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. 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. Exchange TestsĮxchanging pieces can be tricky! 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.Ī common exchange is trading two minor pieces (knights or bishops) for a rook and a pawn. This should be interpreted as Black being ahead by one and a half pawns. If a computer engine evaluates a position as +5, then White is leading by the value of a rook!Įngines often give an evaluation with a decimal, like -1.5. These evaluations are directly correlated to chess piece values! For example, a +1 evaluation means that White is ahead one point (the value of a pawn) while a -1 evaluation translates to Black being ahead one point. This is because the king cannot be captured (an attacked king is in check), and also because checkmating the king is the true goal of any chess game.Įngines give evaluations based on a numerical assignment. The king is the only piece that doesn't have a point value. A pawn is worth one point, a knight or bishop is worth three points, a rook is worth five points and a queen is worth nine points. It should come as no surprise that the piece values are directly tied to a piece's strength. Chess Piece ValuesĪs mentioned, each piece has a different value.

However, chess piece values give us a good idea of which player is better or winning, or if the position is level. These point values don't determine who wins a game (the goal of chess is to deliver checkmate, not to capture the most pieces). This information helps us determine what piece should be traded for another piece, how we evaluate an exchange, and even how computer engines evaluate a position! Here is what you need to know about piece values:Ĭhess piece values give us a relative worth for each piece. Let's dive in and see what the chess pieces are worth! Every piece has different strengths and weaknesses, so they are valued differently. Chess piece values indicate the value of the different chess pieces and how they relate to each other.

Chess board pieces names