Chess strategy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chess strategy is concerned with the evaluation of chess positions and with setting up goals and long-term tactics for future play. During the evaluation, a player must take into account the value of pieces on the board, pawn structure, king safety, positioning, and control of key squares and groups of squares (e.g. diagonals, open-files, dark or light squares, etc.).
The most basic, is to count the total value of pieces on both sides. The point values used for this purpose are based on experience. Usually pawns are considered worth one point, knights and bishops three points each, rooks five points (the value difference between a rook and a bishop being known as the exchange), and queens nine points. The fighting value of the king in the endgame is equivalent to four points. These basic values are then modified by other factors such as position of the piece (e.g. advanced pawns are usually more valuable than those on initial positions), coordination between pieces (e.g. a pair of bishops usually coordinates better than the pair bishop + knight) or type of position (knights are generally better in closed positions with many pawns while bishops are more powerful in open positions).
Another important factor in the evaluation of chess positions, is the pawn structure (sometimes known as the pawn skeleton), that is the configuration of pawns on the chessboard. Since pawns are the most immobile of the chess pieces, the pawn structure is relatively static and largely determines the strategic nature of the position. There are weaknesses in the pawn structure, such as isolated, doubled or backward pawns and holes once created, are usually permanent. Care must therefore be taken to avoid them unless they are compensated by another valuable asset (for example by the possibility to develop an attack).
Contents |
[edit] Values of the pieces
- Main article: Chess piece point value
Material advantage applies both strategically and tactically. Generally more pieces, or an aggregate of more powerful pieces, delivers greater winning chances. A fundamental strategic and tactical rule is to capture opponent pieces while preserving one's own.
A knight is about as valuable as a bishop (these two are called minor pieces), but less valuable than a rook, and less still than a queen (rooks and queens are called major pieces). Bishops are usually considered to be slightly better than knights in open positions (such as toward the end of the game, when many of the pieces have been captured), whereas knights have an advantage in closed positions. Having two bishops is a particularly powerful weapon, especially if the opposing player has lost one or both of his bishops.
Three pawns are likely to be more useful than a knight in the endgame, but in the middlegame a knight is often more powerful. Two minor pieces are stronger than a single rook. Two rooks are stronger than a queen, but not by much.
One commonly used simple scoring system is: Piece Value:
| Piece Name | Piece Value |
|---|---|
| Pawn | 1 |
| Bishop | 3 |
| Knight | 3 |
| Rook | 5 |
| Queen | 9 |
1 point for a pawn, 3 for a knight or bishop, 5 for a rook, and 9 for a queen. Under a system like this, giving up a knight or bishop in order to win a rook ("winning the exchange") is advantageous and is worth about two pawns. This of course ignores such complications as the current position and freedom of the pieces involved, but it is a good starting point. In an open position, bishops will be more valuable than knights (a bishop pair can easily be worth 7 points or more in some situations); conversely, in a closed position, bishops will be less valuable than knights. The king is infinitely valuable since its loss causes the loss of the game.
[edit] Positioning
All other things being equal, the side which controls more space on the board has an advantage. More space translates into more options, which can be exploited both tactically and strategically. If all of one's pieces are developed and no tactical tricks or promising long-term plan is apparent, he could try to find a move which will enlarge his influence, particularly in the center. However, in some openings, one player will accept less space for a period of time to set up a counterattack in the middlegame. This is one of the concepts behind hypermodern play.
[edit] Defending pieces
One good tenet of Chess Strategy is to defend one's pieces even if they are not directly threatened, thus stopping possible future campaigns from one's opponent. This approach has an antecedent in the theory of Aron Nimzowitch who referred to it as "overprotection." Conversely, if a player spots undefended pieces of the opponent, he or she should take advantage of those pieces' weakness.
[edit] Exchanging pieces
Main articles: chess piece point value, The exchange, minor exchange
To exchange pieces means to capture a hostile piece and then allow a piece of the same value to be captured. As a general rule of thumb, exchanging pieces eases the task of the defender who typically has less room to operate in.
Exchanging pieces is usually desirable to a player with a definite material advantage, since in the endgame even a single pawn advantage may decide the game.
When playing against stronger players, many beginners attempt to constantly exchange pieces "to simplify matters". However, stronger players are often relatively stronger in the endgame, whereas errors are more common during the more complicated middlegame.
Note that "winning the exchange" has a special meaning as mentioned above: winning a rook for a bishop or knight.
