well, take Danoschek for example. His name is Johan Buttox and you don't see any of us calling him by his Anglo equiavlent name, Jack Ass.

...the very first page of this DB:


Felix (1486) Personal to GothicChessPro 21. March 2003, 19:51:22
Dear Mr. Edward Trice,

it has been going on long before my name change.

its funny how some players are referred to by the BrainKing name and others by their last name. Hmmmm.

we play 2 minute games at Doylestown for beers :) if you do good you can get a free 6-pack in no time :)

yes 2 minutes per game

well, if my chess rating goes up 60 more points, I will be ineligible for tournaments since they usually contain the constraint less than or = 2700 when the rating range is specified.

I still think the rating system on here is not correct. I got a draw with Chess Carpenter and there was no change in rating points. That never happens.

And look at Descenter. He was near 2100 when I was about 2200, and he made a losing move on move 5 of our game. There is no 2100 player that I know of that would play so badly, so this system has ratings that are at least 300 points too high, maybe even more.

Another thing is that all of the "early" players were thrown into a pit together. We were all rated 1300, and it took forever just to claw our way to 1600. Now someobody comes on board and beats an overrated 1900 player and they are instantly at 2300.

Does not seem to reflect the way the "real rating" system works.

My overrated chess rating is the perfect example. For 12 years I never broke 2300 in United States Chess Federation play after having made master at age 19. On here, I play for one week, and 2641 sits next to my name.

I really don't think there is much weight to the system, as it is implemented on here.

let's see what his rating is after another 100 games. My chess rating is 2641, do you think that is accurate?

My bet is 18 moves.

Lucky for you that you are not that talented, so you don't have to worry about this.

Absolutely none, other than the common first adjective.

On average you will float in around 1500-1600 in USCF chess since there are so many "book players" out there.

I think the ratings on here are too high by 200-400 points on average.

The official 2004 BrainKing Championship for Gothic Chess is entering into the last open section, round 3. Rounds 4 and 5 will be closed, with section and tournament winners from previous rounds participating.

Win this round, and you get to bypass the semifinals and go directly to the finals. Win your section, and you get to the semifinals next round.

Click the Round 3 signup link to join.

Hunting through some of my old junk, I found the first ever game of Gothic Chess ever played.

Dated July 10, 2000:

1. Nh3 d5 2. i3 Nh6 3. Bi2 Nc6 4. e3 Af6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ne2 Be6 7. Ng3 g6 8. Ae2 Qd7 9. 0-0 Cd6 10. b3 0-0-0 11. Ba3 Ce8 12. Bb2 Bg7 13. Ad3 Ci8 14. Ac5 Qe8 15. d4 e4 16. Qe2 Bf8 17. Aa4 i5 18. c4 i4 19. cxd5!? ixh3 20. dxc6 hxi2 21. cxb7+ Kxb7?! 22. Axe8! ixh1=Q+ 23. Cxh1 Rxe8 24. Qb5+ Ka8 25. Qc6+ Kb8 26. Qb5+ Kc8 27. d5! Bd7?? 28. Qa6+ Kb8 29. Bxf6 j5 30. Bd4 c5 31. dxc6 e.p. Bxc6 32. Qxa7+ Kc8 33. Cc1 Re6 34. Bb6 1-0

So it looks like ...Af5 will hold off against the immediate Cxi7+, so the hunt is on now for maybe a delayed attack, or some other improvement for white.

21...Af5 22.Cxi7+ Kj8 23.Ai5

And here Chessmaster1000 offered 23...Ah4+ to delay the invetiable.

But, why not take the Chancellor with 23...Kxi7 here? I offer:

23...Kxi7 24. Ag6+ Kh6 25. Ai5+ Ki7 with a draw.

Everything else looks to lose for white.

Purrdyn sent me the following message, which was given the subject line "WhiteShark":

<after all no cheater like you and softwaremaster500 - and he knows he's got to watch his butt vs me ... >8)

I think all of us who were around when that loser was banned know who this is. This is an unprovoked message I received, just because I complimented WhiteShark on his excellent play.

I suggest that players put that individual on their enemies list at once. Usually he starts with something benign, then he starts posting all over the place to annoy the hell out of everyone.

I think 21...Af5 might save the draw (instead of 21... Ag8?? which loses.)

If 22. Cxi7+ Kj8 the white Queen is denied g4 with the Archbishop on f5, and the sacrifice 23. Cxj7+?? would lose here.

WhiteShark, how would you cotinue if 21...Af5 was played?

Take a look at this position:

WhiteShark vs. nantonas

White's Queen is under attack by Black's knight, but the Chancellor/Rook/Archibishop threat cannot be countered, and black is steamrollered!

The Chancellor takes the pawn even with the Archbishop retreating to cover i8. Then, the shark sacrifices the Chancellor to force a mate that cannot be avoided.

All this while shark allows his own king to be placed in artificial peril that would draw even seasoned veterans into the attack that evaporates very quickly.

Be careful where you go swimming with this shark!

Actually, she asked if it would be ok if someone would paint the letters onto her topless, and the 3 men in the room whirled around looking for anything resembling a very small paint brush!
Clearly she is the "prettiest" Gothic Chess player there is. She also holds a Law Degree and is an MD who obtained that training while in Russia.

I am having a blast here on the set, hoping my wife does not mind I am here longer than I thought I would be.

