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Having analysed this variant thoroughly I have been torn between the ratings Good and Average. In the end I plumped for Good as it does seem a good game, but mostly by accident and despite the presentation. Sorry if this seems faint praise. The first thing to notice is that that 'pentagons' are really hexagons with one corner flattened. Where a cell is surrounded it is by 6, not 5, others. The board as a whole resolves itself into a hex board of Glinsky/McCooey orientation, irregular in shape but symmetric about a midline. The number of cells per file are, from left to right: 1, 6, 7, 8, 7, 8, 7, 2. This of course has an impact on the pieces. The Pawn analogue is the same as Glinsky's. The Elephant analogue is bound to 1 in 3 cells, but the Knight analogue to still less, 1 in 4, being in fact a Dabbaba. This is the reverse of the analogy in my own variant Hex Dabbaba Qi! Each player has a Dabbaba bound to each of the two bindings forming together the files with even numbers of cells - binding all to identical numbers of cells. Yet there is no mention of this feature on the page! On the whole this is a good version of Chaturanga, but a good hexagonal rather than pentagonal one. It inspires me to wonder whether I can do one as good on a more regular-shaped board (a Chaturanga counterpart to HDQ) - and also to how pieces would move on a board of genuine pentagons.
This looks really cool. I was wondering when someone would be inventive enough to create a chess game on a pentagonal board. Congratulations on being that person!
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But I re-read Charles Gilman's comment and I see that he is also correct in his observation because in looking at a cell's mechanics it does function as a hexagon. Bending out the long edge with a point where the line meets at the center will give you the hexagon in appearance (without the bend it remains a hexagon in function. R Wayne Schmittberger had demonstrated how circular cells can also end up making hexagons... Anyway, it is a clever idea.
The game looks very nice but I'd need to play it before rating it.
The piece graphics are from a Chinese Chess program I've seen. And so I think that program should be credited for the use of their graphics.
In closing, the board is very clever and the piece movements should allow for an interesting game.