Which Piece Is Better?

 

Many of my ChessKid friends ask me, which piece is better? Two rooks or a queen? A knight or a bishop?

The answer, of course, is that it depends on the position.

A pair of something is usually better than a mix or a single piece.

And chess is really a combination of material plus position, so the position always matters. If you are up a queen but about to get mated, the extra material is irrelevant!

LoyalOval, IndigoFender, EncouragingPearl, GoldWizard, & WonderfulWren this is for you!

Who is winning?

For example, a pair of rooks is extremely strong, and many times they are better than a queen!

It is usually the person with the initiative that is winning. The person who is attacking has a chance of using their pieces, right?

Two pawns on the 6th rank are better than one rook!

Unstoppable little pawns!

A pair of bishops is stronger than a bishop and a knight.

In the middle of the game, "Horwitz's Bishops" (having the bishop pair), is very useful in creating an attack.

In fact, these bishops are so good, you can use them both right away! (Does that make sense? Do you see how they are useful in the attack compared to Black's bishops?)

(Click for answer)

In the endgame, it's quite difficult to mate with bishop and knight -- often inexperienced players will just call it a draw!

But mating with two bishops is a little more clearcut. (Click for articles on how to do both mates.)

Sometimes I'd rather have a knight, and sometimes a bishop. Can you figure out which piece is better in the puzzles below?

Which is better the bishop on g5 or the knight on f6? Black just played h6. Trade?

 

Which is better: the bishop on g7 or the rook on a1? Should you play Bxa1? 

 

Answers:

1. The bishop, of course! The knight is pinned and can't even move. I would play Bh4 and maintain pressure on the pin, encouraging them to play g5 and weaken their castled king! No trade!

2. So, this fianchetto bishop is so strong here, there's no way I'd trade it, even for a rook!!

I wouldn't worry too much about the queen and dark-squared bishop infiltrating my position. Instead, I'd trade the bishop for the knight this time! Do you see what Black could play next? 1...Bxf3 2. gxf3 (opens White's king!) 2...Nd4 with a fork and a super fork lurking.

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