tedbarber:

Just so you (and everyone else) knows, it is purely up to Fencer. I have not called for Gothic Chess to be removed, nor suggested it in any way.

redsales: then again I've never known Walter to be subtle. :)

So, please, no 30 days/move silliness, OK? :)

ColonelCrockett: Subtlety is something that I'm not often accused of, that's for sure.

redsales: Considering that with the exception of Dark Chess you've handily defeated me in every game we've played, I'm kind of curious as to when I might have said as much about your poor position during a game. As for Dark Chess, I rarely talk about an opponent's position during a game as it might tip him off as to where my pieces are or what my plans are. About the only time in Dark Chess that I might even say something would be after a move is made and it is obvious to both players that the game is about to end. I generally will type to my opponent during a game if said opponent types back and we have a conversation going. Backgammon in a lot of ways seems to be a game more conductive to conversation while its going on, but I'll chat in any game. I do agree with you about the playing with someone new, and will normally not comment on a Chess type game while it is progress unless my opponent initiates it or something extraordinary has happened during the game.

Somebody has won a game in the "win a date with Alexis" tournament...

http://brainking.com/en/Tournaments?tri=54818#1

Grim Reaper:

Ed, I have thought a while of the reason you have selected that lady to represent Gothic Chess. Finally I found out, that both, Alexis and GC, seems to be 25% oversized ;-) compared to traditional 'versions'.

Reinhard.

Sumerian:

Reinhard, that is truly very, very funny :) I will tell Alexis you said that :)

Fencer: BTW can "soon" become a bit less vague, please? Isn't it like a patch of the BrainKing Java code for FRC on the Gothic Chess setup?

Yes, I know it's never THAT easy, but...

BrainKing does not use Java.

Grim Reaper: Errr... yes, it does.

I didnt know WebTV could access java.

Grim Reaper: It doesn't. But under the hood, BrainKing uses Java to generate all these nice pages we love so much :)

So Java parses out the pages after making a database layer connection, then generates an indexed list of straight html pages?

Grim Reaper:Is there some other site I can go to to play Gothic Chess since I am unable to continue playing here;or to create new games.

I mean sites with a set up like this one.

You need java to play at http://www.GothicChessLive.com

tedbarber: The answer is no. There was another site with this setup that was proud to introduce Gothic Chess to its members, but [coughs and stares at Ed] it was also removed by the site owner...

WhiteTower: which one was that?

WhiteTower:

I took Gothic Chess off of CowPlay after they did not pay their licensing fee.

The situation here is different.

If you fail to see the difference, talk to someone who is interested in explaining it to you.

Grim Reaper: Any plans to introduce turn-based option on GothicChessLive?

Grim Reaper: Yes, maybe in CowPlay you were right, but you see, in both cases, the owner of the site removed it because you somehow leveraged them to do so, not because they didn't like Gothic Chess or something... Whatever the reason in each case, you don't make friends like that... Surely there could be a compromise somehow...

andreas: Yes there is Andreas. We need to reorganize the database a bit to handle this, but it can be done. Essentially we will just set the "timer" to 2880 minutes per move (instead of time per game) and keep your "table" open, just not visible to others until you log in.

It won't be ready for a while, but it is planned.

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

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?

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

Regards, Reinhard.

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

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.

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!

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!

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

Test link to completely annotated games:

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

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.

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........!

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.

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: 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...

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.

Sumerian: I agree with you.

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.

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?

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

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.

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

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.

Sumerian:

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

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

Interesting........

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.........

Pythagoras: Well spotted!

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

:)

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