Going full circle

One of the most straight-forward chess variants out there (or curvy actually). So simple that it´s a child´s game. Does warping chess like this really add something to the game, really enriches the game, or is it just superfluous complication and thus basically pointless?

This plays like a regular chess game in principle, but if the struggling reaches a dead end on one half of the board the fight can move on to the other half of the board and try again. Exactly the same tactics, deeper strategy. Many chess variants enlarge the board for no meaningful reason, here it feels totally natural and organic. Many chess variants shoehorn new pieces in, here the 8 extra pawns per side feel in place, not out of place.

Eugene Geek (Евгений Гик) described several variants of cylindrical chessboards; 
but I don't remember this variant in his books...

As far as I see, you mean 112-squared "vertical-cylindrical" "Gravikord Chess in the Round" https://www.gravikord.com/chess.html 

Also google tells us about 64-squared "vertical-cylindrical" "Circular chess" https://greenchess.net/rules.php?v=circular 

As for me, chess variants @ cylindrical boards appear curious and even interesting.

There could be some issues with unconvenience of such a large board to put to a small screen of a smartphone - but nothing impossible to program and to play...

Not sure if it was intended that way all along, maybe it´s better if the ranks connect through the center (except the 1st rank, of course, otherwise white rook takes black rook in the 1st move. That´s awkward) so rooks, queens and knights can freely go from side to side through the center. It´s the straight lines, not the diagonals that go all the way through the center. That way is a more unique chess instead of "just normal chess on a bigger board", but still totally straight-forward totally intuitive. Even a 4 years old child could learn it in minutes.

If ranks connect through the center - then it's not cylindrical, but conical board. It could be curious in chess compisition, but not gameplay.

As far as I see, "forbidden center point" with non-connected ranks is much more playable and more understandable to everyone who can play standerd chess.

BTW, Eugene Geek that I mentioned in 1st comment described not just cylindrical, but toroidal chessboards too - with every rank ends are ring-like connected and every file ends are ring-like connected too...

is just a copy of black-hole chessboard:

(more less)

16x16 is overdoing it. Occkam´s razor, the bare minimum to make it work is best. 14x8, well, it´s not minimalist chess but at least it doesn´t throw in totally unnecessary elements. You can make it simpler, but as a 2-way street it´s as compact as it can possibly be.

If it was also outwards ranks connection (a toroid as you say) then yes, that´s not for everyone. That´s only for nerds and geeks. I fail to see how connection through the center makes it any hard to follow, as you can visualize it right away. A priori is a little child´s game. Then it may turn out more or less beef when put to the test. Of course the pure cylinder works and it´s easy to play, but my preliminary assesment is that the attack and counterattack on both halves of the board at once makes it more interesting and exciting than having two separate wars (if the center is a wall).

There are worse ways of doing it, at least in terms of general playability and enjoyability. That despite being only 72 squares board. You see, smaller isn´t always better.

BTW, the smallest variant of circular chess seems the most popular in the internet: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circular_chess

No, it´s a bold copy of this 

Or this one