Questions tagged [point-value]
The chess pieces have been assigned point values to serve as a general guide as to their relative worth.
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How many points is each chess piece worth?
I am a beginner at chess; please answer this question for me.
How many points is each chess piece worth?
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Why would one promote a pawn to a knight?
I know that it is makes no sense to promote a pawn to a bishop or a rook as the queen can compensate for both but a knight is something different. However, the queen is still much more powerful. So ...
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Why does Stockfish undervalue pawns when compared to the classical "a piece is worth three pawns" approach?
I was taking a look at values engines give to pawns and piece and was quite shocked by Stockfish values for middlegame (Mg):
PawnValueMg = 128
KnightValueMg = 721 ~ 5.6 pawns
BishopValueMg = 825 ~ ...
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How to determine the value of a piece from scratch?
Assume we have a standard chess set setup, but we make a slight change so that (for example) pawns can now move two squares forward on any move rather than just on their initial move. Even assuming ...
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Why are rooks better than knights?
Generally, rooks are considered to be much better than knights. Why is that? Is it a myth or are they really better? Are there situations where a knights may be better that a rook? I usually think ...
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What is the origin/history of the traditional piece values?
Almost everyone knows the standard rules of thumb: a minor piece is worth three pawns, a rook is worth five pawns, and a queen is worth nine. (I’m aware that this is debated; in particular many ...
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How many pawns make up for a missing queen in the endgame?
My partner and I are newbies, and recently found ourselves in this position:
FEN 8/8/8/6kp/p5p/8/K/6Q w
[FEN "8/8/8/6kp/p5p/8/K/6Q w - - 0 1"]
I expected white would easily win because of ...
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Does GM Larry Kaufman's "principle of the redundancy of major pieces" truly exists? Or could this effect be caused by the number of Pawns instead?
The following is an extract from The Evaluation of Material Imbalances by GM Larry Kaufman. I put in bold characters everything that was important for this question.
https://www.chess.com/article/view/...
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Why do points matter in trading pieces?
I am a beginner in chess and I am following the tutorials on Chess.com and reading The Complete Idiot's Guide to Chess. In the tutorials about capturing pieces, it is common to count the points in ...
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When are pieces worth more (or less) than their nominal value?
Which are the most common situations in which pieces are worth more/less than their value, in point?
For example, I know that a protected Knight on 6th rank (3rd for Black) of columns d and e may be ...
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Are knights more powerful in Duck Chess?
In the chess variant Duck Chess (full rules), each player moves the shared blocking "duck" piece to any free square on their turn, taking away one or more moves for the opponent.
One ...
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Why is the rook worth 5 points while the bishop is only worth 3?
Why is the rook worth 5 points while the bishop is only worth 3? Rooks only move straight, but bishops only move diagonally. Is there something that makes moving straight advantageous to moving ...
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Relative value of chess pieces on queenside vs kingside
I've read a few variations on the relative value of chess pieces ( Q=9, R=5, N=3, B=3, P=1 ), but I've yet to encounter a variation in value according to the side of the board the piece is on. With ...
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When a game is cut short and the winner is determined by material, do points still count if they're from promoted pawns?
At my school, we play with a time limit, and the winner is decided based on points (for example, a pawn is 1, a rook 5, a knight 3).
Let's say my queen is taken by my opponent, scoring 9 points. If I ...
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What relative point values of pieces do engines use?
Humans use:
Pawn = 1
Knight = 3
Bishop = 3
Rook = 5
Queen = 9.5
Bishop pair = +0.5
But I would like to know what relative point values do engines use (preferably strong engines, like Stockfish, ...
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Antichess piece value
What is the point value of each chess piece in Antichess?
I think they don't need to be negative values, because you're just going after the lower valued ones.
In particular, I wonder what the value ...
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Trading off two rooks for queen and pawn
I have hardly if ever seen 2 rooks being traded off for queen and pawn (or for just queen) in common games.
Under what conditions is this trade-off advisable?
Why is it fairly uncommon?
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The Knight is stronger in Rapid/Blitz than it is in classical time controls. How many centipawns does the Knight gain in Rapid and in Blitz?
In blitz, the knight is stronger than the bishop. - Vlastmil Hort
I am using this point value system for classical time controls (at least one hour per player):
Pawn = 1
Knight = 3.25
Bishop = 3.25
...
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Can there be a checkmate with maximum points of material (103) while covering 64 squares?
Is it possible to compose a game where these three conditions are simultaneously satisfied?
No White piece is gone but every Black piece except the king is.
All the white pawns are promoted to a ...
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What is the piece value heuristic in atomic chess?
In regular chess a queen is worth 9, rook 5, knight 3, etc. What is the equivalent heuristic in atomic chess?
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Is it better to start without a queen or without any pawns?
I think that this question really can be answered rigorously with good analysis. It is opinion-based, but not completely since some results in this direction can be obtained, and strict and general ...
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What's the difference between a tempo and a tempi? At the start, how many tempo/tempi is White up? On average, how many tempo/tempi is one Pawn worth?
What's the difference between a tempo and a tempi?
At the start, how many tempo/tempi is White up? Half, one, or two?
At the start of the game (before White has even made his first move), how many ...
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(4 Queens + 3 Pawns) vs (Entire Standard Army)
My club has recently been playing the variant Etchessera. For those unfamiliar, this variant allows you to build an army consisting of a King and up to 39 points worth of pieces according to the ...
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What should be the value change if pawns are doubled?
I am creating a chess engine and I am creating a heuristic to change the board evaluation if there are doubled pawns. Now, I have no experience in creating engines, so I figured I would ask this site ...
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Would a piece that moved like a king – but could be captured (and could be moved en prise) – be considered a major or a minor piece?