The pictures are being done tastefully, and I will have them online one day next week at GothicChess.org for those who might be curious.

Hi Matthew,

"Chess thinking", as you say, really occurs in two forms in a chess program.

1. Search
2. Evaluation

At some point in time, as the program generates POSITIONS from its move generator, it must stop, and, WITHOUT searching, evaluate the position.

The is called a LEAF NODE EVALUATION, and, at best, it is a crap shoot. The dominant form of the evaluation is material, and because no search is performed at this stage, something deadly can be one or two moves away, and the program does not know it.

The good news: all leaf nodes are in the distant (8 plies, 10 plies, or more) in the future, so, statistically, ANY ONE SINGLE NODE will most likely NOT be a factor in the outcome of the game.

More good news: millions of leaf nodes are evaluated, most are junk and discarded, and this filtering process means that only the "balanced" positions survive to be passed down further into the tree.

So, "chess thinking" is really an idiotic form of trying millions of things that don't work, distilling this down into just one PRINCIPLE VARIATION, which is the analysis you see as the search builds.

The "PV" is the result of all of the lead node evals being passed back and forth through the ALPHA BETA search. The APLHA side always wants to play the move leading to the biggest score for it, and the BETA side always wants to play the move leading to the smallest score for the ALPHA side.

In this way, one side makes the "strongest move", and the other side makes the best reply to it, and so on.

Where the "intelligence" comes in is in the leaf mode evaluation routine.

There are way to encode positions that are known wins/losses/draws so that the leaf node eval will OVERRIDE the material score.

This takes intelligence.

For example, if you have 1 knight, and your opponent has just his king, you would not want that to be scored as +3 pawns for the knight (say + 300) since it is a dead draw.

I am surprised at how many commercial programs will start to search in such a K+N vs. K position and return a +300 score and actually try to win.

Vortex makes no such errors. In fact, Vortex knows NN vs. K is not a +600 score since so many NN vs. K positions are drawn. It will not "dismiss" the position as a mere draw, since a falible player can mess up the ending and walk into a mate.

But, Vortex would prefer two unconnected passed pawns on the a- and j-files rather than having 2 knights, since its evaluation function has intelligence identifying which types of endgames lead to wins.

Vortex can identify ANY position with X pawns vs. Y pawns as a win, even with a 1-ply search! This took a great deal of intelligent coding!! It has a "pawn evaluator" that is pretty much always correct. So, Vortex will sometimes swap pieces like crazy as the endgame approaches, only to be able to take you into an incredibly complex king and pawn ending where it will win with no trouble.

There are many such "patterns" that make up its intelligence. It knows R + P endings well, it knows Bishop + wrong Rook's Pawn draws WITHOUT having to search (meaning the leaf node eval will handle it properly in an instant) and many such thematic ideas that will overpower the material evaluator.

Once I hook up the 5-piece Gothic Chess endgame databases to it in a RAM buffer, its play will be amazing as the endgame approaches.

I am not there yet though.

Ed beats Deep Thought in 1989

Ed beats Chinook in 1996

Read what I wrote LongJohn. I do not know of anyone else who beat Deep Thought that has also won against the Chinook checkers program.

Can you name anyone or show supporting documentation?

Did I claim to be the World Checker Champion?

No, I did not.

No need to reply, I will not respond.

Hello Greenknight,

I am probably the only person on the planet with wins against the world's strongest checkers computer (Chinook) and the world's strongest chess computer (Deep Thought) so I think I am uniquely qualified to speak on this subject.

First, while programs trounce us soundly at tournament time controls or quicker (I think there are 3 programs over 3100 at bullet and blitz now) the opposite is true of longer time controls.

When I play Vortex at the rate of 1 hour per move for both of us (while I am doing other work, I just periodically glance at it and move after mulling over to what to do) I am 11-0 with 0 draws. At time controls of 3 seconds per move each, I am about 15-70 with maybe 2 or 3 draws!

Look at some of my games. There is no program on the planet that would make some of my moves. Take a look at Ed vs. Shark for example. Throwing away a Chancellor for Archbishop is "intuitive" for a human player, but totally beyond the domain of the program. At the move shown, I throw away a knight, while already down C for A, and there is no immediate regain of material!

As for programs being used on the internet and elsewhere: if a rule cannot be enforced, it really isn't a rule at all, so just beware of the fact that others are out there consulting with software.

And for checkers, you might think with all of the FREE strong checkers programs out there, honest players would never be able to win a game on here.

I like to throw away a checker, then play most of the game "down a man", only to befuddle my opponents, who may or may not be using software. Sooner or later their greed (keeping my "gift" too long) causes their demise. Look over some of my most recent checker games against the strong players, and you will see what I mean.

Again, no program on the planet can see through the complications that the human mind understands at a glance.

I would say, rise up to the challenge, and dare players to use software against you, then kick their butts by being strategic when they try to be tactical.

You will win every game.

Trust me on this one, I know what I am talking about :)

Yeah, Rob left out one very important point. In his game with White using The Quagga opening, he had a vastly superior position after my "flash in the pan" tactic to win a Chancellor for Archbishop after sacing a Bishop for a pair of pawns ended up fizzling out!

I played strategically, content with my false sense of security (plus I was happy that George Ross, the man sitting next to Donald Trump on The Apprentice, called me this evening and left a message for me to call him back! As Rob call tell you, I play best when I am in a bad mood.) Rob systematically got his Archbishop and pair of Knights right in the face of my King, and I was in real trouble (a mate in 3 awaited me if I miscued).

