Link to: Varying Chess

This article written by Kevin Maroney describes two chess variants: Hecatomb and Ur Chess.

Hecatomb: "Start with a standard chessboard. Place the kings in their normal starting positions. Fill the rest of the board with queens, 31 on each side. That's it--all of the other rules of chess are in effect."

Ur Chess: "orthodox chess (a.k.a. orthodox chess, the rules of which are codified by FIDE, the orthodox chess Federation) is an elegant game. But it could be more elegant than it is. It is full of what I call "fiddly little rules," rules that cover unique situations or allow pieces to move or act in unusual ways in certain circumstances. So I set out to strip chess of its "fiddly" bits."

Varying Chess: http://www.thegamesjournal.com/articles/VaryingChess.shtml