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material

ByDrDave

“Now I have the pawn and the compensation.” –Roman Dzindzichashvili

  1. Material refers to the pieces and pawns on the board.
  2. Usually, if you have extra material, you have good chances to win
  3. 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.
  4. “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.
  5. 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)

Click […] to see list of games

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