Gothic Chess online

The Gothic chess is also known as the Capablanca chess. The rules of Gothic chess are identical to the rules of traditional chess. The game is played on a 10x8 board with the addition of two pawns and two new figures for each side.

The new figure, Chancellor, can move as either a knight or a rook. The Archbishop moves as either a bishop or knight. Castling is carried out by the transfer of the king through two fields and not one as in chess. A pawn can be promoted to any piece, including the new ones, i.e., the Chancellor or Archbishop. Other chess rules remain in effect.

the Archbishop is the only piece that could theoretically checkmate without the aid of any other figures (It occurs if the opponent's king in the corner, and the Archbishop is two squares away diagonally from it). The figures are ranked as follows (in ascending order): a knight, a Bishop, a rook, an Archbishop, a Chancellor, and a Queen.

The Gothic chess differs from traditional chess only in the initial arrangement of the figures. In a variant of Capablanca, Archbishop is on the "C" line, and the Chancellor is on the "H" line. There is another option of arranging the Gothic chess, which is "King f1; Queen e1; Champion i1; Centaur b1; Rook a1, j1; Knight c1, h1; Bishop d1, g1; Pawn a2, b2, c2, d2, e2, f2, g2, h2, i2, j2." This option is called "the Carrera chess". It is considered to be the first chess prototype since it was invented in the early 17th century.

Along with Fischer random chess, Gothic chess is another attempt to save the game from the draw death, since, for many centuries of its existence, game theory has been explored in every way possible.