Anyway, that's my version of the events.


But he is right, this little program is cool.

Thanks to Cassius for giving me the programmer's email address.

For those who like real-time action with instant updates of the board...

http://www.mailchess.de/netgame07b_setup.exe

Download this, install it, then select the FILE menu, NEW GAME, then pick Gothic Chess from the radio buttons.

Under the SETTINGS menu, select PIECES, then GOTHIC CHESS PIECES, and you are ready to play a live game against someone over the internet without needing a server!

You will have to configure your settings by adding your IP address into a field, but the program will help you get your IP address.

Then you can wait for connections to accept games with you.

Maybe all who have successfully installed it can post what times they will be online looking for games, as well as their IP addresses.

well let's see. Subtract 7 pawns from each side.

2N + 1R vs. A + 2P

Let's convert A to B + N + 1P for the sake of simplicity.

2N + 1R vs. 1B + 1N + 3P

Subtract 1 Knight from each side

1N + 1R vs. 1B + 3P

Let a Bishop be a Knight plus half a pawn

1N + 1R vs. 1N + 3.5P

Subtract a Knight from both sides

1R vs. 3.5P

I'd say your side was doing better.

Yeah how did you lose that one game to ChessCarpenter? All he had was an Archhbishop and you had like 2 Rooks and a Knight or something like that :)

The second max_w number applies to positions with black to move and win rather than white to move and win.

The "w" does not stand for white. It means Max Win Length.

Zugzwang is when it sucks to be your move. You lose as a result of it, and could draw if your opponent was to move.

Mutual Zug is very bizzarre. In super-tough endings, your side to move wins by the narrowest of margins. If your opponent could move, he can win. In fact, if you misplay, you go from a win to a loss!

Lets take the queen vs. archbishop ending:

kqka 31 66.7 32.4 9.2 24 30.5 59.3 16.5 29

white has the queen
black has the archbishop

Max_W = maximum number of moves to win.
This is 31 moves for white.

% win = what percent of all of the white to move positions win? In this case, 66.7%

% draw = 32.4%

Ave_W = the average length of the wins for white to move. With 9.2, most are easy wins. With white having more power and the turn to move, this can be a little misleading.

The other states are for black to move. The longest win is 24 moves for the Archbishop side. This does not mean the Arch is stronger since it wins more quickly. It just means if you don't win within 24 moves, you aren't going to win.

Only 30.5% of the positions win with the Arch to move, and 59.3% are draws. The average win legnth is 16.5 moves when the Arch can move and win.

The last stat, Mzugs, is the count of mutual zugzwang positions.

Position:

- - - - - - - - - -
n P - - k - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - -
- - b - K - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - -

White to move and mate in 181


b8=A mates after 180 more moves
b8=Q draws
b8=C loses in 34
b8=R loses in 34
b8=B draws
b8=N loses in 34

