Having looked at USP 5,690,334, and noting that it claims 'A method of
playing an expanded chess-like game ... comprising the steps of ...,' I
have to ask, what is it that the inventor thinks he has actually patented?
It seems that, the 'method of playing ... a chess-like game' having been
patented, the activity which infringes the patent is the playing of a
chess-like game according to that method: i.e., that anyone who plays
Falcon Chess infringes the patent!
While it is true that many chess-variants are invented to be admired more
than played, rarely is this design goal backed up with legal force.