> The biggest problem I have with chess is that I want to customize it. I mean more than the pieces - I like to change the rules around.

I think changing the way the pieces move and the basic idea of "land on a piece to take it" would take the heart out of the game. But beyond that, I can see where there are quite an array of possibilities. Play it like Stratego, where you can arrange the sixteen pieces any way you like in your two back ranks. I'd like to have a piece that you don't start out with, but which you can obtain should you make it to the end with a pawn -- like a dragon, which can move to any square in a two square radius. That'd make for a VERY quick game afterwards, I guess, so maybe it could just move like a queen and a knight.

Then there's Giveaway Chess, which I like and can actually beat my brother at, though it's getting harder. That's where the object is to lose all your pieces. If your opponent can take a piece at all, he must, and the king is treated like any other piece you must sacrifice.

> I think if you're going to do a RinkWorks chess feature, a neat thing to do would be alternate ways of playing the game.

Well, I'll tell you right up front there won't actually be a playable chess game. I don't know anything about the algorithms that would allow the computer to play fast and effectively. If I learned one, plus an extensive opening book, then maybe. I was thinking of something based on the game, not the game itself. Of course I could just *list* the rules to a bunch of variations on the game -- no problem there.