27
votes
Accepted
How many pawns make up for a missing queen in the endgame?
The simple and obvious answer is that it all depends on the position of black's pawns and king. In general the further up the board the pawns the better for black provided the king is in contact with ...
- 94.5k
20
votes
Accepted
Does blitz change the relative value of position vs material?
It just seemed obvious to me that gambits would work better with faster games, for the same reasons as given in the comments - it's harder to defend than attack, etc. I tried looking at several ...
- 18.5k
13
votes
Accepted
Why is this position considered to give white a significant advantage?
[FEN "r4rk1/2p1qppp/1p3n2/p7/2B4B/4P3/PPQN1Pbb/2KRR3 w - - 0 1"]
1. f3 {traps the bishop} Rad8 2. Re2 Bxf3 (2...Bd6 Rxg2 Kh8 Rh1 {the Black king is not safe at all}) 3. Bxf6 Qxf6 (3...gxf6 ...
- 3,469
13
votes
Accepted
How to objectively explain a positional advantage is worth a sacrifice (re: a specific example)
White has a lot of compensation for the sacrificed exchange, specifically:
more space: the white central pawns are perfectly placed to limit the movement of the black knight and bishop
play on the ...
- 20.7k
12
votes
Accepted
Shortest sequence of moves to create biggest material imbalance
I got this, which is much shorter.
[FEN ""]
1. a4 a5 2. b4 b5 3. c4 c5 4. d4 d5 5. e4 e5 6. f4 f5 7. g4 g5 8. h4 h5 9. bxa5 Bd6 10. axb5 Be6 11. dxc5 Nf6 12. cxd5 O-O 13. fxe5 Rf7 14. exf5 ...
- 560
10
votes
Accepted
When is a queen better than 3 minor pieces (or vice versa)?
The queen does a good job when there are a lot of weaknesses to attack, especially if the opponent's king is out in the open, so there are a lot of options for double attacks.
The pieces are ...
- 19.2k
10
votes
How many pawns make up for a missing queen in the endgame?
First of all, White wins in the diagram you provide, although it's not obvious at a glance how. White plays Qf2 first to stop the king from advancing. Black can't just sit there forever because the ...
- 18.5k
9
votes
Are there any gambits which yield an advantage for the side down material?
While it's a gambit by Black, what about Tal's gambit? Black is scoring 55% in 228 grandmaster and elite correspondence games after 1 e4 c5; 2 f4 d5; 3 exd5 Nf6. I'd call Black doing better than 50% ...
- 191
8
votes
When is a queen stronger than two rooks?
As a general rule, two Rooks tend to be stronger than a Queen. Typical endgames like 2R+5P vs Q+5P are much better for the rooks who will coordinate to attack the opponent's weakest pawn.
However, ...
- 15.8k
6
votes
Are there any gambits which yield an advantage for the side down material?
Games 61/62 of the 17th TCEC season featured such a gambit:
[FEN ""]
1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 c5 3. d5 Qb6 4. Nc3
White gambits the b2-pawn. After 4...Qxb2 5. Bd2, Stockfish evaluated the position as +0.61 ...
- 26.1k
6
votes
How to objectively explain a positional advantage is worth a sacrifice (re: a specific example)
This answers your question by showing the pull White has. White's advantage is real. But I think it is important to notice how resilient a defender can be. This is a great example of how difficult it ...
- 19.9k
5
votes
Accepted
When is a bishop stronger than a rook?
The standard value for a piece that we learn early on (Queen=9 pawns, Rook=5 pawns, Bishop,Knight=3 pawns) is often a very good guidepost for people to make proper trades and find good tactical ...
- 7,988
5
votes
Are there any gambits which yield an advantage for the side down material?
You can play the Queen's gambit if you go for 3.Nf3, actually offering your opponent a chance to stick to the pawn later on, so even if it's not a "real gambit" at move 2, you can turn it into one ...
- 16.3k
4
votes
Accepted
B+N worth R + how many pawns?
Only a general answer can be given for this:
Generally the exchange of R+P (sometimes an extra pawn) for a Bishop and Knight favors the player who has the Bishop and Knight afterwards due to the ...
- 436
3
votes
When is a queen better than 3 minor pieces (or vice versa)?
A lot depends on whether there are other pieces involved and the pawn structure.
If you mean positions with Q alone vs three minor pieces then relative king safety comes into play. The side with the Q ...
- 1,227
3
votes
Accepted
How is a game of chess won?
If you don't count forfeits (including time forfeits) then yes, the two possibilities for losing a game are resignation or checkmate. There may be other reasons for resignation than material or ...
- 18.5k
3
votes
How to objectively explain a positional advantage is worth a sacrifice (re: a specific example)
By material, white is down three pawns. (R+P vs B) -3
White has the bishop pair, which is ~pawn 1
White has more space ~ 1/2 pawn 1/2
White has great lead in ...
- 3,122
2
votes
What is sufficient mating material?
AFAIK sufficient mating material is considered as such if a "helpmate" can be demonstrated in any number of moves. Put another way, it is as if the player that ran out of time is out of the game, and ...
- 121
2
votes
When material is counterproductive (construction task)
Many solutions indeed exist. The hard part is actually finding one. All pieces must be intertwined. With a few promoted bishops, I have managed to find one. It can be reached in 55 moves.
[FEN "&...
- 17.1k
2
votes
When is a queen better than 3 minor pieces (or vice versa)?
According to the Syzygy tablebase, the position is likelier to be winning for the queen than for the minor pieces.
in KQ v KBBN, 48.9% of positions are wins for KQ, a further 2.3% are frustrated wins ...
- 6,265
2
votes
When is a queen better than 3 minor pieces (or vice versa)?
Generally speaking the queen is going to be better when the opponent's king is exposed to checks and/or when the position is "loose" ie pieces and pawns hanging, pawn weaknesses etc.
If the ...
- 4,249
2
votes
Are there any gambits which yield an advantage for the side down material?
A variation of the Caro Kann, Advance: Tal Variation called Caveman Variation is a "gambit" where White can gambit mere pawns, or whole pieces, but probably will mate. If Black should go for ...
- 3,469
2
votes
Maximum futile material (in illegal position) neither winning nor forcing stalemate
I don't think this position can be improved, but feel free to show me the contrary (note that the double check is retroillegal too, but who cares in an illegal position!):
[FEN "Krkqqqqq/q1pqqqqq/...
- 15.5k
1
vote
Are there any gambits which yield an advantage for the side down material?
Yes, for example, the Polugaevsky gambit has a positive evaluation for White and it was used by AlphaZero against Stockfish back in 2017, producing an absolutely stunning game. Btw, 21. Bg5!! is not a ...
- 787
1
vote
Are there any gambits which yield an advantage for the side down material?
the fried liver is one of the 2 only real gambit stockfish likes, or the queens gambit. it appears that the benko gambit is one gambit that have big pressure against whites Q side
1
vote
B+N worth R + how many pawns?
Chess is a dynamic game and so the pieces get their values according to the position on the board at the time and what they are doing. This is fluid and subject to change.
That said, as a general ...
- 94.5k
1
vote
B+N worth R + how many pawns?
I think, in a middle game scenario when there are more number of pieces and pawns on the board, giving up a single Rook for two pieces (Knight and Bishop) is a good trade. This might be because the ...
- 1,262
1
vote
How to exploit the advantage of a bishop over a knight?
What are some guidelines for playing in this situation, or top player
games that give a clear demonstration of possible plans?
It is probably worth starting off by recommending two books.
...
- 94.5k
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