Atomic Chess was granted a French Patent in 1949. It was intended that it
would be played on a board of 12x12 and that the pawn would become an
Atomic bomb instead of promoting to queen upon reaching the eighth rank.
The king can be captured/destroyed in which case the next most valuable
piece becomes the 'king'. Two additional pieces were intended to be
used
- tanks and aircraft! The aim of the game was to eliminate all the
opponents pieces.