Kf5 loses in 36
Kd5 loses in 36
Ke4 loses in 36
Kf4 loses in 36

1. b8=A! Kd8 2. Kd5 Be3 3. Ke6 Bf2 4. Af4 Kc8 5. Ad6+ Kd8 6. Ae4 Bg1 7. Af3 Bf2
8. Ag4 Bg1 9. Ah3 Bh2 10. Af1 Bg1 11. Kd6 Nc8+ 12. Kd5 Nb6+ 13. Kc6 Nc8 14.
Ah3 Ne7+ 15. Kd6! Bh2+ 16. Ke6! Nc6 17. Af1! Bg1 18. Kd6 Ne7 19. Ae2 Bh2+ 20.
Ke6! Bi1 21. Af3 Ng6 22. Ac6+! Kc8 23. Kf6! Nf4 24. Kf5! Kc7 25. Ah1 Kb6 26.
Aj3! Ng2 27. Ke4! Bb8 28. Ae8 Kb7 29. Kd5 Nf4+ 30. Kc4! Ne6 31. Af7 Nc7 32.
Ad6+ Kb6 33. Ae4 Na6 34. Aa8+ Ka5 35. Ad5 Bi1 36. Ag2 Bb8 37. Ae3 Nc7 38. Ad4
Na6 39. Kb3 Bd6 40. Ae3 Nc5+ 41. Kc4! Bf8 42. Ad5 Ka6 43. Ac7+ Kb7 44. Aa5+
Ka6 45. Ad8 Bd6 46. Kd5 Nb7 47. Ae6 Kb6 48. Ad7+ Kc7 49. Ab5+ Kb6 50. Aa4+ Kc7
51. Kc4 Bg3 52. Ab5+ Kd8 53. Ac6+ Kc7 54. Ad5+ Kb8 55. Ah1 Bh2 56. Ac6+ Kc7
57. Ab5+ Kb6 58. Ad4+ Kc7 59. Ae6+ Kb6 60. Ad5+ Ka6 61. Af3 Bg3 62. Ae2! Bi1
63. Af1! Kb6 64. Ae3+! Ka6 65. Ag2 Bg3 66. Af1 Bd6 67. Kd5+ Kb6 68. Ke6 Bc5
69. Ac4+! Kc7 70. Ab5+ Kb6 71. Aa4+ Kc7 72. Ae8+ Kc8 73. Kd5 Bg1 74. Ab5 Nd8
75. Ad6+ Kd7 76. Ae5+ Ke7 77. Ag4 Nf7 78. Ah3 Bi3 79. Af5+! Kd8 80. Ag6 Ng5
81. Ke5 Kd7 82. Ah5 Bj2 83. Af6+ Kc7 84. Ad5+ Kd7 85. Kf5 Ni6 86. Af4 Ng5 87.
Ae5+ Kc8 88. Af6 Kb7 89. Ad5+ Ka6 90. Ah1 Nh3 91. Kg4 Ni5+ 92. Kf4 Bi1+ 93.
Kf5 Kb5 94. Ae4 Bh2 95. Af2 Bj4 96. Ke6 Kc4 97. Ag3 Ng6 98. Ae2+ Kb3 99. Ah5
Nf8+ 100. Kd5 Bg1 101. Af4 Bj4 102. Kc5 Bg7 103. Ad5+ Kc2 104. Ae4+ Kb3 105.
Af5 Bi5 106. Ad4+ Ka3 107. Kb5 Bj4 108. Kc4 Bi5 109. Kc3 Be1+ 110. Kc2 Kb4
111. Ac6+ Kc5 112. Ae7+ Kd4 113. Axf8 Bg3 114. Ab4 Ke5 115. Ad3+ Ke6 116. Kd2
Be5 117. Ke3 Ba1 118. Ke4 Kf6 119. Ac4 Kg6 120. Ag8 Kg7 121. Ab3 Bf6 122. Kf5
Bc3 123. Ae6+ Kh6 124. Af4+ Kg7 125. Ah5+ Kf8 126. Ad1 Bd4 127. Ab3 Bg1 128.
Ad5 Kg7 129. Af3 Bb6 130. Ah5+ Kh6 131. Aj4+ Kh7 132. Kg5 Be3+ 133. Kh5 Kh8
134. Ai6+ Ki7 135. Aj5+ Kj6 136. Ag8 Bc1 137. Ki4 Bd2 138. Ac4 Bb4 139. Kh5
Ki7 140. Ab3 Kj6 141. Ac1 Be1 142. Ah6 Bc3 143. Ai4+ Ki7 144. Ag5+ Kh8 145.
Kg6 Ba1 146. Ad2 Bg7 147. Kf7 Bd4 148. Ag5 Ba7 149. Kg6 Bd4 150. Af4 Ba7 151.
Kh6 Bg1 152. Ad5 Bj4+ 153. Kg6 Bg1 154. Af6+ Ki7 155. Kg7 Bj4+ 156. Kg8 Ki6
157. Ag4+ Kj6 158. Kh7 Bf8 159. Af2+ Bi5 160. Ah3 Be1 161. Ag2 Bf2 162. Ai4+
Ki5 163. Ah3+ Kh5 164. Axf2 Kg5 165. Ad3 Kf6 166. Kh6 Ke7 167. Kg6 Ke6 168.
Kg5 Kd5 169. Kf5 Kd4 170. Ae4 Ke3 171. Ke5 Ke2 172. Kf4 Kf1 173. Kf3 Ke1 174.
Ac3+ Kf1 175. Ad2+ Kg1 176. Kg3 Kh1 177. Kh3 Kg1 178. Ae3+ Kh1 179. Af2+ Ki1
180. Ki3 Kj1 181. Ah3#

Number of times there is only 1 move to win: 17

I was data mining today and found a position where the only win is a promotion of a pawn to an Archbishop where no checks are given as a result! Promoting to a Queen would draw, a Bishop would draw, and a Chancellor/Rook/Knight promotion would all lose!

The position:

white pawn on b7
black knight on a7
black bishop on c5
black king on e7
white king on e5

1. b8=A! is the only win, and it requires a total of 181 moves.

I have the winner from the Knight + Bishop vs. King contest. The checkmate solutions are shown in bold...

ChessCarpenter
B+N vs. K contest
26. March 2003, 13:51:32

Ed,

Here is my setup for the contest:

Black King = a8
White King = c6
White Bishop = c5
White Knight = b5

I only have a mate in 25 moves for White! I can not seem to get more!

[Mate in 23]
---------

juangrande
B+N vs. K contest
26. March 2003, 14:09:14

I'll make an educated guess for the setup, since I don't have the resources to conduct a detailed search. :-)

White: Ka8, Be8, Nj2
Black: Kc8

Of course, the mirror image positions should be considered equivalent:

White: Ka1, Be1, Nj7
Black: Kc1

White: Kj1, Bf1, Na7
Black: Kh1

White: Kj8, Bf8, Na2
Black: Kh8

[Mate in 37]

---------

WhisperzQ
Re: B+N vs. K contest
31. March 2003, 22:24:42

Okay, I had my guess early, but to put some positions on it:

White: Ka1, Ba2, Nb1
Black: Kj8
Black King has many posible locations but generally in that diagonally opposite corner.

[Mate in 33]

---------

ChessCarpenter
Re: B+N vs. K contest
1. April 2003, 00:18:25

Well, here is my shot!

White Kc8,Ba1,Ni1
Black Ka8
Like Whisperz I needed to put something in!!

[Mate in 24]

==========

So Rob snuck in a second entry...but both of his were in the low 20's, so the winner is, JuanGrande!

Congratulations Juan, you finally won your Gothic Chess mug!

There is an easy solution to this. Ask Fencer to set up a position, suspend the 50 move rule, and play against this database. I will move for it. You can move for yourself. We play until checkmate.

