Chess which pieces are more valuable

And thus, the relative value system gives a pawn the value of 1. That means that all other pieces on the board have their utility defined relative to the value of a pawn. The first thing you ought to notice is that the king is missing completely. If you program a computer to understand the rating scale, then you have to give the king a value. In this case, a more realistic ranking is probably 4 — the king is more powerful than our knights and bishops and less powerful than our rooks particularly in the endgame.

Then the next anomaly is thrown up — the bishops and knights are given the same score. Given that they both have completely different move sets is this likely to be true?

Or is a knight worth more than a bishop or vice-versa and if so, why? This is a complicated problem. In fact, many grandmasters refuse to discuss the issue outside of the upper echelons of the game because they feel that unless you have your head firmly grounded in deep chess theory that the discussion would go over your head. Knights move in an L-shape. That is 2 squares in either direction along the vertical or horizontal and then 1 square in either direction along the horizontal or the vertical.

It would be an equal exchange. Nobody has gained anything. However, if White captures the Rook she will gain 5 points and only lose 3 points so capturing the Rook is a good exchange! Should White capture the Black Knight? If the White Knight captured the Black Knight the black pawn could take the White Knight and it would be an equal exchanged. However, let's look at little closer at the position. Thus it is being attacked four times.

It is being defended three times by the Black pawn, Bishop and Queen. White can win a pawn by playing 1. Nxd5 cxd5 2. Bxd5 Bxd5 3. Qxd5 Qxd5 4. It is generally a good idea to capture with the piece of smallest value first. If White had played 1. Qxd5 Black could answer with The best position for the Bishops is on the open long diagonals, that way the Bishop can cover many squares.

Bishop pair is a very powerful weapon since two bishops working together can control many squares from the distance, creating possibilities for tactics and attacks. In open positions Bishops are more powerful than Knights, in closed positions Knights are stronger. Always think twice before exchanging a Bishop for a Knight since a pair of Bishops is much stronger than a Bishop and a Knight usually. In the endgame with pawns on both sides of the board Bishop is a stronger piece than the Knight, since it can attack and support pawns on opposite sides of the board.

Pair of Rooks lined up on an open file is even more powerful than a single rook occupying the file. Rooks are very good at giving a back rank mate on the 8 th rank or 1 st for Black.

Two rooks can easily checkmate a lone King. Therefore, 2 Rooks vs. King is an easy technical win. Rooks are usually not active in the opening and early middle game, but they are crucial endgame players.

It is the most powerful piece on the board since it can move both diagonally and horizontally. Queen is also a very powerful mating piece; most checkmates in chess are being announced by the Queen.

Even though a Queen is a lot stronger than the Rook 9 points vs. Rook is not as easy to win as it seems. If you have a chance of exchanging a Queen on 3 minor pieces of your opponents it may be a good deal for you especially with rooks present on the board. Exchanging a Queen for two Rooks is also something to think about. In many cases, two Rooks can be stronger than the Queen.

If King is in danger via check a player is not allowed to ignore it, he must remove the check first. Even though King is the most valuable piece its relative value in points is 3. Keeping a King safe should be a high priority of any chess player. Even though a King is the most valuable piece, it is a powerful weapon when it comes to the endgame.

Activating the King early in the endgame can be a decisive factor between winning and losing. If you have a chance of getting King into the game without exposing him to danger, go for it. Your comments are always appreciated. If you have any other facts about the chess pieces to add, please share them in the comments below:.

Pawn: 13 On the first move of the pawn, the player has 2 options, moving the pawn up one square, or 2 squares at once. Every piece has a weakspot that can be exploited, and you can use other pieces to cover these weak spots. Just a minor thing. Please, no flack. This is not to demean, but to correct. They alone create attack and defense, the way they are deployed decides the fate of the game.

Much to my disadvantage! Pawns capturing opponents more valuable pieces can court disaster. Hence one point value of pawns can be used to great advantage. Products Posts. Tags: chess pieces , chess pieces facts , chess pieces worth ,. Read on… Pawn: Chess Pieces Facts 1.