I support Walter as a moderator, I think he is the best mod this board ever had :)
And I am interested in reading about those patent things, because I dont like the fact a board game (in fact a game setup because the pieces, board, combination of both except certain starting placement were invented earlier) can be protected this way, at least in U.S.
And in last Trice's post I smell something closing to personal attacks against someone who just stated another opinion.
But I think Ed Trice would be a great candidate for U.S. presidency, may be he should try next time, he certainly has a fighting spirit and can convince other people about truth of his ideas :))

...just an opinion of some non-paying member :)

BTW I thought when a user is on ban list and wishes his posts to disappear, he could be put on hide list also and his posts will not be shown.
Or did he explicitly say he wants to remove all traces from brainking databases?

Just a little notice. I think it has no sense to suggest some workarounds here. Remember Fencer doesnt need to use BrainKing interface to delete some posts. I believe they are all in database table so he can write one simple delete loop and execute it, all within one minute. Something like delete post where user_id=3629 (E.T.) and board_id=179 (this board).
In my opinion perhaps editing and deleting posts should be done in a way allowing to track the real contents (may be it is even done that way I dont see into Fencers code :P). I mean the history of changes should be stored and instead of real deletion only some flag should be set. If such text messages history would consume after some period of time more disk space than necessary, it could be deleted after doing backups and left only in those backup databases to save space. May be the history of changes could be accessible for everyone or moderators to view by clicking at some little link near to the post to prevent situations where someone writes something rude and later edits it letting the reactions look unappropriate.

What Mr. E.T. said about "bookworms" in regular chess is very true, but I don't agree with his whole article completely.

1) It's not only about openings, middlegame strategies/tactics/patterns and endgames can be studied and learned similar way too, little difference is there is some creativity required mostly in combining and taking advantage of those patterns.
2) But I don't see any real difference in Gothic chess here. Of course what Mr. Trice wrote is always true until some chess variant becomes more popular, not many masters games are available and the area is not covered by computer programs with huge books yet. But then, some point will be reached when all this starts again.
3) There were some tries to avoid book openings, let's mention Fisher Random Chess here. But different starting positions don't give always, in fact they give almost never, the same chances for both parties. Just look at differences between Capablanca and Gothic chess starting positions, with same pieces Capablanca setup leads to huge advantage for the starting player, as Mr.Trice described on the way to his patent for Gothic Chess.

So, I don't see any real solution here. Of course, one could always play some new chess variant where such book knowledge is not present yet. But again, looking at some top rated players and their repertoire can substitute the books absence or accessibility and give you some advantage over your opponents.
But I think, when you play for fun, without looking for some breakthroughs, money and fame, you can have it even against those "bookworms" here and there, you can sometimes suprise them as their memorized repertoire cannot cover the whole area. But as I mentioned in 1), it's not only about openings... And of course, even when you lose, you can gain something good, at least you had some brain training etc.
And those looking for fame, tourney wins, money, well the only way is to study and play and study and play again if you think it's worth it and/or you really like the game.

Just my opinion.

lol, the percentage says nothing, I am pretty poor in this game and couldnt stand a chance against Mr.Trice. Anyway to avoid all computer help I chose backgammon lately :P When I am in a mood to play chess or some similar well-analyzed games with lots of possible engines to help I usually choose some really fast games (1-5 minutes per side) on some online servers or some otb competition.
I think there are some worthy opponents for E.T. (not the famous movie ;) ) like Caissus, ChessCarpenter here and its only a question of time to see his first loss here, of course in case he will continue to play here further despite his promises...

Well, what makes this board so interesting is the cast of characters :)

As an outside observer I can try to classify them.
Ed Trice - smart person but sometimes with childish way of thinking, "I am the best, you will never beat me, you are nothing compared to me, get out of my eyes; or play using my rules and be always polite" now acting as a chameleon, his fear of losses in all areas is very visible, strange and unusual
Caissus - pragmatic, smart, always acting friendly, the type of person we all are looking after
Danoschek - rarely seen, hard to decipher, seems smart but lately bound to repeat always the same type phrases, trying to irritate observers and to get them to his side, but may be its just some kind of hatred what leads his steps, may be he would like to be the best, but someone is in his way, there are some similarities with Trice person model possibly
Stevie - "let me have some fun, I like to provoke some nerds :P"
ScarletRose - long lost love? :P jk

Good there are still few notices about the game itself here and there on this board :D

Pity after developing engines like vortex will offline games turn into "my program against your program", "my computer against your computer like in chess", so some fans will seek for online competition in faster games instead.

Ugh, little feature request, this message editor is waaaay too small...

A chessboard which supports load/save of PGN format would be the most appreciated one ;)
Usable to review some interesting games offline,
unharassed by server lags.

Of course its a circle, or vortex :P, higher level, more players, more sets sold, more federation members, more incomes etc. Of course now there are some investitions too.
But its not only a business plan, I believe, like your stories about visiting clubs show, you really like the game, as you found something where your talents show. Or perhaps you want to be famous and known to next generations as the inventor/starting setup modifier of a great game and a great player :)

I am looking for some chessboard (for windows)
for gothic chess, as its sometimes better to check some variations on the board instead by memory. I see Zillions of games board mentioned but couldnt find it until now. There is Gothic evolution chess, but if the piece functions change after taking a piece, its not quite the same. And there are also lots of other variants like Capablanca chess, but to avoid of checking and downloading all possible files I am asking here. I need just a chessboard, without engine.
Ed, I see you were using some boards prior to Gothic Vortex, as your screenshots show. But you aint willing to share it, are you? Hope not only business plans with wooden boards and Gothic Vortex are important for you but also overall progress of players strength in the world :P
Just dont be mad on me if something sounds somehow offensive, its not thought that way :)

OK Ed, I believe you are the best, but dont occassionally other players deserve to have their
game promoted? :) I am just a mere beginner, but perhaps you could search a way other people can send some candidates, and perhaps some prize awarded to participants of chosen game to encourage players create artworks :))Even in such cases like you present here your opponents would deserve at least whipping-boy prize ;)
Read this with a bit of sense for humor :P