what I mean. Kind of like the Fischer Random Chess where everyone gets the same set up. It'd be nice to be able start a tournament on the 8 X 10 board with what ever configuration the tournament organizer deemed for his tournament. Ed gets his game played, why can't I get mine? I'll try a feature request on the board for it.

Try this one:

White Janus j3
White King a1
Black Bishop e4
Black King c1

White to move mates in 72, very hard problem! This is part of the 4-piece database, if you order that version.

Speaking of Vortex... I finally got around to PGN import. Also has the complete 3-piece tablebases, which are the same for Janus Chess.

Longest mate is 21 moves for King + Janus vs. King, and it is not easy to solve! There is a new menu in Vortex, SPECIAL, with RANDOM 3-PIECE CHECKMATE as an item. This has some of the longest mates setup randomly.

http://www.GothicChess.org/vortex.zip

Also better graphics than the old program.

Caissus: oh I see ... afaik the piece set for the chess v2.0 by Stanback
is in the public domain ... it's on aminet from about 1990 and still much more
appealing than the vortex drafts - just the extra pieces would have to be added ... ~*~

danoschek: unfortunately is the graphics in MAX not so good. I have changed the pieceset a little bit to have a real janus:
http://caissus.gmxhome.de/netgame1.zip
Who is able to paint a better pieceset for MAX?

Caissus: Those games are some entertaining ones. Thank you, Uwe.