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George, on the Black Ghost, I'm afraid I have to out-conservative you on
this one. I have specific criteria I judge games on, and both mode of
movement/capture and 'feel' of game are very important to me. To me,
Black Ghost, in any variation, fails on both counts, as a next chess. I
truly feel that one of the key features of *chess* is that all pieces
capture, by replacement, the way they move. That is a very basic part of
the 'feel' of the game. Play any of the Ultima family of variants, and
you get a different feel. Maybe this expresses it a little: chess is a war
game, Ultima isn't. Chess is a power game, Ultima is an influence game, if
you will. 

This is not to say that the idea or the game is bad. It's just that I
think the discussion should lean very strongly toward rock-hard hidebound
conservatism. I'm assuming, for this argument, that orthochess players
are terrified of change, afraid of new pieces, and unwilling to think
outside the board. While this may not be a totally fair characterization
of the people, the consensus here seems to be that it is a fair
characterization of the general attitude. Fergus is quite right when he
talks of 'baby steps' to change. And maybe 1 in 100 might take that baby
step. I look at this discussion as finding those people a comfortable place
to land after a wobbly baby step or two.