Chess Guide for the Intermediate Player/Tactics for beginners

Value

Value is an approximate number for evaluation and analysis. If you are "up in material", the value will be positive; vice versa.

Let's say the pawn is worth 1 unit. Then, bishops and knights (also known as "minor pieces") are worth 3 units, rooks are worth 5, and queens are worth 9. (They are called "major pieces".) The king, of course, is worth ∞ unit, because if you lose your king, you lose the game.

There are two variations of this value system. One says minor pieces is worth 3½ units, the other is more complicated. We'll see the second one in the "Engine Programming" chapter because it is usually used in chess engines.

Note that units are usually referred to as "points".

Defending

Defending is the simplest tactic. If you place one of your pieces so that it attacks a square occupied by a friendly piece, the former is defending the latter. If your opponent captures the defended piece, you can recapture with the defending piece (see below for a description of an exchange). However, if after a defending piece moves and the king would be exposed, the defending piece would not be able to move.

Exchanging

Exchanging means to capture a defended piece. Because that piece is defended, your piece will (probably) immediately get recaptured by the defender. Exchanging is also known as "trading".

We can use the chess piece values in order to decide to exchange or not. What's the value of the piece that you captured? What about the pieces that he captured? For example, you should NOT use a queen to capture a defended pawn (or "trade a queen for a pawn" because a queen is worth 9 points, but a pawn is only worth 1 point.

Sometimes, exchanging can be complex, because a piece can have multiple defenders and attackers, so after the first attacker is lost, the second attacker can continue. This is called a complex exchange. Calculate carefully before a complex exchange. A way to create complex exchange is to build "batteries", which are the lining up of multiplex long-ranged pieces in a row so they can make breakthrough on the piece it is aiming even though that piece is defended.

Trade Example 1: an "even" trade

Now we are going to look at an even trade which happens in opening. An even trade is a trade where you didn't gain any advantage on values, but also didn't lose any.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 is known as the Ruy Lopez Opening (also known as the Spanish Opening). The b5 bishop is threatening the c6 knight, and can trade it (which means to capture something and get recaptured) off or retreat any time.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

3...a6 is the Morphy Defense. Black forces White to make a choice: trade on c6 or retreat to a5.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

4. Bxc6. White decides to take. Now Black can take the bishop with b7 or d7 pawn. Because bishops and knights are minor pieces, this trade is even (3 points for 3 points).

Trade Example 2: an "uneven" trade

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Black is given a choice: exchange or retreat.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Black decides to take the rook.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

White recaptures. This was an uneven exchange (5 points for 9 points). (Note that this position is a draw.)

Batteries

Batteries are formed when multiple pieces work together (e.g. rook-rook, queen-rook, or bishop-pawn).

A triple battery is formed when the queen and two rooks work together. It can be very dangerous. The queen should be placed behind one or both rooks, as it is the most powerful piece.