mahavrilla: As for finding a Gothic Chess set, I believe you can still purchase a nice high-impact plastic set with a rubber-matted foam board at www.gothicchess.org

I purchased one a few years back when Gothic was just getting started and have really enjoyed my set.

It's a great game!

Would it be at all possible to have a mating pattern named after someone? Here's a game I played against an unknown USCF 1600 rated player outside the 2001 North American Open. I think that my mate in this game is rather unique. The time control was G/30 here are the moves:

1. f4 f5
2. Nh3 Nh6
3. e3 g6
4. g3 e5
5. Nc3 Bf6
6. Bd5 Ae7
7. Bb3 c6
8. Ae2 d5
9. d4 exd4
10. exd4 Qb6 (to bait White into Castling)
11. O-O Ng4
12. Cd3 Cg7
13. a4 Ch5
14. a5 Qc7
15. Qe1 Ci5
16. NxC Bxj2+
17. Kj1 Nxh2+
18. RxN Ai3++

Granted the play here wasn't of the highest caliber; but I had only played a handful of Gothic games at this point. Still I feel this game illustrates some of the tactical richness possible to Gothic Chess.

I would suggest that anyone who really wishes to learn this game ask Mr. Ed Trice ( GothicChessPro)if he has any surplus of his Gothic Chess Review magazines laying around. Those magazines are not only enjoyable to read, but will really give one a good fundamental understanding of the game.

Hello everyone, Ed has asked me, as an old GCA member, to say a few words about Gothic Chess. I was a member of the old GCA (Gothic Chess Association) back a few years ago. Even though I never played any rated games, I do have some Gothic experience under my belt. Schaakhamster, while I appreciate the compliment, I would hardly consider myself to be a "Big Fish". Basically I know some of the what not to do's sprung from lessons of hard-knocks. Those lessons were handed to me by some of the other old GCA players who I used to battle with on a java applet site that was developed by the GCA. Sadly, the site was only in existence for a short period of time. These are the first Gothic games I've played since the GCA went into legal term-oil a few years back. It feels good to get back into it. I hope Ed can revive his old quarterly magazine "Gothic Chess Review". There was many a pearl to be plucked from those pages. Ed and a dozen or so other players whom seemed to be the core of the GCA contributed often and passionately. Unfortunately for me the GCA was in Philadelphia and I live in the Los Angeles area thus games were hard to find. Hopefully with Brian King, Gothic Chess will have a new home and a strong, solid future.