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Cartaphilus certainly has earned his laurels, beating many players as he overtook
the #1 rating from GothicInventor recently. But these two titans, with very different
playing styles, have never completed an online game due to interruptions in server availability
or other technical problems. In playing Mattolin in prior weeks, Cartaphilus disclosed
that he learned of a new, very interesting opening named Trice's Gambit. But, Cartaphilus is
"so new" that he was unaware that GothicInventor is Ed Trice! So, as black, Cartaphilus
plays this line against its inventor, and we have a fantastic battle as a result! Black accepts the gambit
with 2...Axc4 then offers his own brand of play: 3...c6 and the counter-gambit 5...g5?! which leads to wild
attacks. For example, Trice plays 9. Bxi7 with his Queen hanging on d1, then allows his Knight to hang on move 17
as well. This is all bait to spring a trap that surrounds black's King. Note that the only legal moves for
black on moves 20 and 21 are pawn captures made by the Queen, which is then taken off the board as the mating
net is dropped. This game is a must watch!
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ChessCarpenter and GothicInventor have been sparring partners since January of 2001.
The "old fossils" of Gothic Chess have played an innumerable number of openings, and in this game
GothicInventor prepares a highly irregular reply that catches his long-tim opponent off guard.
After 1. e4 Cd6?! white pushes with 2. e5, and the entertainment begins. A blitz game played on a Friday
night after a few beers, we hope this game is worth the price of admission.
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This was the first game between two provisional experts (rated 2000+) on the
GothicChessLive.com server. Both players
made aggressive overtures, but the very sharp play of Cartaphilus is quite impressive.
As early as move 4, black asserts himself and sets the tempo for the rest of the game.
LJLMETAL plays a solid opening, but black just makes move after moving gunning for
the King. Even retreating moves are setup to issue x-ray threats against stronger pieces.
The long cascade of captures following the combination beginning with 15...Qxh3+ just
keep flowing right through to the end of the game. Cartaphilus becomes the first
player to break 2100 with this excellent performance.
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Caissus is an experienced Gothic Chess player from Germany. He has played
many games on the old BrainKing.com website where turn-based Gothic Chess was played
for roughly three years (2003-2005). In blitz play, however, the unorthodox play of Cartaphilus
takes even the veteran players by surprise. Getting in too deep with his Chancellor, Caissus
resigns on move 15, as black has ...Bxh3+, Bxh3 Qxh3+, winning a piece next.
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Another gem from GothicChessLive.com featuring two of the
players near the top of the rating list. In this game, Cartaphilus
again creates an attack from seemingly out of nowhere with startling sacrifices. The shocking 7. Nxh7+!
must have been quite a surprise for Twirling_Fern, who is known for his steady and careful play.
We see white uncork another shot with 16. Bxh6! at a moment where it appears black has set up a position
to discourage such a move. This precipitates a landslide of exchanges, leaving white with 4 connected passed
pawns on the kingside, a virtual impossibility in regular 8x8 chess. Just when
the game seems to have reached a tranquil stage, 30. Nxd5! is sprung, exchanging the Knight for 3 pawns +
more initiative + a Knight which can be taken leisurely! It is extremely rare for a combination to allow for a choice
of coup de grace at the very end of the sequence, and herein we note that 33. Qxe7+ was not an oversight
(the Queen could have removed the Knight with Qxa6) since the follow-up, 34. Qd6!, very subtlely exhausts all safe
havens for the Knight anyway. A remarkable game.
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In this game from GothicChessLive.com Cartaphilus shows his fearless
approach to the game. Willing to try just about any move at any time, he has been described as "a loose cannon" when
he plays. Here some unlikely pawn pushes and quirky Chancellor deployments mask some misdirection, and GreenKnight
is caught in two different deadly skewers by the same Bishop. A fast game with lots of action.
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Here is an interesting game played on GothicChessLive.com where
white offered material odds at the start of the game. This was played at blitz time controls of Game in 12 minutes
with a 12 second increment per move, at the request of black. The game features white castling on move 4, something
you cannot do otherwise in Gothic Chess (the removed Archbishop allows this to happen one move sooner than usual.)
Black intends to play against the j2 square by trading the c8 Bishop for the h3 Knight, then stacking up the
Queen-Archbishop-Bishop all on the same diagonal (d8-e7-f6...j2). Black is poised to make quick work of the game,
and white, almost suicidally, opens the e-file, for the half-threat of getting the castled Rook to hit against the
Archbishop on e7 and Chancellor on e8. Mattolin dodges this easily with 11...Cg7 then 12...Ag6, bringing these pieces
ever closer to the enemy King. Trice tries to play passively after Mattolin castles, but 17...g4!? breaks things open
and the attack begins. With 23...Nxg2+!? we see black again acting very aggressively, forcing most of white's play.
