material
“Now I have the pawn and the compensation.” –Roman Dzindzichashvili
- Material refers to the pieces and pawns on the board.
- Usually, if you have extra material, you have good chances to win
- We have a rough rule to work out who is ahead in material: a Knight or Bishop is worth about 3 Pawns; a Rook, 5 pawns; and a Queen, 9.
- So, losing a Queen for Rook, Bishop and Pawn is actually about equal.
- Likewise, losing a Rook for Knight and two Pawns is also about equal.
- And winning two Rooks for a Queen is usually worth it.
- “Usually.” Sometimes you can give up a Rook for a Knight or Bishop, when you sacrifice the Exchange, and stand better. The advantages that you get in return are called compensation.
- There are also times when the Queen can outrun badly coordinated Rooks, or a Bishop or a Knight with a Pawn (or even without) can dominate a Rook. Part of the skill of top chess players is recognising when a position is not going to suit some pieces and will suit others. (Ljublinsky-Botvinnik)
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