[edit] Specific pieces
[edit] Pawns
- Main article: pawn structure
In the endgame, passed pawns, those which cannot be hindered by enemy pawns from promotion, are strong, especially if they are advanced. A passed pawn on the sixth row is roughly as strong as a knight or bishop and will often decide the game. (Also see isolated pawn, doubled pawns, backward pawn, connected pawns).
[edit] Knights
- Main article: knight
Knights are easily chased away with pawn moves. Therefore it is important for knights to be placed in "holes" in the enemy position where they cannot be attacked by a pawn. Once such a hole is identified, a knight should be maneuvered to that location. A knight on the fifth rank that cannot be attacked by a pawn is a strong asset, and the same knight on the sixth rank is roughly equal to a rook. Unless there is a good reason for it, knights shouldn't be placed at the edge or corners of the board because they control far fewer squares.
[edit] Bishops
- Main articles: bishop, fianchetto
A bishop always stays on squares of the colour it started on. This is not a big concern for a player who still has both bishops, but once one of them is gone, the squares of the other colour are more difficult to control. Under such circumstances, pawns should generally be moved to squares of the other colour. There, they don't block the bishop and, enemy pawns directly facing them are stuck on the vulnerable colour.
If there is no obvious good square for development of a bishop, one can consider a fianchetto: pawn g2-g3 and bishop f1-g2. This forms a strong defense for the castled king on g1 and the bishop can often exert pressure on the long diagonal h1-a8. After a fianchetto, one should not give up the bishop too easily, because then the holes around the king can easily prove fatal.
To decide whether in a given position a knight or a bishop is more powerful, several aspects have to be taken into account: if the game is "closed" with lots of interlocked pawn formations, the knight will be stronger, because it can hop over the pawns while the bishop is blocked by them. A bishop is also weak if it is permanently blocked by his own pawns, which are arrested on the wrong colour. In an open game with action on both sides of the board, the bishop will be stronger because of its long range. This is especially true in the endgame, if passed pawns race on opposite sides of the board, the bishop will usually win over the knight here.
An endgame in which the parties have bishops that live on different colours is almost always drawn, even if one side is two pawns ahead.
[edit] Rooks
- Main article: rook
Rooks are powerful on half-open files -- files which don't contain pawns of one's own colour. Rooks on the seventh rank can be very powerful as they attack pawns which can only be defended by other pieces, not by other pawns, and they can lock in the enemy king. A pair of white rooks on the seventh rank (or black on the second rank) is often a sign of a winning position.
In the endgame, if there is a passed pawn which is a candidate for promotion, the rooks, both friend and foe of the pawn, generally belong behind the pawn rather than in front of it, see Tarrasch rule.
[edit] Queen
- Main article: queen
Queens are the most powerful pieces in a chess game. Queens are extremely versatile, and can threaten many pieces at once. For this reason, checkmates involving the queen are much easier to achieve than those without her. Because the loss of a queen usually results in the loss of the game, it is generally wise to wait to develop a queen until after the knights and bishops have been developed. It is important, however, to remember that the loss of a queen does not always result in the loss of the game.
[edit] King
- Main article: king
During the middle game, the king mostly stays in a corner behind his pawns. Moving these pawns should be avoided because that weakens the king's position. However, as the rooks leave the first row, there is a danger of an enemy rook invading the first row and mating the king, so sometimes it is necessary to move one of the pawns in front of the king to counter these mate threats.
In the endgame, the king becomes a strong piece. With reduced material, mate is not an immediate concern anymore, and the king should be moved towards the center of the board.
[edit] Quotes
- "Strategy requires thought; tactics requires observation." - Max Euwe
- "The strategy may fail and so may the tactics; but never surrender." - O.G. Chief RetroSpekt
[edit] See also
[edit] Further reading
- John Nunn: Understanding Chess Move by Move, Gambit 2001. An International Grandmaster explains the thinking behind every single move of many world-class games.
- Jeremy Silman: The Amateur's Mind: Turning Chess Misconceptions into Chess Mastery, Siles Press 1999. A chess teacher analyzes and corrects the thinking of advanced beginners.
- James Eade: Chess for Dummies. This is a comprehensive guide for beginners.
- Yasser Seirawan (2005). Winning Chess Strategies. Everyman Chess. 1-85744-385-3.
[edit] External links
- 64 Commandments of Chess by Bruce Pandolfini
- Chess Strategy, Second Edition (also at Gutenberg-project), and Chess and Checkers: the Way to Mastership by Edward Lasker
- The Blue Book of Chess; "Teaching the Rudiments of the Game, and Giving an Analysis of All the Recognized Openings" by Howard Staunton
- Chess Strategy, free lessons on basic elements.
|
Rules • Openings • Strategy • Tactics • Endgames • History • Championship |
|
