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Chess Piece Values: What Each Piece Is Worth
The point values of the chess pieces, why they work, when to break them, and how to use them to decide whether a trade is good.
Before you can tell whether a trade is good, you need to know what you're trading. Chess players use a simple point system to compare the pieces. It isn't a rule of the game, and there is no score at the end, but it's the first tool every strong player uses to judge a capture.
The standard values
- Pawn: 1 point
- Knight: 3 points
- Bishop: 3 points
- Rook: 5 points
- Queen: 9 points
- King: priceless, since losing it loses the game. As a fighting piece in the endgame it's worth roughly 3 or 4.
The values come from how many squares each piece controls on an open board and how useful that control is. A queen combines a rook and a bishop, so it's worth about 5 + 3, plus a little extra for doing both jobs from one square. A rook on an open file reaches up to 14 squares; a knight in the centre reaches only 8, but it can jump.
Using the values to judge a trade
Add up what you give and what you get. Giving a knight (3) for a rook (5) gains you 2 points; this is called winning the exchange, and the rook-for-minor-piece swap is simply called "the exchange". Giving a bishop (3) for three pawns (3) is roughly even. Giving a rook (5) for a knight (3) loses 2 points, so you need a good reason, such as a winning attack, to do it.
A practical habit: before every capture, count how many times the square is attacked and defended, and by what. Attackers outnumbering defenders isn't enough: if a pawn is guarded by another pawn and you take it with a knight, you've given 3 points for 1 however many pieces you have behind it. Capture with your least valuable piece first, and only start a sequence of captures you can finish ahead.
Knight or bishop?
Both are worth about 3, but they are good at different things.
- Bishops love open positions with long diagonals and pawns on both sides of the board. They can stop a pawn from far away.
- Knights are better in closed positions, where pawns block the diagonals, and on outposts: squares in the enemy half that no enemy pawn can attack.
Two bishops together, called the bishop pair, are usually worth about half a pawn more than a bishop and knight or two knights. Between them they cover every square, and in an open position they can be overwhelming.
When the numbers lie
The values describe pieces on an average board. Real positions are rarely average, and these factors can change a piece's worth:
- Activity. A rook stuck in the corner behind its own pawns does less than a knight in the centre. A "bad" bishop hemmed in by its own pawns on its own colour can be worth less than a pawn.
- King safety. Giving up a rook to strip away the pawns in front of the enemy king can win the game outright. Material only matters if the game lasts long enough to use it.
- Passed pawns. A pawn on the seventh rank, one step from becoming a queen, may be worth as much as a rook.
- The stage of the game. Rooks grow stronger as the board empties. Knights grow weaker in endgames with pawns on both wings because they're slow to switch sides.
- Combinations of pieces. Two rooks are usually a little better than a queen in the endgame, while a queen is often better than a rook and a minor piece when there are targets to attack.
Common trades and what they mean
- Knight for bishop: even on paper. Judge it by whether the position will open or stay closed.
- Two minor pieces for a rook and a pawn: in the middlegame, the two pieces are usually better, because they work together and attack more.
- Queen for two rooks: roughly even, slightly favouring the rooks if they can work together.
- Queen for rook and minor piece: roughly even; the side with more pieces often has the easier game to play.
Material in the endgame
Being ahead in material matters most when the pieces come off. A simple rule: when you're ahead, trade pieces, not pawns. Each trade makes your extra material count for more, and keeping the pawns keeps your winning chances. When you're behind, do the opposite: avoid trades and keep the position complicated.
Some endgames are draws despite extra material. A lone knight or bishop can't checkmate, and a rook against a bishop is usually a draw with good defence. Knowing these exceptions saves you from trading into a dead draw.
Practise it
Play a few games against the computer at an easy level and, before every capture, say the count out loud: "I give 3, I get 5." It feels slow at first. After a week it becomes automatic, and you'll stop losing pieces to trades that only looked good.