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Joe Joyce wrote on Tue, May 30, 2006 02:27 AM UTC:
A very interesting piece, but I'm not sure of its valuation at 4, exactly
midway between rook and knight. I admit it's a crippled chancellor, but
is it  reduced that much? I would suspect it's more powerful than a
guard, say, which is also valued at 4. And while the knight component is a
weaker piece, I'm not sure the elk should be valued at less than a rook.
I'd guess it in the 5-7 range. I'd think a player's tendency would be
to use the knight move to post the piece in an advantageous position for
the rook and let it passively exert power for a while. And I'd be
inclined to move it like a dabbabah, staying on black squares as much as
possible to get the greater power; just using the knight move to leap over
pieces to get in and out. Admittedly you've made the elk's knight
component colorbound - no elknight can attack white squares - but the rook
component can attack any square on the board. Can't see how it's not in
the neighborhood of 6. But then, I'm far from an expert :-) and have been
wrong before. And speaking of being wrong, would it be wrong for me to
suggest considering making a few themed pieces and creating a game around
them? You're very creative with pieces, but replacing 1 FIDE piece with
your new piece and playing from there is kind of just training you in
using the new piece. You are showcasing pieces rather than creating a
whole new game. Replace the knights with elks instead of the rooks -
another new game, with a little more power. Since the knight component is
colorbound, replace the bishops with elks and get a different game still.
This soon becomes unsatisfying; there are a zillion pieces out there which
can somehow fit, but it becomes a slightly different FIDE game rather than
a truly unique variant. Hey, don't sell your pieces short. Give them a
standout game to be in. 
Enjoy.

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