OK, thanks, AJ. I used to work in an office with the biggest chess dork I've ever met. He was always looking for people to play chess with, except that he really loved the asian variants. I was one of the few people who consented to be taught. Now I'm hooked too. Unfortunately, he moved away to parts unknown, and I'm probably one of the few people in Texas who know what Shogi (Japanese chess) or Xiang Qi (Chinese chess) are, much less how to play them (well, OK, there is his ex-wife, but that would be rather awkward now, wouldn't it)? So, I play against the computer, which I prefer anyway. Steve Evans wrote a freeware program for W$ with most of the Shogi variants built in. It's a great interface, but has a weak engine.

http://trout.customer.netspace.net.au/

Anyway, just so you won't think I was speaking gibberish, tori shogi (bird chess) is my favorite, and the various pieces are named after birds (phoenix =king, eagle, falcon, crane, etc.). The cool thing about shogi (most variants, anyway) is that when you capture an opposing piece, you can "drop" it on the board as your own piece in any location (for the most part) you choose. The pieces are not colored; they are arrow-shaped flat tiles, and you can tell whose piece is whose by the direction the arrowhead is pointing (IOW, my pieces would point toward you, and vice versa). The other unique thing about most variants of shogi is that the pieces are able to promote if they penetrate deeply enough into the opponent's territory. Promotion is indicated by turning the tile over.

Cannot help you with the linux stuff. I am still a newbie, and I'm holding back waiting for the interface to develop a bit more (e.g., ability to work with NTFS - I'm hoping the Knoppix 3.4, when it's released will take care of that, and I'm also waiting for a better interface to facilitate DVD burning)..