Relative Value of Chess Pieces
Everybody who has played chess knows the generic value of the pieces. Pawn is one, a knight is three, along with bishops, leaving the two most powerful pieces - the rook and the queen - a five and nine respectively.
This system is known as the 'Chess Piece Relative Value' system, and was created so that players could measure the value gained or lost by potential exchanges, and for players and computers to know the strategical value of each individual piece. However, many Grandmasters have disagreed with this system, and have proposed numerous changes.
The earliest known variation of the Chess Piece Relative Value system was proposed by Jacob Sarratt, one of the top chess players of the 18th and 19th centuries. Here was his proposition:
Jacob Sarratt (1813)
| ♙ | ♘ | ♗ | ♖ | ♕ | ♔ |
| 0.7-1.3 | 3.1 | 3.3 | 5.0 | 7.9 | 2.2 |
His changes involved going to the decimal places, and assigning a value to the king. What I find interesting about his suggestion is his biggest change, which is demoting the queen down by over one point.
Bobby Fischer (1972)
| ♙ | ♘ | ♗ | ♖ | ♕ | ♔ |
| 1 | 3 | 3.25 | 5.0 | 9 | ? |
Bobby Fischer's system remains pretty much unchanged from the generic values, except he places the bishop slightly above the knight. Everyone knows how well-rounded and deadly Fischer could be with a bishop pair, so that is likely the reason for this.
Garry Kasparov (1986)
| ♙ | ♘ | ♗ | ♖ | ♕ | ♔ |
| 1 | 3 | 3 | 4.5 | 9 | ? |
Like Fischer, Kasparov has little disagreement with the generic values, interestingly though, he shifts the value of a rook down half a point.
My Personal Ratings
| ♙ | ♘ | ♗ | ♖ | ♕ | ♔ |
| 1 | 3.25 | 3 (3.5 In Pair) | 5.0 | 10 | 4 |
I'm no Grandmaster, but I figured I would finish this blog off with my own personal ratings for each piece. I rated the knight a little more valuable, as I believe that a knight employed at the center of the board is more valuable than a single bishop, however, the bishops, when used in a pair, make a better duo than two knights. I would increase the queen's value to 10 points, as I feel like she is at least as valuable as two rooks, and around just as valuable as 3 minor pieces. I would finally rate the king at around a 4, as during endgame situations, the more active king is always more likely to win, and when used effectively, is better than a minor piece.
Conclusions
Thanks for reading! This is my first blog post and I am looking forward to perhaps publishing some more on some of the backgrounds of chess. Please feel free to share your own ratings!
