It would be great to see Fischer play Karpov. But it's sad that he didn't play back when he was on top. Nothing he can do now would make up for the games we lost.
If the match were played now I believe Fischer would lose badly.
When Fischer played Spassky back in 1992 Spassky was completely through as a serious player, I don't think he was even in the top 100 any more.
Karpov is around #40 in the world still, although he doesn't appear in the latest ratings list because he hasn't played enough games in the last year, and can still beat almost anyone in the world on a good day.
Also, Fischer in 1992 was still under 50 years old. Now he is 63, that is very old to be playing a serious chess match.
Originally posted by AThousandYoung Here are the rules for Gothic Chess:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_chess
It's a much more complex game than chess is.
The starting position for Capablanca chess (which is what Gothic chess is derived from) seems to make more sense:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capablanca_chess
EDIT: Also a 10x10 board probably would be better, as in 10x8 you don't have a long diagonal (from one corner to the other) like you do with a board of equal even rows and columns.
Originally posted by Fat Lady If the match were played now I believe Fischer would lose badly.
When Fischer played Spassky back in 1992 Spassky was completely through as a serious player, I don't think he was even in the top 100 any more.
Karpov is around #40 in the world still, although he doesn't appear in the latest ratings list because he hasn't played enough games in the las ...[text shortened]... still under 50 years old. Now he is 63, that is very old to be playing a serious chess match.
Originally posted by lausey The starting position for Capablanca chess (which is what Gothic chess is derived from) seems to make more sense:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capablanca_chess
EDIT: Also a 10x10 board probably would be better, as in 10x8 you don't have a long diagonal (from one corner to the other) like you do with a board of equal even rows and columns.
The problem with making the board bigger is that it tends to make the knights much less valuble. I occassionally play this game (as a team game--2 vs. 2) when I'm visiting my family:
It's kind of fun, but the knights are practically worthless and the bishops rule the early game.
BTW, we generally play that opposing seated players are on the same team and the game ends when you checkmate one of your opponents. It makes for some wild, double attacks! 🙂
Originally posted by lausey The starting position for Capablanca chess (which is what Gothic chess is derived from) seems to make more sense:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capablanca_chess
EDIT: Also a 10x10 board probably would be better, as in 10x8 you don't have a long diagonal (from one corner to the other) like you do with a board of equal even rows and columns.
Once upon a time I made a 4 player chess board out of cardboard. It was a standard 8x8 with extensions for the starting positions that were 3 ranks deep; that is, it was a cross shape with each crossbar being 8 files wide and 8+3+3 = 14 ranks long.
The biggest thing that I noticed about the bigger board was that Knights and Pawns became far less powerful while Queens, Rooks and Bishops, who now controlled much more territory at any time, became very strong.
EDIT - Looks like Sloth has beat me to this point.