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Gnus. Makes (1-2)-jump or (1-3)-jump.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
AndR wrote on Mon, Jul 18, 2011 11:52 PM UTC:
I've been trying out the Gnu as a chess piece and really enjoy playing
with it.  One variant it does well in replaces knights with Gnus and
bishops with FADs and is otherwise orthodox.  A pretty simple change but a
very different game than FIDE Chess.  The Gnu seems to be a pretty strong
piece, with 16 squares it can move to from the middle of the board.  I
wonder if somebody with some experience estimating piece values could say
what they think it would be worth, relative to the orthodox pieces.  If a
pawn is worth one point, how many points is a Gnu worth?

I have that same question concerning the other oblique leaper compounds. 
In particular:

* The Bison (Camel+Zebra)
* The Gazelle (Knight+Zebra)

(Incidentally, I've noticed that the latter piece isn't in the
Piececlopedia, and I wonder if 'Gazelle' is even an agreed-upon standard
name for it or where it comes from, etc.)

I suspect the Gnu is the strongest of those 3 pieces, and I don't know
whether Bison or Gazelle would be next-strongest.  The Gazelle has to
change color every time it moves, which is not the case for the other two
pieces, which might put it at a disadvantage.  But then again, both of the
Bison's attacks are longer than the knight move, which makes me think it
might be a weaker piece.  Has anyone considered these questions?

Thanks from a new fairy chess amateur.