Today’s invention is a new kind of chessboard, offering a new version of chess.
There would be no squares, so that pieces would move in a more generalised, analogue way. Each piece would be able to move in the same general pattern as in old-chess.
Knights for example could move to one of four zones each centred on the 10, 2, 4,or 8 o’clock positions. Attempted movements of any piece outside their permitted range would be signalled by the board itself as invalid.
Pieces would take each other if one landed within a certain radial distance of another.
This would heighten the tension between pieces trying to dominate territory and ‘fearing’ that they might themselves be taken.
It would interesting to program a simulation of this using eg Netlogo (programming pieces to advance on the opposite king, but avoiding hotspots on a continuous heatmap consisting of the areas under most threat by opponent pieces).
With some built-in memory, perhaps the pieces would develop an ability to act together in creating, say defensive strategies.
