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Ideal Values and Practical Values (part 3). More on the value of Chess pieces.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

H. G. Muller wrote on Thu, Nov 11, 2010 09:49 AM UTC:

I don't see what is being explained here. The Kaufman values for solitary B and N are exactly equal with 2x5 Pawns on the board; with fewer Pawns the Bishop has a small edge, with more Pawns the Knight. As 5 Pawns is a quite typical middle-game case, that is about as equal as it can get. Only the _second_ Bishop (if it is on the opposite color, which of course it always is) is worth a lot more than a Knight, the so-called pair bonus, which amounts to half a Pawn.

Now the Chancellor (RN) is about half a Pawn weaker than a Queen (RB). So how come 'the Chancellor is doing so well'? Seems to me it is not doing well at all. Before adding R they (i.e. N and B) were equal, after adding it the B has gained appreciably more than the N. In fact about as much as the pair bonus, which could be interpreted as due to lifting the color-boundedness.

Such interpretations are a bit dangerous, though, at least when used quantitatively. The 'lifting of color-boundedness' argument could also be used when adding N to B or R. But there it would have to explain away nearly a full 2-Pawn difference between R and B, as RN is only marginally stronger than BN in practice. And it is a bit strange that lifting the color-boundedness in one case would buy you 0.5 Pawn, and in another case, combining even less valuable pieces, 1.75 Pawns.

Anyway, it seems to me that attempts are made to 'explain' something that is the reverse from what is true.