Chess strategy and tactics
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One of the charms of the game of chess is the interplay between tactics and strategy. Tactics refers to “traps”, “tricks” or “combinations” that achieve checkmate or material advantage within a few moves (more or less) while strategy refers to achieving long-term goals through the proper development or arrangement of the pieces on the board in the absence of any short-term opportunities.
Values of the pieces
One thing that applies both strategically and tactically is material advantage. If you command more pieces, or more powerful pieces, than your opponent, you will have greater opportunity.
A knight is about as valuable as a bishop (these two are called minor pieces), but less valuable than a rook, and less still than a queen (rooks and queens are called major pieces).
Three pawns are likely to be more useful than a knight in the endgame, but in the middlegame a knight is often more powerful. Two minor pieces are stronger than a single rook. Two rooks are stronger than a queen, but not by much.
One commonly used simple scoring system is 1 point for a pawn, 3 for a knight or bishop, 5 for a rook, and 9 for a queen. Under a system like this, giving up a knight or bishop in order to win a rook (“winning the exchange“) is advantageous and is worth about two pawns. This of course ignores such complications as the current position and freedom of the pieces involved, but it is a good starting point.
Further reading
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John Nunn: Understanding Chess move by move, Gambit 2001. A top player explains the thinking behind every single move of several master class games.
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Jeremy Silman: The Amateur’s Mind: Turning Chess Misconceptions into Chess Mastery, Siles Press 1999. A chess teacher analyzes and corrects the thinking of advanced beginners.
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James Eade: Chess for Dummies. As comprehensive as one can get for beginners, this book in the familiar yellow format has the added advantage of being generally available in bookstores that know nothing about chess.
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