Jose Carrillo wrote on Wed, Aug 20, 2008 01:20 AM UTC:
Rich,
I'll respond to your comments in the opposite order.
>> 2. I personally would rather not have a big X through the forts on the board.
The X's are actually 4 strips of vynil, and are just laid on top of the board in the shape of the X's, and are not glued or otherwise permanently stuck on the board.
>> 1. I believe Seirawan and Harper forbid their pieces being used for any other purposes but Seirawan chess.
I'll let the other comments in progress address this. They have hit the mark and are on the right track.