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Chessville
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Figure 1 on the left showcases the stronger cooperation of the knight and bishop on the wider Gothic Chess board. After White's third move, the Black queen is under attack and it cannot move out of the way. Black must interpose the archbishop on g8 with 3…Ae7 to save the queen. After 4. Bxe7 Qxe7, White wins easily. On the 10x8 board, a bishop on the fifth rank has more utility than its "Lopezian" counterpart in regular chess. Supported by a knight that is developed in a normal fashion, the bishop in Gothic Chess strikes towards the interior of the board from inside the knight, rather than on the outside of the knight as is the case in the Ruy Lopez or Nimzo Indian openings. In the next miniature shown in Figure 2, Black was over-conservative in his treatment of White's queen bishop. By playing the pawn push 1…h6, White is not afforded the chance to play Bg5 as in the first game. This sets up an checkmate for which there is no counterpart in regular chess. After 1. d4 h6 2. Nh3 Nc6 white gets a rook-like deployment into the king's file with 3. Cf3?! This cannot be highly recommended in the opening phase in Gothic Chess for the same reason 1. e4 e5 2. Qh5? is shunned in regular chess. Black activated his light bishop with the pawn push 3…d5 which is quite normal, but White was able to set a deadly trap. By coiling up the knight with 4. Nf4?! White looks to be inviting Black to take a stab at the chancellor, but 4…Bg4?? is a blunder since 5. Ng6# is a smothered checkmate. Notice in Figure 2 that Black's pawn in the king's file cannot capture the knight on g6, since the chancellor is in this file, and it's rook-like component makes such a capture illegal (Black would be moving into check otherwise). These are two very different types of miniatures, and the Gothic Chess board is loaded with such stunning traps. Another example involving a surprising end to the game is shown below.
The game starts out 1. Nh3 d5 2. g3 which is already unlike any contemporary chess opening played today. This is because the equivalent white move in 8x8 chess, 1. Nf3, will cover the pawn immediately to the right of the White king. In Gothic Chess, white can push such a pawn, since the board is wider and the knight does not impede its deployment. It is hard to fault Black for taking the knight off of the board right away with 2…Bxh3, as shown in Figure 3. It appears that White has to recapture the Black bishop with a pawn, thereby disrupting the kingside pawn structure. But, as shown in Figure 4, White has 3. Axh3, which preserves the structure and gets the powerful archbishop into play. The game continues 3…Ah6? and Black has committed a grave error! Seeing the white archbishop sitting comfortably in play, our new Gothic Chess player believes he can just develop his piece in a similar fashion. It is usually very difficult to run down an archbishop since it is such a versatile piece, but with white's simple and effective 4. d4! Black has no safe squares for this piece in the open playing field. See Figure 5.
The bishop on c1 has just been released to attack the black archbishop. From h6 the archbishop is denied g4, i4, f5, g5, i5, and j4, all by the White archbishop! It must retreat back to g8, so after 4…Ag8 5. Cf3 White sets another trap, since he knows there is no light-squared bishop remaining to harass the chancellor. In this game, black miscued with 5…Nh6?? allowing the smothered archbishop checkmate 6. Ae6#. Again, surprising, since there is no equivalent in chess. Quite possibly the most spectacular miniature that I have ever witnessed is the one presented below. In this game, Black issues the thrashing without having moved a pawn! Even more incredible, White resigns in a position where no captures have occurred! As it has been stated, the problem resembles an enigma. How can you win a game without one side moving a pawn or capturing a piece? The game begins 1. d4 Nh6 2. Nh3 Nc6 and White elects to provoke Black's queen knight with 3. d5 as shown in Figure 7. Again, nothing out of the ordinary, a sort of "queenside Alekhine" if you will. Black starts the knight on its trek with 3…Ne5 and White is faced with a decision. Should he chase down the steed, or let him graze? With 4. f4 White wants to see this pony dance, but now the Big Mare has shown up to protect his sibling. 4…Cf6 pins the f-pawn, as shown in Figure 8.
With the f-pawn pinned by the rook aura of the chancellor, 5. fxe5 becomes impossible. White plays 5. Af2? to unpin the pawn, but now the Black knights are really becoming a menace after 5…Neg4! attacks the archbishop! Since this is such an odd thing to witness, it is worth another diagram. See Figure 9.
Black has the double threat of capturing the archbishop and also …Nxh2+ winning the rook. White needs to defend h2 with the archbishop, but with 6. Ag3? Nf5!! Black brings a crushing attack. The chancellor on f6 is defending the knight on f5 which is attacking the archbishop on g3 which is holding onto h2 which is stopping the deadly knight fork. So is White out of options? There is one gallant try left, and the archbishop just does not seem to want to die with 7. Ai4, still clinging onto h2 from this remote post. See Figure 11.
White covers h2 with the archbishop after 7. Ai4, but Black shifts the attack to the queenside with the deft knight move, 7…Nge3+!! winning easily. Here White resigned, and as shown in Figure 12, Black has not moved a pawn, nor has any piece been captured! White could try 8. Bxe3 but the other knight captures it with check, forking the king and queen. We have seen an interesting variety of
potent miniatures in Gothic Chess. Some of these gems featured moves
that defy normal "chess thinking". The smaller 8x8 board has
conditioned us to "filter out" certain sequences, and, as shown, some
startling checkmates are possible on the 10x8 board. There are "errors
of omission" as well as commission -- simple pawn push blunders, and drastic
exploitation of pins. Combined with the weaponry of the new pieces,
Gothic Chess turns the somewhat tame and tranquil board into a tempest in a
teacup!
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