Whitetower, exactly! Of course when I said randomized, I meant the "hook" symbols. The others, as you know, are window dressing and inconsequential to Ed's miraculous ability to read my mind :)

that would be some trick if those symbols were randomized :)

it is an interesting point. The internet is still open season as proven by the failure of numerous prosecutors to secure jurisdiction on something that belongs to no and yet every country at once. Good observation about the real world tourneys....so few games and sports that we enjoy are trademarked so who knows?

ugh, if they want to have the game and CALL it Gothic Chess, they need a license, or else..um...well, you get the point.

I don't see much of a point in banning Ed and Dano. So what if their posts were off-topic? Isn't this one too? Albeit puerile, I found their repartie amusing at times and the entertainment value alone is sorely missed. And yes, at present, of course gothic chess is more fun than chess...more to discover! The whole reason Ed was removed as moderator was that he became draconian, banning everyone whom he thought was making a disturbance on this board. But to continue to ban him is only following in his footsteps. Just unban everyone and let em have at it. If you don't like the posts, hide them or put the offenders on your enemies list. Censorship is pusillanimous.

Looking at the moderator's profile, it appears his cmptr is on the fritz. Also, he did not ban Trice and I believe he was under the impression that only Fencer could reverse the ban, so he didn't himself. But it's best to ask him yourself.

i know what you mean...healthy dissent kept this board (bored) alive.

the same patenting argument has occurred with Othello/Reversi and Renju/Pente. In both cases, it was deemed legal to offer the games in their new forms by two courts, one in America, the other in Holland. As music piracy has shown, patents can be very tricky to deal with on the internet, which is bound by no particular country's laws.

of course we should keep Goth on the site, the more games the merrier. However, if you are suggesting that sites become involved in a bidding war for Gothic Chess, I suggest to Fencer NOT to get involved. CM1000 is right about chess suffering from its own popularity, and that we haven't scratched the surface of Gothic Chess ( i know bc I can still beat the computer!), but to provide it exclusively on one site is a horrible idea for those wishing to popularize it. I can't even count the number of sites that offer chess on the net. Perhaps that's why it's so popular. The brains behind Gothic should be trying to SIMULTANEOUSLY offer Goth on as many sites as possible.

bwildman, i think Ed answers that question on his website. Scarlet, you can still msg him!

OK, something on topic again about Gothic Chess:

I found a monthly column on Gothic Chess that just started up at chessville. Those interested should read it
here

if you read my posts, you'll see I never had a problem with CM1000 using a program. But your example is apropos, castigating others for persecuting CM1000 when i recall similar actions taken towards dano.

due to server space limitations, fencer combined the two. This board has been used for many purposes other than gothic chess, including gambling, trash talking, rekindling old amours, and last but not least, persecuting Danoschek, Ed Trice, ughiabu etc...in no particular order of course.

i don't doubt his gothic ability, i had a rough time in our games before he timed out. But it begs the question as to why he would crush a computer in goth while using one in reversi. As an aside, I have found one of the games where I beat vortex and will send it. It definitely wasn't a crush though.

ok, well tell you what! I am pretty bad at reversi, why don't we play a game. I'm playing line4 and tablut for dummies and that's about my level!

ok, CM1000, so you mean you once (HAD BEEN using, I know English is not your first language, I was interpreting it the only natural way a native English speaker like myself would, no hard feelings) a program to play reversi and now you are not? Like I said, I do not have a problem with that as you are not the first nor will be the last to "Zentaur" on this site. What about our gothic chess games, was I playing you or something else? I am curious. I will believe your answer.

And you are right about cheating with endgames and opening books by comparison to OTB games.

Stevie, you got it. I think anyone who is really interested in playing here has to do it for the love of the game, ultimately. It sounds hokey but that's all we have in the end.

on BK, everything is allowed simply bc there is no way to police our moves. CM1000 admits he uses a prog, so I have no problem with him. I don't see where he derives his satisfaction, but it's ultimately his choice. Recently I read a tragic story about a top -100 GM in chess that was receiving moves from a computer through a device that was ostensibly a hearing aid. The only reason he was caught is that there was audible feedback on the device. I suppose next that the world championship contenders will have to be subjected to a body cavity search and "bug" screening! Anyway, after awhile you can tell who plays with a prog and who doesn't, so that'll help you decide who to play. I have found that most programs in the chess variants are easy to beat, so that's a good place to play.

how about posting something on topic, Thad? I've tried, but no one seems to want to talk about Gothic Chess here. Might as well talk about something..

chess has really been replaced by electronic toys in the younger generation..it's too bad.

great strides have been made since 1989, as demonstrated in the difference between the Kasparov matches with Deep Thought and Deep Blue. Also, now that checkers is on its way to being solved, fat chance beating Chinook again! I wonder if chess will ever be solved..

i'm curious, and maybe Caissus can answer this too, is there a large "book" for Janus? I'm assuming the game has been around for awhile, and in fact it seems gothic chess is loosely based on it, with the Janus and board size and all. Not to mention Janus is German chess and Goth means German. How popular is Janus in Germany? Could you give a ratio of normal chess to Janus tournaments or clubs? And how long has it taken to acuqire that status. How long before Gothic chess can achieve a similar ratio in N. America?

i referred to you as GI until you relocated to Vanuatu...

but i meant large sample size against different players, not just playing against the same player...that shows a wider skill base. I know of some false accounts of BK that were created to get to the top precisely by that method of playing against the top guys in their first games.