Mate in 268

Registered owners of Gothic Vortex will get the 4 pieces databases once they are hooked up. The 5-piece databases are 900 MB total so they cannot be included without multiple CDs are some form of compression.

1. Qe2 Qg8+ 2. Ka7 Qg7+ 3. Ka6 Qa1+ 4. Kb7 Qb2+ 5. Kc6 Qf6+ 6. Kc5 Qf5+ 7. Kd6 Qf8+ 8. Kd7 Qf7+ 9. Qe7 Qd5+ 10. Qd6 Qb7+ 11. Ke6 Qe4+ 12. Kf6 Qf3+ 13. Ke5 Qe2+ 14. Kf5 Qf3+ 15. Qf4 Qd5+ 16. Kf6 Qc6+ 17. Ke5 Qb5+ 18. Ke4 Qb1+ 19. Ke3 Qe1+ 20. Kd3 Qc1 21. Ke2 Qc2 22. Ke3 Qc1 23. Kf2 Qc2 24. Kg3 Qg6+ 25. Kf3 Qd3+ 26. Qe3 Qf5+ 27. Kg3 Qi5+ 28. Kg4 Qi6+ 29. Kf4 Qf6+ 30. Kg3 Qj6+ 31. Kf3 Qi6+ 32. Kf2 Qi5+ 33. Ke2 Qb5+ 34. Ke1 Qb1+ 35. Kf2 Qa2 36. Kg3 Qg8+ 37. Kf4 Qj8+ 38. Kf5 Qf8+ 39. Ke6 Qc8+ 40. Kd6 Qd8+ 41. Kc6 Qa8+ 42. Kb5 Qb7+ 43. Ka5 Qa8+ 44. Kb4 Qb7+ 45. Ka3 Qa6+ 46. Kb2 Qb5+ 47. Qb3 Qe5+ 48. Qc3 Qb5+ 49. Ka3 Qa6+ 50. Kb4 Qb6+ 51. Kc4 Qc6+ 52. Kd4 Qd6+ 53. Ke4 Qg6+ 54. Kd5 Qg8+ 55. Kc5 Qc8+ 56. Kd4 Qg8 57. Qc6+ Ki2 58. Qd7+ Ki3 59. Kc3 Qa2 60. Qd6 Qa1+ 61. Kc4 Qc1+ 62. Kb5 Qb1+ 63. Qb4 Qd3+ 64. Kc6 Ki2 65. Qi4+ Kh2 66. Qh5+ Kg1 67. Qd5 Qa6+ 68. Kd7 Qa7+ 69. Ke6 Qb6+ 70. Kf5 Qf2+ 71. Ke5 Qe2+ 72. Kf6 Qf2+ 73. Ke7 Qa7+ 74. Qd7 Qc5+ 75. Qd6 Qg5+ 76. Ke6 Qg6+ 77. Kd7 Qg4+ 78. Kc6 Qa4+ 79. Kb7 Qe4+ 80. Kb6 Qb1+ 81. Ka6 Qa2+ 82. Kb7 Qf7+ 83. Kc6 Qf3+ 84. Qd5 Qf6+ 85. Kc5 Qa6 86. Kb4 Kf2 87. Qb5 Qe6 88. Kc3 Kf3 89. Qd3+ Kg2 90. Qc4 Qe1 91. Qg4+ Kh2 92. Qf4+ Kg2 93. Kb2 Qe2 94. Qi4+ Kh2 95. Qh4+ Ki2 96. Kc2 Kj3 97. Kc3 Qf3+ 98. d3 Qe3 99. Qd4 Qh6 100. Qd5 Qe3 101. Kc4 Qa7 102. Qc5 Qa2+ 103. Kc3 Qa1+ 104. Kd2 Qa2+ 105. Ke3 Qe6+ 106. Kd4 Qg4+ 107. Kc3 Qg3 108. Qf5 Qc7+ 109. Kd2 Qd6 110. Ke3 Qh6+ 111. Ke4 Qc6+ 112. Qd5 Qg6+ 113. Kf3 Qf6+ 114. Ke2 Qj2+ 115. Ke3 Qe7+ 116. Kd4 Qh4+ 117. Kc5 Qe7+ 118. Kb6 Qf6+ 119. Kb5 Qb2+ 120. Kc6 Qc3+ 121. Kd7 Qg7+ 122. Ke8 Qh8+ 123. Ke7 Qh4+ 124. Kd7 Qh3+ 125. Kc7 Qg3+ 126. Kc6 Qg6+ 127. Kc5 Qa6 128. Qf3+ Ki4 129. Qg4+ Ki5 