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Where is it?

I heard some things about the game inventor I hope are not true. He had a heart attack. Someone proved somebody else invented his variant. He shot somebody who tried to steal his car. Does anyone know what happened?

Bihasa vs Gothic Vortex on February 21, 2023

There's still time to sign up! GreenChess.net will be hosting a $200-per-win round robin tournament for Trice's Chess in October! Sign up at https://discord.com/channels/648246113261846578/1154518361712103564 Hurry though, there are only a few days left to join the tournament!

Here we have an interesting game featuring some surprising tactics. Not because the tactics are “long range” - because they’re short range with occasional intermezzos with subtle, quiet moves that are profound. They are also not commonplace nor are they typical: we see a creative mind at work playing with the black pieces.

I have been playing Upside-down Chess for years at https://greenchess.net/rules.php?v=upside-down. I also have been playing Trice's Chess (formerly Gothic Chess) at https://greenchess.net/rules.php?v=gothic Now I have played the first-ever game of Upside-down Trice's Chess via the free diagram tool at https://gothicchess.info/boardpainter/gcboardpainter/ - watch the movie below!

https://www.chess.com/variants/gothic-chess/game/22662987/39/1 - link to the gameMy game was chosen as the winner for this week. I was asked to annotate my game. I am white and Ed Trice is black.N = KnightB = BishopR = RookA = ArchbishopC = ChancellorQ = Queen1. h4!?This is an interesting move inspired off of the Bird Opening and the Dutch Defense from regular chess. When white castles kingside, the rook will be supporting advancement of the pawn from h1 and can also rook lift via h3.1. …d5 2. Nh3?! e5!White has not grabbed any center space, so black might as well take the center. Maybe better for white was 2. d4! to control the e5 square.3. f3This move is potentially passive in the sense that it hardly grabs space in the center, but it also opens up the g1-a7 diagonal for the white archbishop and potentially supports e2-e4 or g2-g4.3. …d4!?This move is potentially weakening to the e4 square. Black most likely does not want to commit pawns in the center early. For example, instead of d5-d4, black might have wanted to break with e5-e4. White also now has a better grip on the e4 square. The benefit to this move is that it disallows the b1 knight the c3 square. Black might be able to get away with 3. …Qxh4, but a safe and better option might have been a normal development move like 3. …Nc6.4. Af2This is a good move in multiple ways. It develops the archbishop, gets white a step closer to short castling, and takes control of the center, which in turn limits black’s pawn mobility. It is not going to be as easy for black to get e5-e4. This also protects the hanging pawn on h4.4. …f5?!This move does not develop a piece and the center potentially becomes brittle. White now has to choose how to break at the center; either g2-g4 or e2-e4.5. g4!White has to stake a claim in the center of the board. This move takes back space in the center of the board and gives room for the bishop on h1. White might play moves like Bg2 and O-O soon.5. …f4?!White now has light squared domination in the center and can easily destroy black’s center with e2-e3 at any moment. The good thing about this move, however, is that black has a good grip on the g3 square.6. g3?White already starts going wrong. Placing the bishop on i2 is a loss of time compared to placing the bishop on g2. How the good the bishop even is on i2 is debatable. In Gothic Chess, the bishops are already on long diagonals at the start, so playing i3 and Bi2 isn’t very necessary in most scenarios.6. …Nh6Potentially going for Nh6-Ni4-Ng3 and developing a piece7. Bi2?Allowing black 7. …Ni4 and 8. …Ng3, almost ruining white’s position. 7. …Ni4 8. Cg2Preparing to sacrifice the archbishop for the knight and a pawn after …Ng3. The knight on g3 will be extremely annoying and worth a lot more than an average knight8. …Ng3+ 9. Axg3 fxg3 10. Cxg3 e5!Sacrificing a pawn to open up the position and opening the i1-b8 diagonal just in case white decides to castle short early.11. O-O Qd6Taking advantage of the newly open i1-b8 diagonal. The chancellor is now pinned and en prise. 12. Qg1Defending the chancellor.12. …g6!Not only does it release the black’s dark squared bishop, but it potentially has the idea of Be5 winning the chancellor and the game. Perhaps not yet because of f3-f4.13. Kj1A safe move getting out of the pin on the i1-b8 diagonal.13. …Bg7A safe development move. The bishop is not a target on g7 Black will now move the archbishop out of the way and castle short. Note that 13. …Be5 runs into 14. e4! with complications.14. exd5This move takes a pawn back but allowing black to castling their king and get settled14. …Af6 15. d3White is lining up attacks towards i7 with the bishop. White might also try to play Bf4 to gain a tempo on the queen15. …O-O 16. Ci4Now the bishop on c1 and the chancellor both line up towards i7. White is threatening 17. Cxi7+ Kj8 18. Ci6#, illustrating the beauty and power of the chancellor.16. …Cg8The chancellor defends the king very well from this position. It guards the h6 and i7 squares from a distance.17. Bf4 Qb6Threatening the weak b2 pawn and saving the queen.18. Qc1!?An interesting move. The queen simultaneously defends the b2 pawn and lines up with the bishop to make a threat on i7 once again.18. …Bxg4!An amazing move. It takes the hanging pawn in the center of the board. To an unsuspecting player it seems like black has just hung the i7 pawn, as well as the game, but black has something truly brilliant planned.19. …Bxi7?? Ah5!!A brilliant defensive move by black. White surprisingly has no attack thanks to the savior chancellor on g8 defending g7 and f6. White will lose either the chancellor on i4 or bishop on g7 and the game thanks to the archbishop. For example, if white tries to continue with 20. Bj8+, black can then play Axi4 and white still has no attack because of the chancellor defending i7. White is also too underdeveloped to continue attacking.White resigns0-1