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You may still play chess in the same fashion as Staunton chess on this Gothic Life Board. These Gothic rules may be the reason for the authorities of the past condemnation of the game. (See epilog)gavel.GIF (10817 bytes)

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Outflanking an opponent was considered unethical,so was not included in two dimensional chess. The ethics of Gothic Chess is based on understanding deception, by the use of an elongated board which more closely resembles a battle field. Many typical battles in the real word do have a flank, which needs defending and is of use to develop forward motives. By advancing both home ranking files from one and two up to rank two and three the first rank is left empty creating a flank, that is used by both forces, to further implement attack and defense protocols. The games rules, remain the same with the exception of having a pawns first move limited to only one. Between Hope and pain their is always a healthy hunger for new challenges.

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Patience comes easy to the lazy. It is an unwritten rule that those who take too long deciding their next move are not playing by fair or ethical habit. stopwatch.gif (3816 bytes)In real world conflicts, the timing of things are not within the control of the combatants, but rather are components to adapt to. If the pressure is on, time can not be stretched to suit your convenience! A true king rules with confidence and is a master of time, after all, it is the greatest illusion.

To Resurrect a Queen or other game piece, the flank file or end board is still the destination for pawns, but now can be reached in only 5 forward movements.

The epilog documents one of the earliest form of chess known as Chaturanga. Those primitive rules may also be adapted to this game for variety and a closer look at your past!  There are older books than Gothic Chess that have mentioned the Dragon. The I Ching Book of Changes for example is a fortune telling game. Predictions are primary building blocks that are tangibly related to the past. During the time Gothic Chess was written, these predictions were it's foundation .

 

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