Idea for pawn rule for large boards

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evert823

In FIDE chess the pawn has an initial move of two squares. This rule is usually adopted in chess variants on larger boards.
For larger boards, I was thinking of the following rule:

A pawn can move orthogonally forward to a vacant square in front of an allied non-pawn, under the condition that:
1. from the target square, it does not attack any piece or pawn of the opponent, and
2. the target square is not a promotion square, and
3. there is no other piece between the pawn, and the allied piece in front of which it wants to land

There is no restriction about this being the first move of the pawn.
When this rule is in effect, any other rule about an initial extended move for pawns, is discarded.
A pawn that moves this way, can be captured en passant on any intermediate square.

The following position, with white to move, is only to clarify this rule:

a2-a4 is no longer a legal move
i2-i9 is a legal move, and j5xi4 would be a legal answer
h2-h8 is illegal, since the Knight on h7 is not allied to the pawn
g2-g6 is illegal, since it would attack the Knight on h7
k2-k12 is illegal, since k12 is a promotion square
c2-c8 is illegal, since the black Knight on c6 is blocking this
l5-l9 is a legal move

Why this rule might make sense
It speeds up pawn development on larger boards, just like the classical 2-move does in FIDE chess.
It cannot be used for direct attacks
Players will still look for a decent pawn structure. To push a single pawn this way would make that pawn very vulnerable.

Idrinkyourhealth3

I havent played It yet but here's my opinion anyways: It may not be a good idea to upgrade a pawn movement because it disrupts the game too much: other pieces lose value and become kind of useless while a pawn is op now and the other pieces kinda become secondary with an unclear purpose (except guarding the pawn chain and blocking the enemys pawns rather than actually coordinating an attack)

What do u think

Idrinkyourhealth3

I may be wrong, but i may also be right

Pokshtya

Very good idea. But from the starting position the pawn must be allowed a normal move of 1 or 2 squares.