Trice counters with the only means at his disposal, short range tactics to accumulate pawns, while the strongest majors
are exchanged. After 25...Axg3, black looks to be winning, as ...Ah2 would be mate if the white Rook could be pulled off of the
second rank. With some keen play with Rooks in the open files, and some excellent coordination with his very active knight,
white creates his only tangible threats of the game. Mattolin goes counter-pawn-hunting with the Archbishop, stranding it
in the a-file, far from the white King. The checkmate that is delivered with Bishop, Rook, and Knight almost
looks like a subtle composition of an endgame problem composer.
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Another game showcasing the unfathomable depth of Gothic Chess. We see long-time, veteran
opponents GothicInventor (Ed Trice) and Andreas (Andreas Kaufmann) squaring off,
each trying something new, in an attempt to destabilize the other player's game. White castles
quickly, and makes the first claim for activity with 9. Ne4 repelling black slightly. Aftwe 12. b4
and 13. c4, one would sense that GothicInventor has at least a slight spatial advantage
on the queenside with the most comfortable king position. Kaufmann patiently baits white into
grabbing more, and with Bxi7 Ri8, the momentum transfer has begun. The open i-file becomes the
key to the attack issued by Andreas, but where exactly is the game won for black? After
Cf3+ Ke8 many players would still prefer to be with the white army, but by the time ...Kd7 is made,
the common consensus leads even the steadfast to defect to black's camp. Nxd6? or maybe even Cf7?
may be white's ultimate undoing, but look at the subtle play by Andreas in moves to come,
exploiting the cumulative effect of the positional advantages. ...gxh4!! is particularly strong
for reasons subtle and deep, and ...Rxi2!! is a master stroke that places a final nail in white's coffin.
GothicInventor can only toss cheap traps at black, such as Nh3?! and Qi7?! Andreas continues
to play a solid endgame in this 10 minute blitz gem, and with 10 seconds of accumulated time per move,
white has no chance to exhaust black's clock. An excellent strategic game by Andreas.
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The most exciting game of the last correspondence match between Trice and Kaufmann on the
BrainKing.com website. After having just lost the previous game to Kaufmann, Trice goes to extreme lengths to complicate
play. Passively sacrificing his queen on move 15 by allowing a Knight fork, white elects to play a move that appears to be
a blunder at first glance. Kaufmann does not take the bait, and fortifies his own king safety first. Then Trice unleashes
the surprising 17. Ni5 !?! which parks his Knight in front of two pawns, each of which can take it, all while his Queen is
still capturable by Kaufmann's Knight. Black does take the Queen, and Trice gets only a pawn for it, at first. The remainder
of the game features a slow, steady attack against Black's king, reminiscent of the kind of play seen in
Anderssen-Kieseritsky, London 1851, but without the pretty checkmate at the end.
It should be noted that the sacrifice is very like the dashing play we have observed by Mikhail Tal, it is very aggressive,
but possibly incorrect against the most deadly accurate defensive countermeasures. But, the play is so complex, the defender
is faced with a nearly impossible task of finding his way. A very instructive game that is well worth watching.
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Kaufmann wins game 3 of the match in great style. He gets the first win against
Ed Trice's undefeated streak of 149 games
(146 wins with only 3 draws). Kaufmann exploits a strategical miscue made by black as early as move 5, and
was able to slowly accumulate pressure by expanding in the center throughout the opening and early stages
of the middlegame. Of particular interest is how white castles into a comfortable position with a space
advantage, while black castles four moves later into a position where the initiative has already been handed
to the opponent. Trice constructs what appears to be an excellent defensive fortress after 18...Bxh6 is played,
but with 21. g4, Kaufmann throws down the gauntlet and indicates the kingside attack is coming. The last chance
for a draw was disposed at 29...Qb5?, as Kaufmann finds a spectacular sacrifice of the Chancellor on move 35 which
brings the game to a grinding halt. An excellent example of how sound strategic play can lead to stunning tactical
displays at a game's end.
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Game 2 of the match features a battle-weary Trice seeking to end things quickly after
Kaufmann played a grueling game previously. Trice played an uncharacteristic f4 pawn push
on move 5, an oddity for him. Kaufmann played solid, defensive moves, and actually castled
earlier than his opponent. But as early as 12. Ng5!, white started to dictate the course of play.
