Comments/Ratings for a Single Item

Isn't it accepted that in a good variant it is desirable to keep as close
as possible to ortho rules?!  Yet the Circular Society rules disallow en
passant and castling.   (Why are these differences necessary?  In
Pritard's Encyclopedia, he describes modern form of Byzantine chess:
'In
the modern game, castling K-side is permitted and pawns have an initial
two-cell move option [e.p. possible].'  From the Society's write-up of
the invention of rules by Dave Reynolds:  'Dave was an enthusiastic, if
rudimentary chess player. Such deviousness as castling and en passent met
with a furrowed brow and a shake of the head.')

Sorry to jump on this, but is that really a good basis for forming a
variant's rules, basing them on the predjudices of a beginner player?!  

Something else I don't get ...  How is the board set-up derived from a
square board ortho array?  (Everytime I cut a board in half and fold
around, the White King and Queen end up opposite than depicted in the
Society's array, or the Pawn rows end up on the inside not the outside. 
Can someone PLEASE give me precise instructions as to how to cut and fold
the board so the array ends up like the Society's array?  Thank you!)

-Ralph Peters