Re-using chess pieces

In Italy there's a small production called Prestige (Mangone\Il Barone Games).
The game idea is not bad - it's a 2 player game based on "placement" mechanics - but the realization of the "physical" game is quite poor. A better game is surely Arcanum (Chiarvesio-Zizzi\Lo Scarabeo), a hand management game that blends tarots and chess pieces with a not-so-strong theme but astonishing graphics and a nice game flow.
IMHO, chess piecese are not a good choice, unless you spoil them of their original meaning (like in Arcanum). Otherwise you're re-implementing an abstract concept with another abstraction, but the first one (original chess) is deeply carved into the common player's mind.
My D3 of thoughts.

Anyway, look at Arcanum. It has a clever use of chess pieces.

And, obviously, good luck!

I can't think of anything that re-uses chess pieces, however I think you are on the right path with the "scaling" of pieces. Rather than representing a specific individual, the pieces now represent the "homes" of these people (Palace, Church, Barracks, Fort, Summer Palace, etc). Since pawns don't represent much, my inclination would be to use them as a resource (workers or armies) or possibly as something that generates resources (fields, farms, forest, etc.).

Maybe some kind of rolled up playmat style map would work. I could see this being a good, portable 2-player strategy game that makes use of game components most people already have...

Good luck with your idea!

I quite like the idea. The downside, as you said, is that they do only come in 2 colors (white and black) and that they are limited per set (you get 2 knights, 1 queen, 8 pawns etc) so you would have to factor this into your game rules.

Perhaps pawns are your 'secret' pieces. For example, you have different "fields" which players are vying for control of. At the start of each turn, players play up to a set number pawns to the fields. Once players have placed their pawns, they start trading them in for the back-row pieces on a determined scale. Only the back-row pieces can interact with each other, something like a game of rock-paper-scissors:
Bishop>Knight > Rook and Queen>All
Pawns don't have to be exchanged for back-row pieces, and pieces are never destroyed, they just go back to their side to be brought out again. The winner is the first player to take control of a certain number of fields. It would make it a very quick-playing beer&pretzels game.

Not sure if this is what you were going for, but it already sounds fun!