For questions about material (im)balances, which happen when each player has different pieces on the board, e.g. a Bishop vs. a Knight or an exchange (Rook vs. minor piece). Use this tag only if it's the main topic of the question, not just because it contains a position with a material (im)balance.
Questions tagged [material-balance]
20 questions
28
votes
6 answers
What is sufficient mating material?
The FIDE chess rules describe that "The game is draw when a position is reached from which a checkmate cannot occur by any possible series of legal moves" (FIDE rule 9.6). This rules is sometimes referred to as "Insufficient mating material rule",…
Morten Zilmer
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19
votes
6 answers
When is a queen stronger than two rooks?
Two rooks are stronger than one queen. Let's assume that the material is equal, except that one player has a pair of rooks while the other player has a queen. In what situations is the queen stronger than the pair of rooks?
Rauan Sagit
- 6,686
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18
votes
3 answers
How many pawns make up for a missing queen in the endgame?
My partner and I are newbies, and recently found ourselves in this position:
FEN 8/8/8/6kp/p5p/8/K/6Q w
[FEN "8/8/8/6kp/p5p/8/K/6Q w - - 0 1"]
I expected white would easily win because of the queen (and point) imbalance, but white never made time…
ladenedge
- 283
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13
votes
1 answer
Does blitz change the relative value of position vs material?
The way I see it, true gambits trade material for position, which in turn could give you opportunities to regain more material. However, in blitz play, you are less likely to notice those opportunities in order to exploit them. Is it fair to say…
MWB
- 430
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13
votes
6 answers
When is a queen better than 3 minor pieces (or vice versa)?
Obviously a lot is going to depend on the exact position, but I'm asking if there are any general signposts - e.g. bishops usually get better than knights if the position is open, or in an endgame, but I can't say the same about Q vs 3 minors.
Allure
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13
votes
3 answers
How to objectively explain a positional advantage is worth a sacrifice (re: a specific example)
I was given the below position in the US chess magazine. Author said this position is "hopeless for black". Lichess engine says 1.5 advantage for white.
Why? I understand "piece points" are only a rule of thumb, but I also don't have any other…
Alexander Bird
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10
votes
1 answer
When is a bishop stronger than a rook?
Usually the rook is stronger than the bishop. Are there situations (and obviously I'm not assuming equal material) in which the latter is stronger?
Vincenzo Oliva
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7
votes
3 answers
How to exploit the advantage of a bishop over a knight?
Occasionally in a tournament game I will find myself with a material imbalance of BvN or BBvBN in a situation where I know the extra bishop should be superior (center cleared of pawns, pawns on both sides of the board, etc).
However, I don't think…
Cleveland
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6
votes
8 answers
Are there any gambits which yield an advantage for the side down material?
For this question I'm interested only in gambits that:
Are real gambits. That is, the side that's risking the material actually ends up down material + cannot count on winning the material back. This, e.g., excludes the Queen's Gambit because 1. d4…
Allure
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5
votes
1 answer
Why is this position considered to give white a significant advantage?
In this position, black's king is safe, has a secure queenside pawn structure, and has taken out white's left pawns and is up 2 points of material. Despite this, lichess evaluates this position at +3.5. Why?
qazwsx
- 193
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5
votes
1 answer
Shortest sequence of moves to create biggest material imbalance
What is the shortest game with the largest material imbalance? This of course means that one side will have 9 queens, 2 rooks, 2 bishops, 2 knights, and a king, and a bare king on the other side. From some experimenting, I got this:
[FEN ""]
1.h4…
ericw31415
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5
votes
6 answers
B+N worth R + how many pawns?
Purely by piece counting, B+N is worth R + 1P. But I've seen lots of time when the exchange favours the side who holds B+N. In one variation of Scotch, white exchanges R+2P for B+N and is still slight in favour.
What are the ideas surrounding this…
jf328
- 2,438
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4
votes
3 answers
Is there a forced mate/ winning advantage?
Recently I played a game in a High School league match as the top board. I played f4 followed by d5 (very standard). I played passively and waited out his attack and soon gained the momentum. At around the 25th move we progressed to this situation:
…
theeppright
- 165
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4
votes
1 answer
How many materially equal positions are there?
Reading about the Shannon number, I see that there are about 1043 positions in chess, but how many of them are even? That is, materially (as an approximation). A position with one king vs 8 pawns and a king is not really interesting.
user2371
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2
votes
2 answers
Maximum futile material (in illegal position) neither winning nor forcing stalemate
We assume standard (P1BN3R5Q8) value (personally I prefer 1,3,3,4.5,9 but so there).
To get a drawn position with maximum material difference, not caring about that it's illegal, we just have to plaster the field with bQs and shield the wK in the…
Hauke Reddmann
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