130. Qd7 Qa5+ 131. Qb5 Qc7+ 132. Kd5 Qd8+ 133. Ke6+ Ki4 134. Qd5 Qg8+ 135. Ke5 Qg5+ 136. Kd4 Qg7+ 137. Kc4 Qc7+ 138. Qc5 Qf7+ 139. Kc3 Qf3 140. Qd6 Kh3 141. Qe6+ Kg3 142. Kc4 Qf1 143. Qg8+ Kh4 144. Qd5 Kg4 145. Kb5 Kg3 146. Qg5+ Kh2 147. Qe3 Kg2 148. Kb4 Qb1+ 149. Kc5 Qc2+ 150. Kd6 Qc8 151. d4 Qd8+ 152. Kc5 Qc7+ 153. Kb4 Qb6+ 154. Kc3 Qa5+ 155. Kc4 Qa6+ 156. Kc5 Qa5+ 157. Kc6 Qa8+ 158. Kd7 Qd5+ 159. Ke7 Qb7+ 160. Kf8 Qb8+ 161. Kg7 Qc7+ 162. Kg6 Qc6+ 163. Kg5 Qa8 164. Qe2+ Kg1 165. Qe5 Qj8+ 166. Kg6 Qj6+ 167. Kf7 Qj3+ 168. Ke7 Qi3+ 169. Kd7 Qh3+ 170. Kc7 Qc3+ 171. Qc5 Qg3+ 172. Qd6 Qc3+ 173. Kd7 Qh3+ 174. Kc6 Kh1 175. d5 Qh8 176. Kb5 Qh7 177. Kb6 Qh8 178. Qe7 Qb2+ 179. Kc6 Qc2+ 180. Qc5 Qe4 181. Kb6 Qb1+ 182. Qb5 Qg6+ 183. Kc5 Qf5 184. Qe2 Ki1 185. Qe1+ Kh2 186. Qh4+ Ki1 187. Kd4 Qf1 188. Qg3+ Kj2 189. Qj6+ Ki1 190. Qi6+ Kj2 191. d6 Qa1+ 192. Kd5 Qa8+ 193. Ke5 Qb8 194. Qj5+ Ki2 195. Qg2+ Ki1 196. Qc6 Qh8+ 197. Ke6 Qh3+ 198. Ke7 Qh4+ 199. Kd7 Qh7+ 200. Kc8 Qg8+ 201. Kc7 Qg3 202. Qc4 Ki2 203. Qb4 Qe5 204. Kc6 Qe6 205. Qb2+ Ki1 206. Qc1+ Ki2 207. Qi7+ Kj3 208. Qj7+ Ki4 209. Kc7 Qc4+ 210. Kd8 Qg8+ 211. Kd7 Qg3 212. Qe7 Kj4 213. Qj2+ Ki5 214. Qd2 Ki6 215. Kc6 Qf3+ 216. Kc7 Qf5 217. Qe2+ Kj6 218. Qc4 Qa5+ 219. Kb7 Qf5 220. Qc6 Qb1+ 221. Kc7 Qi1 222. Qd5 Ki6 223. Qf5 Kj6 224. Kd7 Qg3 225. Ke6 Qb3+ 226. Kf6 Qi3+ 227. Kf7 Qi7+ 228. Kf8 Qh8+ 229. Ke7 Qi7+ 230. Qf7 Qc1 231. Qf6+ Ki7 232. d7 Qc5+ 233. Ke8 Qb5 234. Qc3 Ki8 235. Ke7 Qg5+ 236. Kd6 Qh6+ 237. Kc7 Qf4+ 238. Kb7 Qe4+ 239. Kb6 Qb1+ 240. Kc7 Qi1+ 241. Kc8 Qi2 242. Qd3+ Kj8 243. Qg6 Qh3 244. Qg8+ Ki7 245. Qg7+ Kj6 246. Qf6+ Ki5 247. Kc7 Qh7 248. Qd4 Ki6 249. Kb7 Kj7 250. Ka8 Qh1+ 251. Ka7 Qh7 252. Qd1+ Ki7 253. Qc1+ Kj6 254. Qc7 Qh8 255. d8=Q Qa1+ 256. Kb8 Qb1+ 257. Qb6+ Qxb6+ 258. Qxb6+ Ki5 259. Qb4 Ki6 260. Qi4+ Kh6 261. Kc7 Kg5 262. Kc6 Kf6 263. Qh5 Kg7 264. Kd5 Kf6 265. Kd6 Kg7 266. Ke6 Kg8 267. Kf6 Kf8 268. Qh8# 1-0

