Gothic chess looks like yet another variation on Capablanca's idea for a new version of chess. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capablanca_chess See the bottom of the article for a list of several minor variations. The basic idea behind all of them seems to be a larger board and the addition of a couple of new pieces - one with the combined powers of Knight + Bishop, and another with the combined powers of Knight + Rook. (Too many strong pieces on the board if you ask me.)
How the "owner" of Gothic Chess was able to get a copyright on this game is beyond me. Also, I think the chance of us seeing a Fischer-Karpov match playing this game has got to be ZERO.
Originally posted by kubuntuIt sould be in Fischer's best interest to promote FischerRandom Chess.
Gothic chess looks like yet another variation on Capablanca's idea for a new version of chess. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capablanca_chess See the bottom of the article for a list of several minor variations. The basic idea behind all of them seems to be a larger board and the addition of a couple of new pieces - one with the combined powers of Knig ...[text shortened]... I think the chance of us seeing a Fischer-Karpov match playing this game has got to be ZERO.
I've never played gothic chess; I have enough trouble with regular chess. :-) But I think there's a decent chance that the Fischer/Karpov gothic chess match may take place. $10 million for the winner and $5 million for the loser is a strong incentive for the two to play the match. (It appears that Fischer has less than $3 million in his Swiss bank account, and this would be a good chance for him to double or quadruple his assets for not much work. Don't forget, even with $2 million, the cost of living is high in Iceland.)
Yeah, Fischer has emotional problems, and he would drive the organizers crazy with his weird demands, but I think with that huge wad of money dangled in front of him, he'd end up playing like he did in 1992.
What I'm not sure about is whether the match organizers already have a signed contract with the investors. If the investors have already signed the contract, then I'd say the match will happen. If the investors haven't signed yet, then the match is less likely to be played.
From listening to Ed Trice's recent interview on Dan Heisman's ChessFM show, it sounds to me like the investors in this match aren't too knowledgeable about the chess world. The investors hope to recoup their investment (and some profit) by charging viewers to watch the match. (Sorry guys, that would mean no free viewing, I'm afraid.) If the investors haven't signed the contract yet, they could decide that Bobby's mental state isn't worth the risk, or that people might not pay good money to watch a chess variant match that almost nobody is familiar with. But if they signed the contract, then all the risk is on the investors' shoulders. The investors might end up taking a financial bath, but the players would get paid, and the match would happen.
Originally posted by Mad RookAlso, if I recall the interview correctly, Fischer has signed 2 documents stating he will play this match, while Karpov has signed 3 (presumably, the time control and other details are laid out in this 3rd document, since that is what Fischer is proported to be mulling over).
Oh, one more thing... According to Ed Trice, Karpov has already agreed, and Bobby is mulling over the acceptability of the time control.