The Strength of Different Chess Pieces

Video Transcript

Now I would like to tell you about the relative value of the pieces. And I will do it in terms of Pawns. And understand, it is only an approximation and indeed it can be different in different circumstances. But to give you some idea, it is normally considered that the Knight is worth three pawns. The Bishop is normally considered to be worth three or three and a quarter Pawns. Some people believe that a Knight and a Bishop are identical. There is a growing field of belief, however, that the Bishop is a shade stronger than the Knight. But again, it depends on position. In certain enclosed positions, you saw the Knight's ability to jump the pieces. It might be more useful to have a Knight. Whereas in a nice, open situation, the Bishop would probably be the stronger piece. But one thing is for sure, and that is that two Bishops with their ability to cover both sets of diagonals, are stronger than two Knights. The Rook is reckoned to be worth five Pawns and the Queen, your strongest piece, is normally believed to be worth in the region of nine Pawns. A thing to note there, of course, that two Rooks, each being worth five pawns, a total of ten pawns, would actually be considered stronger than a Queen worth nine pawns.

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