A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of entering the inner-sanctum of Gothic Chess. Since I live in the Philadelphia area I was invited to Ed Trice's home to play some(of course) Gothic Chess. After upon arriving there, with some well written directions, I was greeted by Ed who was a great host!

After Ed had his late breakfast which was toast and tea he showed me to his Chess Room. We talked about the future of Gothic Chess, as far as, "What will it take for Gothic to over power chess as the mainstream game?" Then we played a game with time controls of G/60. To my dismay I only lasted 12 moves before blundering away the game, but Ed still came up with a Queen sac to end the game as he left me there after the move to prepare lunch. After some review the game could have been good, and maybe worth even posting on this board :) Ed doesn't know, but I just didn't have the heart to go to his own home and beat him in a regulation game :)

After the game, I had the pleasure of meeting his wife and daughter who were both sociable and entertaining. A barbecue lunch was next! Not hamburgers and hotdogs, but steak, sausage and shrimp! I never thought I could feel that at home after going to someone's home for the first time and only the second time meeting him personally.

Lunch was over and Ed asked if would play some Gothic Blitz Chess. I said, "Of course", and he asked if time controls of 6 minutes for me and 3 minutes for him were okay? I said, "How about 5 minutes apiece?". He agreed, and I redeemed myself by winning 2 of 3 games! I surprised myself...not by winning, but that I really didn't know what to expect because of never playing Gothic Blitz before. I know Ed will have something ready at our next meeting though, so I guess I'll have to prepare as well :)

Ed then showed me to his office with all the Gothic games in a database, and of course how he does everything to the website. I was amazed by how much work he accomplishes! He showed me what went into writing the Gothic Chess Review which I can not wait for the return of. Also, the lines and lines of programming just to make that K+N+B vs. K ending which of course he is still in the process of finishing!

I think I was there around 9 hrs. which for me seemed about 3 hrs. I enjoyed the whole day and I'm glad Ed was able to put up with me for that long! I look forward to our next meeting and hope to return the hospitality that I was shown!

If I didn't say it before Ed..."Thanks for a Great Day!"