I like the idea of a contest, though I can only come up with ideas for about half the themes. How about a category for 'Contest Entries That Never Materialized' - either the game or the contest never materialized, but now you've got this game... I, too, have a 45-square entry, and a 64 square version that I re-worked it into when I realized there was no 45-square contest, and it languishes, maybe justifiably.
Thomas, the game you are suggesting sounds very much like Dada, by Abdul-Rahman Sibahi.
JCRuhf, Jeremy Good has 1 cupid piece in a game; it moves in a heart-shaped pattern, I believe. I'd like to suggest another. This cupid would prevent any adjacent pieces from making a capturing move, but not a non-capturing move away from cupid's influence. This piece should probably have a generous movement capability, at least that of a queen, maybe an amazon or zig-zag general. One version might be unkillable; it can only be banished by capture. A captured cupid would then be returned to the owner to be dropped on any subsequent move.