h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

as a normal chess-player, that sounds very fascinating

how do you know whose pieces are whose though? - they can't be coloured because if you take your opponents piece then when you put it on then board it will be the wrong colour

Greetings

Players tell which pieces are whose by which way they point. The pieces are wedge-shaped, and wider at the bottom than at the top, so they appear to "point" to the opposite side of the board. Pieces that are pointing away from you are yours'; pieces pointing towards you are your opponent's.

hi (sorry)

thanks for explaning that. in a course of a game, do most pieces get put back straight on the board after they are taken or are there lots of situations where it's beneficial not to

It depends on the strategy you play with, and the strategy your playing against. A common exchange early in the game is the Bishops since their on the same diagonal directly opposite eachother. Some people will put the bishop directly back into play. Personally I like to keep ahold of it in case a fork situation comes up later. With the limited mobility of knight is often better to keep hold of them for forks later.

sorry if it seems constant stream of questions - this has got me intrigued

this reminds of a variant of chess called bughouse, where the pieces you take you can put on for yourself - but in chess for this you have to have two sets because of the colours.

If you capture a promoted piece, do you put it on in its promoted form or in its original form?

The piece looses it's promoted status when captured, and when returned to the board does so in it's unpromoted state.