Thad: Why do you view the Bishop being able to attack as it does in Gothic Chess as a flaw? All the opponents Pawns are guarded at the start, so what does it matter? Moving that Pawn out of the way may not be a good move either even if it does free up the Bishop. Both players have this threat available to them, so it's equal. Yes, White can do it first, but he's not able to force the issue without getting some other pieces over there to help out. In the meantime Black can move a Pawn to block the Bishop, or put his Knight on the diagonal. If you move your Chancellor on the first turn you attack the other side of the board too. Which will still be true on a 10 X 10 board.

I haven't played Gothic Chess since December, and now that the tournament round finally got going again I'm remembering how the game goes. Janus Chess is the 8 X 10 variant I've been playing recently and though it has a lot in common with Gothic Chess, it's a whole different game. Janus Chess does have the King and Queen side by side and it got me thinking about Bird's Chess and variants. This is why I posted my comment about having the King and Queen together. I think it'd be a very good way to play and eliminates the two things I view as flaws to the other three versions. I hadn't even considered the Bishops being able to come out as you say as a problem. I think of that as a benefit for Bishops and another reason that I'd rather have a Bishop than a Knight on the 8 X 10 board when all things are equal.

A 10 X 10 board with the pieces set up on the back two rows, seems a little too open at the start for me and it might take a few more moves to make the game intersting. Especially them slow walking Pawns. Grand Chess uses a 10 X 10 board, but the majority of the pieces are on the second and third rows. Just the Rooks are in the back rows. That game sure looks like it'd be fun to play. I'd like to give it a try.