Pythagoras: Your word use, grammar, punctuation, and smilies, are very like Chessmaster1000.

Grim Reaper: I would like to believe that never having suffered a loss in Janus while collecting a fair number of wins allows me the freedom to speculate that the game might be inherently easier to play from Black's perspective.

The above is much different from the:

White is also at a disadvantage by moving first in Janus

My opinion about Janus, although as like you, i dislike this game as it is too diagonal, is that it is well balanced, even though i have the same feeling -in a much lower degree- that black has something better.....

or evidence that the moon is NOT made out of green cheese.
Can you give me an evidence for the opposite....?
Only if you transfer me into the moon you can convince me and this is quite difficult.....

I am on the live site waiting for a game of Gothic if anyone wants to play.

And congrats to Andreas for winning a blitz game in 10 with 12 second increment against me yesterday. I reached what I thought was a very comfortable position, and the tide of the game turned almost instantly. It was a bizarre sort of game, I will post it when the webmaster emails it to me and I annotate it.

Pythagoras:

Well, please send me your proof of the Pythagorrean Theorem, or evidence that the moon is NOT made out of green cheese.

What I stated was a belief based on my experience and I never offered anything more than that.

Mely holds close to an International Master title in chess, and is well-versed in Janus Chess also. I was down a Queen + 3 pawns vs. the Archbishop (Janus) while playing white because Black was able to run me out of good moves. It was like distance zugzwang. I was able to dispose of those pawns to get the draw, a difficult concept to realize. And, I was able to win with Black against Mely, again, a very tough competitor.

I would like to believe that never having suffered a loss in Janus while collecting a fair number of wins allows me the freedom to speculate that the game might be inherently easier to play from Black's perspective.

Grim Reaper:White is also at a disadvantage by moving first in Janus.

No i don't think so. I or you or anyone can not prove anything of cource, and i understand that this was just your opinion, your feeling, about the game, but the fact you feel that you have troubles with white while with black not, doesn't prove nothing.........

White is also at a disadvantage by moving first in Janus. I had a hard time drawing Mely as white, and a much easier time winning with Black. Tough to explain, but I just think white is practically in zugzwang in the beginning of the game.

mahavrilla:
Castling is different. It is done symmetrically. The a-side castling is written as O-O instead of O-O-O. As far as I know there are no patents on Janus. The representation of the Archbishop is replaced by a pointed dog, called Janus.

I happen to like both of these games. Does anybody know what the main difference is between these 2 games besides the chanceller in Gothic? Does anybody think one better than the other for any reason?

I was wondering if anybody wanted to play live tonight there? If so, just go there. I am on board one.

If you do sign up, let us know what your name is on the site. Also, players are meeting at the discussion board to post game requests here:

http://s13.invisionfree.com/Gothic_Chess_Forum/index.php?showforum=8


And the first person who wins a game against me on a Tuesday gets $50, but so far, no winners (although I had as little as 2 seconds on my clock when I checkmated one player.)

pawnme: Or, even more directly, at:

www.GothicChessLive.com

It is no longer available here, but you can go to Gothicchess.org to play.

WhiteTower: ok. By the way, is it possible to play Gothic chess? I would like to try a couple of games

naughtypawn: After successful lobbying (not really!) it does no longer refer to a movie title but to a Cuban chess player (except for the rest of it, which, I suppose, was the trade-off, thanks to Grim Reaper!)

why? I don´t understand the joke very well. English is not my mogher tongue...

naughtypawn: Well, the Chess Variants (10x8) headline is now real-world-compliant :)

WhiteTower: I can´t believe what I read... A typo is a typo. I wrote Cablanca; it was a mistake without importance. I really know how Capablanca is written better than people that don´t speak Spanish...

OK, if you gonna mess up Capablanca, whah not turn da others into Janes Chess and Gotham Chess as well?

Let's get serious, it's Capablanca Random Chess, there's no S in Capablanca.

A sigh is just a sigh, a typo just a typo ...

WhisperzQ: Type it again, Whisperz.

Pythagoras et al: How's that?

WhiteTower: Nope, but I am one step closer to bringing Fischer together with Kasparov to play Gothic Chess.

http://www.gothicchess.org/fischer_kasparov.html

Grim Reaper: And actually, you invented Gotham Chess, right? :)

We would have to change the name of this place to "Rick's"

:)

Pythagoras: Well spotted!

I don't know if you moderators are fans of Ingrid Bergman, but it would be better if you called the game Capablanca Random Chess.........

Interesting........

Sumerian:

I added another topic area where you can see the current position.

http://s13.invisionfree.com/Gothic_Chess_Forum/index.php?showtopic=25

The game could be seen (partially commented) at http://s13.invisionfree.com/Gothic_Chess_Forum/index.php . SMIRF Beta 1.1.3 will use about 1/2 hour for its answers, because I need my computer for more than only playing.

Hello Fencer,

I hope there is a way to save Gothic Chess for your site. For me it is the best game I know.
And I hope for more traffic on the live Site, it is wonderful to play this game live.
God bless you all

rabbitoid: I think after 48 hours, the hardware difference is negligible. The branching factor is such that almost any machine will get you to the same nominal depth. Say with all of your pruning tricks your software branching factor is 4, down from about 50 in the actual game.

That means if ply X completes at time T, ply X+1 requires 4T, X+2 needs 16T, X+3 64T, etc.