The Knight sac with 15. Ni6+!! is worthy of a second look, as it sets up a Chancellor's Vortex
which Kaufmann correctly returns material to diffuse. Just when it looks like Trice's Chancellor
has gottten in too deep and might get picked off, the game is crowned with an
unexpected Queen sacrifice on move 21. In the final position, if Black takes the Queen with
21...gxh5 then the white Chancellor mates with 22. Ch8#.
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The first game of a match to be awarded to the first player with 3 wins. Both players scored
a perfect 6-0 in their seven player sections to get paired as the finalists in this match.
In this game, Kaufmann opens in a traditional manner with 1. Nh3 and 2. g3, opting to play
for the broad pawn center with 3. e4 4. Nc3 5. d3 and 6. f3 while Black overprotected the dark
squares with a pawn chain on h6 and g5, depolying the Archbishop to i6 and the Knight to j6 in
an unorthodox fashion. Black is first to go on the attack with a speculative volley against the
g4/h3/f3 region, and executed a tactic aimed at the protracted recovery of the pawn launched with 8...g4.
The Black Archbishop and Chancellor get involved early, perhaps too prematurely, as white dispenses of
two pawns, but gets the much better game. From 22. Bg1! through 30. Bh4 Kaufmann is attacking at will,
pushing around the Black Chancellor and coordinating his attack in parallel while Trice makes a
disorganized retreat. With a surprising series of four consecutive pawn pushes from
31...h5!? to 34...j4, Trice finally experiences a much need transition of momentum. Kaufmann still
takes aim at the vulnerable Chancellor, curiously persecuted since the absence of the two white pawns
actually hurts black. With a tragic miscue of move 40, the game is functionally handed to black,
although a great attacking burst by white almost wrests control once again. A fantastic struggle,
well worth the price of admission.
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An email game, played at one move per day, from the formative years of Gothic Chess.
Streetman, a California native and general chess afficianado, was a frequent sparring
partner of Trice from 2001-2003. In this game, we see a curious case where black's Bishop
is en prise for a few moves. Taking it at any point would spring a tactical response
favorable to black. Another interesting aspect of the game is Trice sacrificing his Queen
for Streetman's Archbishop, all for some minute positional compensation. Later, Streetman
realizes he must do the same, or face graver dangers. After some simplification, Streetman
dangles some bait which looks to be a trap for black's Chancellor. Allowing a Rook to be taken,
Streetmen surrounds the Chancellor on j1 and tries to win it. But Trice has seen the way out
by applying pressure to the monarch in flight, causing Streetman to slip, allowing the Chancellor
to escape. This is a "different kind of game" than you may be used to seeing, and it demonstrates
there are many ways to paint the strategic landscape in Gothic Chess.
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In the very early days, we were known as the Gothic Chess Association. Our first live website was
rather unattractive, and not without its share of bugs. Ed Trice was 19-0 before Rob Colanzi won
this game with some excellent strategic manuevering. Later, Ed commented that he would "...never play
the Chancellor to c7 again..." as a first move of it with the black pieces. Indeed, in this game
it was of little value on the queenside of the board as Colanzi makes slow, steady progress, accumulating
pressure on the kingside. Rob intelligently thins out black's defensive resources, then begins a long
manuevering sequence starting with Ah1. With ...Rhe8 Trice pushes the Rook too far, allowing white
to gain control of the f-file, which is "inside" the realm of the black defenses, and closer to the King.
Rob sacrifices the "Gothic Exchange" of Chancellor for Archbishop on move 25 to seize the open f-file,
and begin the final assault. An excellent demonstration of "sticking to a strategy" in order to get
the desired result
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This game was played in the Washington, D.C. cafeteria of the Morgan, Lewis, & Bockius law office.
IM Larry Kaufmann, at the time rated about 50th on the United States Chess Federation list, was an
early Gothic Chess enthusiast. In his first game with Ed Trice, he demonstrates that keen tactical
calculation skills are transportable to the new game. Ed launches an incredbly aggressive (and wreckless)
attack, sacrificing his Queen for a Pawn. Trice believed there was a mate with Archbishop and Chancellor,
but Kaufmann was able to negotiate the landmines and exhaust the attack. After the fireworks and
long sequences of exchanges, white was up a Knight for a Pawn in the endgame. Trice races to try and promote
a pawn, by Kaufmann has the game under control.
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