DISCOVER HOW TO VALUE THE PIECES…..

One of the essential skills that distinguish a good player from a freshman is the proper understanding of the relative value of the pieces. The value of a chessman is determined by its range, by the number of squares it can cross in a single move, by the number of  squares it can control, by the number of captures it makes and finally by how it behaves as a threat to the opponent. Taking the pawn as the unit, the knight is worth 3; the bishop 3; the rook 5; and the queen 9.Thus we see that  two minor piece gives better value than a rook and two rooks better than a queen and so on. The queen is considered to be the strongest. It controls 27 squares from the centre and 21 squares from a corner. It can make diagonal moves as well. The rook moves horizontally and vertically and controls 14 squares from wherever it is on the board. The bishop with its diagonal strikes controls 13 squares from the centre and only 3 from a corner. The knights with its jumping ability and L shaped attacks controls 8 from the centre and only 2 squares from a corner.

The bishop can attack only the nearby enemies but the knights can attack enemies on both colored squares. The knights and bishops are both given the same value. The bishop is weaker than the rook because it can move only on squares of one color and cannot threaten enemies on the other color. The pawns with their forward only movements are assigned low value. The king has not been valued by any authority on account of his not being liable to capture or exchange. The king controls 8 squares from the centre where as from the corner it controls only 3 squares. The value of the king is not determined by its strength .The king must be safe guarded in the opening of the game. The king gains power at the end of the game when it is not in the danger of being checkmated by the opponent. A player gains advantage when the value of the enemy pieces captured by him is more than the pieces surrendered in exchange.

 The general guideline offers lower value to a pawn. Its value can change during the course of the game. Once a pawn reaches eighth file, it can be transformed into a knight or a bishop or a rook. Therefore pawns on the seventh file and guarded by a rook behind are worth more than a point. The value of a knight changes in a closed game. In such a game the lines of attack are blocked by pawns and it is difficult to bring pieces with more value into the play. At this point, the knight with its jumping ability leaps over pieces that block the game. Hence the value increases. In an open game, where lines of attack are open, bishops play a useful role. This is true when most of the pieces have been captures. The bishop’s value is increased when it pairs with the counterpart of the opposite color.

While playing a game it is necessary that the relative values are kept in mind. However the final goal to be achieved is to checkmate the opponent’s king.