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at a certain point with large boards and many pieces, a variant should probably have multiple moves per side at a time, instead of 1 move per side...(Andy)

Double-move variants might be quite functional, at least if the double-move is constituted by a pawn move followed by a piece move. I've implemented this on an 8x8 board with regular pieces. This idea should be applicable on big boards, and with other pieces, too. There exist two variants of Twinmove Chess (zrf). In one variant pawn moves are compelled, until there exist no more pawn moves, when the pieces can continue moving without being preceded by a pawn move. In the other variant the player may abstain from the pawn move, and instead move a piece, but then he has lost his double-move.

Incidentally, I am amazed how relatively easy it is to create fully practicable chess variants. I didn't know this before. This occupation can be viewed almost as an art form. I now better understand why there exist chess variant societies, chess variant journals, and this very site. Actually, it reminds me of medieval alchemy, an activity that mixed rational 'scientific' content with imaginative creations. It is something about this mixture which is quite compelling. -- Mats