Games that are chess "like"

 A few years ago I mentioned a game called Smess (AKA Ninny Chess, or All the King's Men). It is a board game very similar to chess, but with different game mechanics and strategies. A similar game (invented around the same time) was Ploy. Ploy was a 2 or 4 player game, where the direction the pieces could move was imprinted on the piece itself (each piece was a disk). Some pieces had a single direction, while more powerful pieces had 2,3 or 4 directions. However, the pieces could be rotated, instead of moving, to enable them to move in entirely different directions.

Although the game is out of print, it can be played at various online game platforms. In my old collection of board game books it is quite highly regarded, although it never seems to have really caught on (in the same way that Mastermind or Othello did). 

I have just picked up a second hand copy of the game (in good condition) to add to my collection of older boardgames. Reading the rules I can see why it is similar to chess, albeit in a simplified form. I might even try and play some the online versions to see how close it is to the "real" thing!