M Winther wrote on Thu, May 18, 2006 12:32 PM UTC:
I believe that the divination aspect was very important in historical chess
variants. Nigel Pennick, in 'Games of the Gods' (1988), discusses this
aspect in games generally. The dice chess variants are particularly
suited for divination, it seems, such as Oblong Shatranj with die.
--Mats