Skylanders Chess

I've never played Skylanders, and I suspect the whole idea was just a little late on the scene to interest my children, but I have seen it in toy stores and advertised on TV. Now I have very little idea about what you do with them, but I do like this idea in turning them into a sort of chess. Using the hardware that comes with Skylanders the authors children developed a new form of chess that in part relies on their special features. Particularly interesting is the idea of hiding the portal (which makes pieces above it light up) uder a chess board, and granting invulnerability to pieces that are illuminated.