Are there points in chess

Oct 17, 3. Points, like a pawn is worth one, bishop worth 5, etc. Oct 17, 4. Ah, I thought you may have been referring to chess. Oct 17, 5. Oct 17, 6. So you know who has more points when the game is over. Oct 17, 7. SilentKnighte5 wrote: So you know who has more points when the game is over.

Oct 17, 8. TSLexi wrote: Points, like a pawn is worth one, bishop worth 5, etc. Equal exchanges, like trading a pawn for a pawn or a queen for a queen, are ok when it comes to piece values—but what about a queen for two rooks? Well, a queen is worth nine points, and two rooks are worth ten points!

In some cases a queen is better than two rooks, but these situations are rare. A common exchange is trading two minor pieces knights or bishops for a rook and a pawn. Even though this is trading six points for six points, it does not necessarily make the exchange equal! The other factors of the position must be taken into consideration. In the following position, Black has made the common error of trading a knight and bishop for White's rook and f-pawn with Nxf2.

In general, two minor pieces are more valuable than a rook and a pawn. In the diagram below, we can see the position that occurs after the exchanges on f2: White's two minor pieces are more active than Black's rook and pawn. Most of the time, simple math can help us determine what exchanges we should pursue and which exchanges we should avoid. Let's try a test! In the following position, Black has just played Rh6.

Should White capture the rook on h6 with their dark-squared bishop on c1? White should capture the rook on h6 with the bishop on c1 because the rook is worth five points while the bishop is worth 3 points. Let's try another one! In the following position, should the White queen capture the rook on the e8-square? Yes, White should capture the rook on e8! The point is that White is getting two rooks for the queen ten points for nine points , but more importantly because Black's king is in great danger and checkmate will soon follow on the eighth rank.

Rewan Demontay Jethik Jethik 2 2 gold badges 6 6 silver badges 10 10 bronze badges. Add a comment. Active Oldest Votes. The values may vary because of circumstances, but these are the basic values. Improve this answer. Rauan Sagit Rauan Sagit 6, 5 5 gold badges 34 34 silver badges 55 55 bronze badges. Do you have a credible source for those values? Widely taught isn't a credible source either. But you're right, it all depends on the position.

I don't have a credible source. But feel free to find one. Thats why I wrote that the evaluation depends on position.

And also have extra posted an explanation what was meant — MikroDel. MikroDel Yes, that part of my comment was intended to reinforce what you said about Reinfeld's values only being a guide. Bishops and Knights are better in closed games, whereas rooks are typically better in open games.

Something to consider when trading that knight and bishop for a rook. For example, the king is often said to be worth about the same as a rook in many characters but significantly less as an active piece while there are more piecesbon the board.

So which value to use? And should we value knights relative to an open, closed, middle game or endhame position? And so on and so forth. For the king especially, you really need to see a position to make a proper estimation of value. Show 3 more comments. MikroDel MikroDel 2 2 silver badges 13 13 bronze badges. Joe K Joe K 1 1 silver badge 4 4 bronze badges.

Nominal activity can be constantly in flux since the position is inevitability bound to change but is a useful concept when compared against the "absolute activity", for three reasons: It helps you determine whether to trade pieces and also which pieces to trade It helps you decide what kinds of positions to create this is where common chess principles like "knights favor closed positions, bishops favor open ones" come from It helps you figure out which piece's position you need to improve first "Knights before bishops" comes from this Many, many common ideas can be elucidated from this formulation mostly because it is so fundamental to the game.

So to summarize: Absolute activity: the greatest number of squares a piece can potentially control Nominal activity: the number of squares a piece controls in a given position Piece Value: a dynamic measurement based upon how close a piece's nominal activity is to its absolute activity EDIT: Notice how easy and accurate, and logical piece combination values become when using this system.

Dider Dider 8 8 silver badges 13 13 bronze badges. Regarding the King, see thb answer — leonbloy. They should learn the general rules before they learn the exceptions to those rules. Philip Roe Philip Roe 4, 1 1 gold badge 8 8 silver badges 21 21 bronze badges. I agree. I don't think there's such thing as points in chess. It depends on the position. Diedrsch Diedrsch 4 4 silver badges 5 5 bronze badges.

Your bishop on the crowded board looks wrong on the far right side; those 4s should be 2s. And you didn't put the queen in - it would, by this measure, be the sum of the rook and the bishop.

So, between 12 and 3. D M: I have corrected the wrong numbers of the bishop, thanks. Could you clarify what you mean by "crowded board"?

The numbers for your crowded board matrices otherwise make no sense to me. Perhaps we should imagine crowded spots or regions. Show 1 more comment. George Miller George Miller 61 1 1 bronze badge.