If the speed differential was a factor of 4, meaning one machine was 4 times faster than the other, even after 2 days, the faster machine would only outsearch the other by 1 ply.

I am sure Reinhard's hardware is within a factor or 2 of mine, maybe even less. I have a 2.8 GHz Pentium IV.

Grim Reaper: would be interresting to watch, but to have a fair comparison of softwares you should run both on the same hardware.

I have proposed a friendly 2-game match with S.M.I.R.F. here:

http://s13.invisionfree.com/Gothic_Chess_Forum/index.php?showtopic=23

Time controls are 1 move in 48 hours (which is not going to be rigidly enforced if Reinhard needs extra time.)

If Reinhard accepts, diagrams will be supplied there so everyone can see the most current position.

I think this will be an interesting match. I would like to know how many nodes S.M.I.R.F. explores each move, what depth it reaches, and its evaluation.

What do you say Reinhard?

naughtypawn:

Do you know how many people have paid to play a game of Gothic Chess, in the whole wide world, because of the patent?

0.

The patent has no bearing on an individual, a tournament director, or anyone else interested in playing the game.

It just prevents a company from saying "Wow there are 40,000 Gothic Chess players out there, let's capitalize on their hard work and make our own game and sell it."

You pay royalties for intellectual property every time you buy a DVD, download music (legally), or buy certain pots and pans.

Those who talk about having to pay to play Gothic Chess have absolutely no understanding of patent law. The only thing you need to do is buy a set, and you would have to pay for that anyway.

Sumerian: I agree with you.

naughtypawn:

Seeing the discussion here on which would be better, GC or CRC, I think it is going into a wrong direction.

As far as I know GC has been created to have a very balanced 10x8 starting array based on the Capablanca piece set. CRC is randomazing starting arrays among a lot of possibilities. GC targets to be played by human beings, CRC was invented primarily to create a new testing field for computer chess programs. GC is about to organize experiences into an opening library, CRC is just about to avoid such looking up knowledge to be reproduced.

Therefore I regard CRC to need more sophisticated players, mainly because of the very different starting arrays.

It would be very preferable to have both, GC and CRC, at this site. But I have to agree that questions around patented games could be frustrating, even when such patents normally are not applicatable at all e. g. in the EU.

Chessmaster1000: Yes, you are right. Gothic Chess is a good game, but a game is not only the board and pieces. There are other things that influence the game. Imagine that I launch a standard chess club and I have to pay money to FIDE (or to the national organization) for the right to play in it... This restrict the possibilites of standard chess and, of course the possibilities of my club, and it would be horrible, in my opinion. Anyway, I prefer playing both games (CRC and Gothic Chess), but I think it is not possible...

For first you should know that everything i say, don't mean to offend anyone. It is just my opinion although many times seems offensive, but never is......
And second i don't take into consideration the patent thing, at all........I see only the game itself.......

As for the patent thing: Since you have to obey other laws at life -laws that other have voted- you have to obey the patent thing law too.....I don't see why this is bad.........

Chessmaster1000: Well, first of all, I can see the difference between a horse and a donkey. I am not stupid. Second, I believe that CRC is better because of a simple reason: the patent. I am a chess tournament director and I don´t have to ask for permission when I launch a tornament... Anyway, this is an opinion, like yours. I didn´t pretend to offend... I just wanted to write my point of view.

So i guess you would not see the difference between a horse and a donkey too......
I don't say that Gothic Chess is better from CRC (i believe that it is but this is too subjective), i only say that there is a huge difference between these two games........!

I can´t wait the day the Capablanca Random Chess will be available. Sincerely, I don´t see any differences between Gothic Chess and Capablanca Random Chess, except some pieces and a patent.

Test link to completely annotated games:

http://s13.invisionfree.com/Gothic_Chess_Forum/index.php?showtopic=16&st=0#entry21232

The new forum is online now for those who are playing in the Gothic Chess ladders and wish to keep their rungs and play more

http://s13.invisionfree.com/Gothic_Chess_Forum/index.php

Grim Reaper: That's called "impossible" for the rest of us ...but the impossible is possible in Janus and Gothic. Small changes on the board open big possibilities. Good luck!

Nasmichael:

I am noticing this as well. I am having more trouble with White than Black in Janus. It is almost like White starts off in Zugzwang!

Look at this for example:

http://brainking.com/en/ArchivedGame?g=874384

I have white and was down a Queen + 3 pawns for an Archbishop (Janus). This is a very difficult draw to execute!

mahavrilla: You could buy 2 Gothic Chess sets ( ) and take the Archbishop out of each one. Or try a Grand Chess set, or a SuperChess set if overseas. Plunder a couple of standard sets and paint the bishops a silver color with fingernail polish, to distinguish them.

I don't get to play enough Janus to answer correctly, but I have gotten that feeling when I played. I would rather let my opponent go first and have the opportunity to weaken her/his position.

Does anybody know how to buy one (if it exist?)

There is a running poll on a "Contest to design a 10-chess variant": http://www.chessvariants.org/contests/10/index.html

Regards, Reinhard.

I have been having more difficulties getting into good positions as white in Janus chess, but when playing black is seems a bit easier.

Anyone else experiencing this?

To the person who emailed me without giving me your BrainKing id, here is the link you requested:

http://www.chessville.com/GothicChess/ComputerWorldChampionships.htm