Gothic Chess
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| Gothic Chess, starting position | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Gothic Chess is a commercial chess variant derived from Capablanca Chess, invented by Ed Trice.[1] It is played on a 10×8 board with two additional pawns per side and two fairy chess pieces:
a chancellor that moves as both a rook and a knight;
an archbishop that moves as both a bishop and a knight.
All standard chess rules are observed, including en passant capture and castling, but with the King moving three squares horizontally, when castling, instead of the usual two in standard chess. Gothic Chess has the following features:
- All of the pawns are defended in the starting position.
- There is a horizontal symmetry across the board regarding the pieces that have diagonal movements.
- The pieces on the four westernmost files and the three easternmost files are identical to chess, thus preserving many familiar patterns and motifs.
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[edit] Values of the pieces
Ed Trice, the game's inventor, has published values for each piece in the game in the ICGA Journal (included in the publication were values derived by Reinhard Scharnagl )
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Piece Trice[1] Scharnagl[1] Kaufmann Pawn 1.00 1.00 1.00 Knight 2.50 3.00 3.00 Bishop 3.00 3.75 3.50 Rook 4.75 5.75 5.50 Archbishop 6.50 7.00 8.00 Chancellor 8.25 9.00 9.50 Queen 8.75 9.50 10.50
[edit] Openings
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| Trice's Gambit. White sacrifices a pawn to get a quicker development after 1. c4 f5 2. Nc3!? Axc4. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In regular chess, the way in which games start out is loosely referred to as opening theory. Chess openings are typically named after their founder, the country of their origin, or by the features of the position.
In Gothic Chess, due to the increased number of pieces, the number of possible board positions increases at a rate greater 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 1.5×1012.[2] In chess, this total is only 8.5×1010.[3]
This has hindered the development of opening theory in Gothic Chess, but many common tabiyas do occur. There are some openings in Gothic Chess that have been named so far. These are: Trice's Gambit, the Colanzi Opening, the Quagga, and the Philadelphia Opening.[4][verification needed]
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.[5][verification needed] 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.
[edit] Endgames
The principles of chess endgame apply in Gothic Chess. With the two new pieces, several new endgame positions arise, 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 five or fewer pieces for all Capablanca Chess variants similar to Gothic Chess have been completely analyzed by a computer.[6]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b c 80-Square Chess, E. Trice in ICGA Journal Vol. 27, No. 2 - June 2004, p. 81–96.
- ^ Ed Trice. Number of games of Gothic Chess after n plies plus number of games that terminate (i.e. mate) in fewer than n plies. The On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences.
- ^ Albert Bertilson. Perft calculation.
- ^ "Gothic Chess Review", Fall 2003
- ^ "Gothic Chess Review", Winter 2004
- ^ Gothic Chess Javascript Endgames
