[orangea]

It probably has more to do with the fact that formalizing chess in such a way wouldn't be particularly interesting. Chess is mostly studied because of its historical significance, and if you change the rules then the game no longer is as connected to its historical significance.

[thaumasiotes]

The page already has formalized chess that way. It states that the loser is the first player to have no legal move when their turn occurs. This definition applies to chess with no modification.

But the page also states that chess doesn't meet its definition of a combinatorial game. Why?