1. Ka1b2 Nb3c5
2. Aj7i8 Kf1f2
3. Kb2c3 Kf2f3
4. Kc3d4 Nc5b3+
5. Kd4d5 Nb3d2
6. Ai8j7+ Kf3g2
7. Aj7h5 Be7b4
8. Ah5i4+ Kg2f2
9. Ai4h3+ Kf2g3
10. Ah3i5+ Kg3g2
11. Ai5e1+ Kg2h3
12. Kd5e6 Kh3g4
13. Ae1d3 Bb4a5
14. Ad3e2+ Kg4g5
15. Ke6e5 Ba5c7+
16. Ke5d5 Bc7b6
17. Ae2i6+ Kg5f5
18. Ai6g7+ Kf5g5
19. Kd5e6 Kg5h4
20. Ag7f5+ Kh4g5
21. Af5h3+ Kg5h4
22. Ah3f4 Nd2f3
23. Af4d5 Nf3d4+
24. Ke6e5 Bb6a7
25. Ad5e4 Kh4h3
26. Ae4f2+ Kh3g2
27. Af2e3+ Kg2f3
28. Ae3d1+ Kf3g2
29. Ke5e4 Nd4e6
30. Ad1f3+ Kg2h3
31. Ke4e5 Ne6d4
32. Af3i6 Nd4c6+
33. Ke5e4 Ba7b8
34. Ai6j4+ Kh3i4
35. Aj4h6+ Ki4j3
36. Ah6f5 Nc6e5
37. Af5g3 Kj3i3
38. Ke4d5 Ki3j2
39. Ag3h2 Kj2i2
40. Ah2f4 Ki2h1
41. Kd5e4 Kh1i2
42. Af4e2 Ne5f7
43. Ae2g4+ Ki2h1
44. Ag4e6 Nf7e5
45. Ae6h3 Kh1h2
46. Ah3f1+ Kh2i3
47. Af1a6 Ne5d7
48. Ke4f5 Bb8i1
49. Aa6f1 Nd7e5
50. Kf5g5 Ne5f3+
51. Kg5h5 Nf3h2
52. Af1g3 Nh2j3
53. Ag3e4 Nj3h2
54. Ae4f5 Nh2j3
55. Af5j1+ Ki3j4
56. Aj1g4 Bi1b8
57. Ag4d7 Bb8i1
58. Ad7f6 Nj3h2
59. Af6g5 Nh2j3
60. Kh5i6 Bi1g3
61. Ag5f6 Nj3h4+
62. Ki6h5 Bg3e1
63. Af6g4 Kj4j3
64. Ag4h3 Kj3i3
65. Ah3g1+ Ki3j3
66. Kh5g5 Be1g3
67. Kg5g4 Nh4i2
68. Ag1f3 Kj3i3
69. Af3g2+ Ki3h2
70. Ag2f1+ Kh2i3
71. Af1j5+ Ki3h2
72. Kg4h5 Bg3d6
73. Aj5i4+ Kh2g1
74. Ai4h3+ Kg1h2
75. Ah3g4+ Kh2i1
76. Ag4c8 Bd6c7
77. Ac8h3+ Ki1h2
78. Ah3i4+ Kh2i3
79. Ai4g2+ Ki3j4
80. Ag2h3+ Kj4i3
81. Ah3g4+ Ki3j3
82. Ag4e6 Bc7d6
83. Ae6f7 Bd6b8
84. Af7e8 Kj3i3
85. Ae8f6+ Ki3j3
86. Af6d7 Bb8f4
87. Ad7e8 Bf4g3
88. Kh5g4+ Kj3i3
89. Kg4f3 Bg3h4
90. Ae8h5+ Ki3h2
91. Ah5i4+ Kh2i3
92. Ai4g2+ Ki3h2
93. Ag2f1+ Kh2h1
94. Kf3g4 Bh4d8
95. Af1i4 Ni2g1
96. Ai4g3+ Kh1g2
97. Ag3f4+ Kg2f2
98. Af4d5 Ng1e2
99. Ad5c6 Bd8b6
100. Ac6e4+ Kf2g1
101. Ae4d3 Ne2d4
102. Kg4f4 Kg1g2
103. Ad3c4 Bb6a7
104. Ac4e3+ Kg2h3
105. Ae3g4+ Kh3g2
106. Kf4e4 Nd4b3
107. Ag4e5 Nb3d4
108. Ae5f4+ Kg2h1
109. Af4e3 Kh1i2
110. Ae3g4+ Ki2j3
111. Ag4c8 Nd4c6
112. Ke4d5 Nc6b4+
113. Kd5e6 Ba7c5
114. Ke6f5 Nb4c2
115. Ac8b7 Bc5b6
116. Kf5g4 Kj3i3
117. Ab7g2+ Ki3h2
118. Ag2f4+ Kh2i3
119. Kg4g3 Nc2e3
120. Af4g5+ Ki3i2
121. Ag5h4+ Ki2i1
122. Ah4j3+ Ki1j2
123. Aj3h1+ Kj2i1
124. Ah1c6 Bb6c7+
125. Kg3f3 Bc7b6
126. Ac6d7 Ne3c4
127. Kf3g3 Bb6c7+
128. Kg3g2 Nc4e3+
129. Kg2g1 Ki1j2
130. Ad7e6 Bc7b6
131. Kg1h2 Ne3f1+
132. Kh2h3 Nf1e3
133. Ae6f7 Bb6a7
134. Af7i4+ Kj2i1
135. Ai4g3+ Ki1j2
136. Kh3i4 Ne3g4
137. Ag3h1+ Kj2i1
138. Ah1c6 Ba7f2
139. Ac6g2+ Ki1h2
140. Ag2f3+ Kh2g3
141. Af3e2+ Kg3h2
142. Ae2xg4+ Kh2g2
143. Ag4e2 Bf2a7
144. Ki4h4 Kg2f2
145. Ae2d1+ Kf2e1
146. Ad1f3+ Ke1f1
147. Kh4h3 Ba7b6
148. Af3e5 Kf1f2
149. Kh3g4 Bb6a7
150. Ae5f4 Kf2e1
151. Kg4f3 Ke1d1
152. Af4d3 Kd1d2
153. Ad3c4+ Kd2c2
154. Kf3e2 Ba7g1
155. Ac4e6 Bg1a7
156. Ae6d7 Kc2b3
157. Ke2d3 Ba7g1
158. Ad7f8 Bg1f2
159. Af8e7 Bf2i5
160. Ae7c5+ Kb3b2
161. Ac5d4+ Kb2a3
162. Kd3c4 Bi5h4
163. Ad4c3 Bh4g5
164. Ac3b5+ Ka3b2
165. Ab5d4+ Kb2c1
166. Ad4c3 Bg5h6
167. Kc4d3 Bh6i5
168. Kd3e2 Bi5j4
169. Ac3d4 Bj4i3
170. Ke2d3 Bi3g5
171. Ad4e5 Bg5j2
172. Kd3c3 Bj2d8
173. Ae5g4 Bd8a5+
174. Kc3d3 Ba5d8
175. Ag4e3+ Kc1b2
176. Kd3d2 Bd8a5+
177. Kd2d1 Kb2b3
178. Ae3d5+ Kb3a3
179. Kd1c2 Ba5e1
180. Ad5e7+ Be1b4
181. Ae7c6 Bb4f8
182. Ac6d7 Bf8e7
183. Ad7b5+ Ka3b4
184. Ab5c6+ Kb4c5
185. Ac6xe7+ Kc5d4
186. Ae7g6 Kd4c4
187. Ag6h8 Kc4d5
188. Kc2d3 Kd5c5
189. Kd3e4 Kc5c6
190. Ah8d4+ Kc6d7
191. Ad4f5+ Kd7e8
192. Ke4d5 Ke8f7
193. Kd5e5 Kf7e8
194. Ke5e6 Ke8f8
195. Af5h6+ Kf8e8
196. Ke6d6 Ke8d8
197. Ah6g7 Kd8c8
198. Kd6c6 Kc8b8
199. Kc6b6 Kb8a8
200. Ag7e6 Ka8b8
201. Kb6a6 Kb8a8
202. Ae6c7#

