Romanchenko's Chess

As mentioned in Pritchard's Encyclopedia of Chess Variants, V. Romanchenko, a Russian youth trainer, invented this variant, to encourage his pupils to think rather than imitate.

The game is played on the board, displayed below with opening setup.

Pawns in a corner cannot move any further, e.g., when black would play a7-a5, the pawn on a5 would be further worthless; the only possible move for a black pawn on b5 would be to take on c4. Bishops and queens may not cross non-existing squares, e.g., a bishop cannot move from a5 to c3 in one move. All other rules are as in orthodox chess.