I could be wrong, but it seems like the major determinant of whether a piece is a major piece or a minor piece is whether a king and one of that piece can force checkmate on a lone king. Would this be ...
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Do modern chess engines learn material values through self-play?
I have a simple question about how Chess engines like Stockfish and Leela value material. Do they use traditional material values (i.e. 1 for pawn, 3 for knight/bishop, 5 for rook, 9 for queen), or do ...
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Are a pair of bishops of the same color usually worth less than a pair of bishops of different colors?
People have been discussing about the value of a pair of two bishops. I am wondering if two bishops are of the same color, are they generally worth less than a pair of bishops of different colors?
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Is the bishop pair and a pawn equivalent to knight and a rook?
In theory, rook (5) + knight (3) = 8 points.
And bishop (3.25) + bishop (3.25) + pawn (1) = 7.5 points.
For example, do you think black is better in the following scenario or do you believe white ...
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Could you explain me this part of GM Larry Kaufman's article on "The Evaluation of Material Imbalances"?
This is a stupid question that has more to do with English than with chess, so if other people also think it's stupid I can delete it after I get the answer.
Since English is not my mother's tongue I ...
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Three questions on GM Larry Kaufman's article about the average relative value of the chess pieces
I have three questions related to this article written by GM Larry Kaufman: https://www.chess.com/article/view/the-evaluation-of-material-imbalances-by-im-larry-kaufman
.
Question n°1:
Kaufman rounded ...
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Are bishops and knights more powerful than rooks on an 8x8x8 board given these rules?
Let's say that on an 8x8x8 board rooks can move any number of spaces, only moving through one dimension at a time. Bishops move the same number of spaces in exactly 2 dimensions at a time. Knights ...
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Worth of a piece in time
Let us say that two players are playing each other. The are supposed to be in the same level (You can take that as an equal longtime ELO). They might be playing blitz, or rapid. But suddently, one of ...
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Do amphibians usually have more synergy than other compound pieces?
Reading about fairy pieces I can see that an amphibian is a type of compound piece that has a larger range than either of it's components. For instance the 3 leaper is restricted to approximately 1/9 ...
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Reasons why king and rook mate quicker than king, knight/bishop and bishop?
When I was very young I remember learning the point values of the pieces. And then I ran into something very confusing.
I was able to learn king and rook vs king mates pretty easily, but king and 2 ...
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Piece values on nonstandard boards
Inspiration.
For the moment, a nonstandard nxn board suffices. Very obviously, with growing n the long-range pieces become stronger with respect to short range ones. (Also, other effects come in play, ...
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Given the value of a given piece is there a way to find the value of a similar piece that can only move, without capturing, or only capture?
Let's say the value of a piece that moves and captures in the same way is known. Then a similar piece that can move in the same way as the piece of known value, but which cannot capture, and ...
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Three Knights vs one Queen, which is better?
Suppose the end game contains three knights and king only for white, and one queen and king only for black. Which side is considered to be in a stronger position?
Value-wise, the knights are worth 9 ...
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Point assigned to move in Lucas Chess
I am a person trying to get better using Lucas chess. I am using the competitive mode and starting with the easiest engine. The tutor will suggest moves from time to time and will have a number ...
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What are the piece values in chess.com's four player chess?
In chess.com's four-player chess, they evaluate the bishop and rook as an equal 5 points. But the geometry of the board is far more diagonal, perhaps making the bishop actually worth more than the ...
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Novice Kid Play and Declaring Winners when Recess is Over
Children at my school have become very interested in playing chess during morning break and in before/after care. However, they only have a limited amount of time to play and must clean up...so, they ...
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Material value of the Berolina pawn
The Berolina pawn is a fairy piece that moves like a normal pawn, but can move two (and one in all other cases) steps diagonally and capture one forward. How much better (or worse) is this piece ...
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What is the highest value of pieces on this particular 6x6 board, without any of them attacking each other?
I got a question in school in which I have to get the highest score possible by adding pieces on a 6x6 board like this:
The rules are that they are the same color and may never attack each other, and ...
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What are the scales of the numerical evaluations of the strongest engines based on?
Different engines have different scales for their numerical evaluations (for example, Houdini's evaluations are usually much lower than Stockfish's evaluations). This is because different engines use ...
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How much is the value of the wizard?
I came up with a new chess piece called the "Wizard".What it does basically is that it can switch places with any piece(except pawns) and for 1 move it has the attributes of the switched ...
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Value Of Pieces [duplicate]
I am reading a book by Yasser Seirawan, and in it he assigns the following values to each piece:
Pawn: 1 point
Knight: 3 points
Bishop: 3 points
Rook: 5 points
Queen: 9 points
King: infinite ...
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Chessboard Materials
[FEN "rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR"]
Starting a game with a total of 78 point-value, how many legal moves are required to produce the maximum total point-value on a ...
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What is the point value of each chess piece? [duplicate]
I would like to know the point values of each chess piece. I forgot the values because I have not used that system in quite a long time.
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Why is bishop slightly better than a knight? [duplicate]
While i was going through the chess piece values, Bishops is worth 3.30 points while Knight has 3.0 points.
Although the 1/3/3/5/9 system of point totals is the most commonly
given, many other ...
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How much is the king worth material-wise? [duplicate]
In chess classes, I have been told either that king is worth an infinite amount of points or 10 points. What is the actual material-worth of the king piece?
user20480
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What fraction of a Pawn do the most powerful chess engines (Komodo, Stockfish, Houdini, Fritz, Hiarcs, Gull, ...) use as their evaluation unit?
I've heard that the most common evaluation unit is 1/100 of a Pawn. But some engines use 1/1000 of a Pawn as their evaluation unit.
I've also heard that Stockfish used 1/256 of a Pawn as its ...
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