If you review that list, you will see almost all of them were Danoschek aliases.

The only others that were banned used the term "prick" in this board. Perhaps you are not 100% aware of what this word means Filip.

Anyone who called another person this named was banned.

I will not be visiting this board again.

I would like to know if you intend you renew your Gothic Chess license for 2004. There are a few months left on your one year "exclusive" licensing. Perhaps you should contact me privately.

I agree with Steve, but since he cannot refrain from his "name calling" I cannot allow him to post without apologizing and promising to not resort to it in the future.

However, there are at least 3 Gothic Chess programs that are out there now.

Gothic Chess Program Matches

You can click the link above and see how they are doing against one another. Gothic Vortex seems to be the early leader, but TSCP Gothic is making very rapid strides and is clearly the second strongest.

I am not sure the engine would do well against the top players. At extended time controls (days per move) programs are always at a severe disadvantage. Strategy, implemented correctly, is well beyond the tactical range of the computer.

Recall the famous "postal" chess game between Mike Valvo and Deep Thought. Even though it could reach a depth of 33 plies, Deep Thought lost to Valvo, and Valvo even sacrificed a piece!

The opening book I have put into Vortex could get less experienced players in trouble. These players would also most likely lose by missing tactical shots the program would find.

But players like ChessCarpenter, rabbitoid, nstre, JuanGrande, and MatthewHall would probably be able to score wins.

Glad you like it.

By the way, if you play it on some of the other levels, like Amateur, Novice, etc., it will turn off some of its knowledge, not just search less deeply. It will turn off the "king safety" code, so it could castle directly into an attack. On some of the higher settings, it will not know how to spot pawn races in the ending that win, so you can outdo it at a later stage.

A part of the challenge was to make it play LESS STRONG without making it play "stupid", and I think we achieved that goal as well.

If you have any interesting games, feel free to use the save as text feature and post them here.

You might want to take a quick peek at this "hidden" link...

There are some ideas there but what you are talking about is the Colanzi Variation of the Philadelphia Opening.

openings


1. Nh3 d6 2. i3 Nh6 3. Bi2 Nc6 4. f3

Standard Lines
4...e5 5. Af2 Ae7 6. 0-0
4...e5 5. Af2 Ae7 6. 0-0 g6 7. Nc3 f5
Colanzi Variation 1
1. Nh3 d6 2. i3 Nh6 3. Bi2 Nc6 4. e3 e5 5. c3 g6 6. Ae2
Colanzi Variation 2
1. Nh3 d6 2. i3 Nh6 3. Bi2 Nc6 4. e3 e5 5. c3 g6 6. Ae2 Bg7 7. 0-0 Af6

What you have to watch out for after 1. i3 is 1...d5 and now the Bishop on c8 is hitting on your Rook. You have to decide if 2. Bi2 Bxi2 3. Axi2 is for you, or 2. Nh3.

There are more Gothic Chess programs being developed now from around the world. I played one team from The Netherlands (also known as Holland) and one programmer from Germany has some interesting ideas for piece values.

You can see the sparring between the programs online at...

Gothic Chess Matches if you are interested.

A respectable game with a very entertaining finish. Nicely played, and very well annotated Rob!

The Gothic Vortex program will be released this evening for anyone who wants to try it out free for 30 days.

Click here to check out the program.

All who download it, let me know what you think.

You are forgetting the Archmoderator functions, of course, Glenda , I mean Connor, I mean Steve R. While you log on from both your work location and your home, you sometimes access the multiple accounts from both locations.

Odd that the accounts will each be accessed from two different computers and locations by all of you.

I know, "friends" at work shares your machine, and they follow you home and play on BrainKing as well.

Conor, just take a look at the text in "your" postings and Steve R's posting. You are both the same person.

Round 1 starts in just 9 days.

CLICK HERE to sign up for this tournament.

Good luck to Steve R playing in his first Gothic Chess event. I wonder why hokuriku has not joined yet. Are the players too strong for him?

Round 1 starts in just 9 days.

CLICK HERE to sign up for this tournament.

Good luck to Steve R playing in his first Gothic Chess event. I wonder why hokuriku has not joined yet. Are the players too strong for him?