Jepps'ian Chess Piece Values

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Omechanga Wizard by Simon Jepps

The Jepps'ian Chess Piece Values System, or JPS is an independent system of piece-point evaluation, which incorporates classical Chess pieces with primarily the Luck Dragon, but also other Jepps'ian Chess pieces which have been evaluated.

JPS uses GM Bobby Fischer's system as a base, yet with adjustments to suit. The standard system values are based on 8x8 or 10x8 board sizes, with the exception of the Mageca piece, which is valued separately for a 10x10.

Knights retain their relative value to their Bishops on a 10x8 since Jepps'ian Knights are permitted a Double Leap rule when played on a 10x8, cancelling any amplified difference in ability.

The relative Bishop/Knight values will always be debated & I'd put the Bishop spot on Pi/π at 3.14159 because I find them much easier to control with Pawns etc; this due to their colour-boundness and inability to leap, whereas Knights are much harder to predict.

Also the Bishop's ability to traverse the full board is mostly only active during the Endgame, whereas during the Middlegame and certainly the Opening there are often far too many obstacles ~ yet whilst a leaping, spidery Knight could probably beat the Bishop to the other side in many cases.

Thus the Jepps'ian Chess Piece Values System reads as follows:

Pawn = 1
Knight = 3
Bishop = 3.141/π
Wizardp = 4
Rook = 5
Luck Dragon = 5.314
Queen = 9
King = ∞ infini

Note the 'p' suffix to 'Wizard' identifying it as the Pocket Wizard.

The Luck Dragon is effectively a diluted combination of Rook {5} + Camel {2} = 7. Yet it should be noted that whence you combine a Rook with a Leaper piece, the end-value is really slightly greater than just the two piece values combined and this is because you have adorned Leaping abilities to a Rook and Sliding abilities to a Camel, or Knight. The Seirawan Elephant for example which is a combination of Rook+Knight is actually valued closer to a Queen {9}.

However, complicated calculations aside, due to the LD's differences between an actual Rook and thus its colourboundness, we still end up at a value of = 5.314. The LD may ONLY Land/Capture to LIKE-coloured squares of its own standing. This factor would reduce its Rook value dramatically by about 3pts to 2 ~ however, the LD may ALSO Leap/Capture to the 2nd Orthogonal square away and this factor increases its value again by a little more than 1pt ~ Indeed as I have decided, by 1.314pts.

So from a combined value of = 7, we minus 3pts and then add 1.314pts = 5.314.

The Mageca piece is designed for a 10x10 board and is thus separately valued at = 4.75.

Thank you for reading.

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