i'll take a knight and bishop over a rook.
Especially in the middle game
In this position, white has to be winning. He has 4 pieces developed to black's one, he can easily add is queen and rook into the attack, and his king is in no real danger.
White's pieces are better developed and white has a tempo over black with the bishop threatening the queen.
I definitely like white here.
I prefer a knight and a bishop to a rook, even taking into account the slight king discomfort the trade forces.
Even though a P + R = 6 points and a N + B = 6 points, generally it is better to have the B + N. Usually when you make that trade that you did, (which I used to fairly frequently) you are trading away your best attacking pieces, so you'll not have much to do after the exchange except hold your hand while your opponent takes the initiative.
As is always the case with Chess, there are some situations where I'd rather have R + P than B + N, but you have to let the game tell you which occasions those are.
In a trade of a pawn and a rook for a night and a bishop, who comes out on top? Here is an example from a game that I played. Please tell me if you think my opponent came out on top or if I did.
(I ended up losing this game due to many other errors.)