How to evaluate positions in chess

Many things have been written about the game of chess

. However, it is not so easy to find a clear guideline about how to evaluate a position in chess. The criteria that should be taken into account are:

Material balance

This is the first and most tangible way to judge a position in chess. All one needs to know is how much each piece is worth on general grounds (pawn=1; bishop=3; knight=3; rook=5; queen=9).

Normally, this criterion is not enough when playing against strong chess players, as gaining material is not always possible.

Pawn structure

As Franois Philidor (french chess player from the 18th century) once said: "Pawns are the soul of chess". Long term weaknesses such as isolated pawns, double pawns must be avoided unless these pawns control key squares or they have a high potential to promote.

In chess, a good pawn structure is given by compact "islands", where pawns can normally protect each other. All things being equal, the fewer pawn islands, the better.

King safety

A king in danger is fatal for the position, regardless of any material advantage. Sometimes this is difficult to evaluate when there are no direct threats. As a general rule in chess, having a king in the middle of the board for no reason is extremely dangerous with heavy pieces (queens and rooks) on the board. When castling, sometimes the king needs not only pawns but pieces to protect him.

Better endgame

In this case the king normally takes action since with fewer pieces he is normally less threatened. If the opponent has long term weaknesses (such as holes, weak pawns or inactive pieces) exchanging queens and his/her remaining active pieces is useful to exploit an advantage in an endgame

So when analyzing a position in chess, these 4 aspects must be taken into account. Any worsening of the position should be offset by improving one or more of the other aspects.

How to evaluate positions in chess

By: Manuel

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