Lance, again you have given me an opinion that is very stimulating. I especially like your observation regarding strong players not being interested in deviations from the tradition. Although you are probably right about it, it just crystallized some additional thoughts...
This Chess idea is very much on the same theme as Spheroku vs. sudoku. Because of this it is something I will actually be able to check, since now I have some access to the very top players from Sudoku World Competition and I should be able to convince some of them to give it a try... and they will let me know.
Will Shotz the legendary NY Times puzzle maker several years ago was quoted as saying that sudoku could not be improved on. "It is what it is" he said...
Now, my Spheroku has been out for about two and a half months, and I actually have some feedback from the "real world".
Two weeks ago, I run into an old friend who was addicted to sudoku for years and is a strong player. He completely switched to Spheroku he told me. When I told him about Will Shortz quote, that "sudoku could not be improved", he totally surprised me with how adamant he was in his
"But you did improve it!" answer. I was really taken back by this statement... partially because I thought it was my own selfish impression ("or worship of the cave" as psychologists would call this bias). I think I am fairly good in sudoku, I was solving only the toughest games for several years prior to developing Spheroku. Now, sometimes when I would get stuck in Spheroku, I would switch to sudoku view thinking that maybe it will be easier (usually it is not easier at all, you face the same issues regardless of the interface) -- and I always get this feeling of being "let down" or "deflated" when I go to flat version... Almost as if I developed a handicap, or lost one of my senses (smell, vision, hearing, whatever).
I don't know if this 3d Chess that I propose would have this element of being "more compete", or not. -- It is hard to guess until you play it... and this is not possible unless I develop it (Which is a lot of work!)
So, this is why I decided to do this as Kickstarter project -- let the crowd make a decision if it should be developed... While doing this I am learning more about marketing and exposing Spheroku to a new audience.
I just did a PR release:
http://bit.ly/184Bq6h