Gothic chess

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Gothic Chess, starting position

Gothic Chess is a commercial chess variant, invented by Ed Trice and patented in 2002. It is played on a 10x8 board with two additional pawns per side and two new pieces: the chancellor and the archbishop.

The chancellor moves as both a rook and a knight.
The archbishop moves as both a bishop and a knight.

All other rules, like en passant capture or castling, are the same or similar to Chess.

This variant is considered an improvement over Capablanca Chess by its inventor. Some of the reasons include:

All of the pawns being defended in the opening array.
The four leftmost files and the three rightmost files are identical to chess, thus preserving many familiar patterns and motifs found in ordinary Chess.

A further analysis of how Gothic Chess evolved from Capablanca Chess can be found here: [1]

The are three ways that you can play Gothic Chess: with a [2] set (boards and pieces), against a free [3] program, and over the [4] internet against other players.

1 Values of the Pieces
2 Openings
3 Middlegame
4 Endgames
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Values of the Pieces

Pieces have, in estimated average, the following values in Gothic Chess (see "What Are The Pieces Worth?"):

Pawn: 1.00
Knight: 2.50
Bishop: 3.00
Rook: 4.75
Archbishop: 6.50
Chancellor: 8.25
Queen: 8.75

[edit] Openings

Trice Gambit. White sacrifices a pawn to get a quicker development.

In regular Chess, the way in which games start out is loosely referred to as "opening theory". Chess openings are typically named after the founder of the most recent innovative play, the country of the early patrons of issuance or by the features of the position.

In Gothic Chess, the scope of play in the opening is much more expansive than in regular Chess. For example, the total number of possible Gothic Chess games after four moves for white, and four replies for black, is 1,509,030,960,338. In Chess, this total is only 84,998,978,956. The total for Gothic Chess is approximately 17.75 times as large as for the Chess counterpart.

This has functionally thwarted a rapid development of opening theory but many common tabiyas do occur in play. Currently, the most tactically ornate opening is known as Trice's gambit (1. c4 f5 2. Nc3 Axc4) where the white c-pawn is offered up in exchange for getting counterplay by attacking the black archbishop.

To better appreciate all of the tactical implications of one such game featuring this opening, you can replay it here one move at a time. A more recent example game with this opening can be seen here.

There are some other openings in Gothic Chess that have been named so far. These are: the Colanzi Opening, the Quagga, the Philadelphia Opening, and an offshoot known as the Bavarian Attack.

Typically, in Gothic Chess, knights can be naturally developed to the third rank and toward the center of the board. Pawn pushes can open up lines for bishops, and bishops may also be developed via fianchetto. As in Chess, it is common practice to develop the minor pieces before developing the major pieces.

Unlike in ordinary Chess, center pawn pushes (especially the E pawn) must be treated with care to avoid exposing the king too much. The opening strategy of "controlling the center" takes on a different feel because of this dynamic.

[edit] Middlegame

The principles of chess middlegame play apply in Gothic Chess. However, because there is more material than in regular Chess and because of increased attacking possibilities, most theorists conclude that having a material advantage per se is less important in Gothic Chess. Concordantly, king safety and piece activity rise in relative importance, which makes the game more dynamic.

Arguably, there are more opportunities to sacrifice material to gain a positional advantage or to expose the enemy king. For example, in this game, two minor pieces are exchanged for two pawns which later results in a win for white [5]

In addition, the game is more tactically complex than chess.

[edit] Endgames

The principles of chess endgame apply in Gothic Chess. With the two new pieces, interesting positions arise in the practice, such as chancellor vs. chancellor with several pawns each or archbishop and pawns vs. queen and pawns. These endgames are somewhat similar to queen and pawn endgames, where the dominant theme is for the strong side to avoid perpetual check and achieve a pawn promotion.

Endgames with 5 or fewer pieces have been completely analyzed by a computer. Here are some of the more interesting positions (see more details here):