Builder, thanks, I didn't notice that! No wonder. If you don't see how win %ages reveal skill, you need look no further than loop and gothic, seeing the top two players. A win % from a large sample size such as ughaibu and Ed Trice tell me much more than prov ratings based on 4-6 games...sure, the provs may be as good or better, but they haven't really proven it. Statistically it's much easier to get a high rating on BK from a small amount of games.

yon steed is the chancellor

ethori is a fake account. Also, the ratings here are just wrong but I can accept it. In atomic I beat a 1750 player and lost to a 1988 player when I was rated 1905. Result? ZERO change..in either game. Maybe I'll be 1905 forever. I think the records show the strength best. Ughaibu has lost thrice in over 250 games of tablut, that's unheard of...and Trice hasn't lost. That says a lot more than the ratings.

wow, called it spot on.. nice..

I as well

Why would you leave the site? There is a lot to learn about Gothic from you. If you want to popularize the game, surely this is an ideal forum of labile minds. Don't let minor personality conflicts dissuade you.

oh, for sure it would! Just like chess variants today, it doesn't matter that the pieces are all the same, just as long as some rules are different. Gothic chess itself is based on Bird and Capa chess, GI himself even acknowledged that when filing for the patent. The patent protects the game of Gothic chess as his intellectual property. I was thinking, though, based on Walter Montego's suggestion, that maybe Janus extinction is better than gothic extinction because of the two Januses? I would sure love to try both though.

?! what's zocking?!

well, he has started to play his first games of goth in preparation...

and then maybe GI and ughaibu could play a Gothic Loop match for no money, just to match the best in their fields? Compromise!

I like experimenting with new variants of just about everything. I know there are plenty of feature requests to Fencer for new games, but he is only one person and can only program so fast. However, the goth board and other chess variants are already programmed on BK, so it wouldn't take too much more time to combine the two. I believe Goth would combine very well with other variants, especially extinction, loop, dark (!!), 3 checks, anti and maaaybe atomic (we'd have to see if white has too great of an advantage). I would love to see those combined variants. Would you give your blessing to that, GI?

I like the gothic board and rules. It is great as a stand alone game, like chess.

Just woke up, saw the action I missed. That match idea seemed quite equitable, ughaibu. I think it would be nice to have a decathlon too as suggested. I wonder if we will ever get realtime implemented a la Caissus Chess. I'm having no trouble reading the PDF.

I would love to see match play on BK between the top players of two not-too disparate variants (ie checkers and parachute checkers, goth and janus, amazons and tank battle (well, maybe that's stretching it) I think it would add flavor to the site and encourage players to be more eclectic.

this would put the en passant rule to shame. But it would be harder to teach the young prodigies out there.

exactly.

how much (US) does a goth set retail for? Are they sold on amazon and the like? Have you ever considered a convertible board that could change from 8x8 to 10x8 or do you feel that would detract from your primary focus of distancing goth from chess?

I'm sorry to hear that, but I thank you for your candor. Korea has been full of epiphanies regarding my previous standard of male-female normalcy. My grandfather is German, so I got a taste of that from him, but it's a whole new ballgame in Asia. I could never understand the whole mail order bride thing until I actually saw first hand why some wanted to leave.

thanks, the last thing i remember was a fallopian tube and a bris. I still can't divine what happened, but maybe some things are left unsaid.

Well, personally, I wouldn't play you for stakes. I've played over some of your games and I think your moves are a tad too abstruse for me to have any shot of winning any dough. I know I have a theoretical shot at beating you, so if you ever want a "fun" game, I'm up for that. I know it probably irks you, the lack of competition on this site.

did you two go out in "real life", scarlet? actually crossed the atlantic to Germany? Or do I have it all wrong?

no new games at all, GI? I'd love to play you in the QPC tournament...it shouldn't take more than a fortnight to finish.

that paper looks great..i only glanced through the first 3 pages, but that's the kind of stuff that belongs here. I have no idea what you guys are talking about, but keep it up!

i have no idea what the real problem is between Dano and GI, but from what I gather, they have some history. Like Walter said, it can be entertaining at times. As an aside, I'm still interested in seeing Nellaf and GI play to settle top spot once and for all. Congratulations to ChessCarpenter for getting the first draw from GI on BK, btw.


Anyway, back on topic, my computer meets those minimum requirements. What days does it need operating?

i'd love to, but my PC is pretty slow, even by normal standards...i hope you find someone though.

GI, will we be able to watch the GCWCC live on gothicchess.org?

thanks Caissus..i hope i never have to play one though..

is archbishop vs. queen a win or draw? Tried and tried against vortex but probably my technique is flawed and i can't force a win.