Chess Piece Relative Value - Changing Valuations in The Endgame

Changing Valuations in The Endgame

As already noted when the standard values were firstly formulated (Lolli 1763:255), the relative strength of the pieces changes as a game progresses to the endgame. The value of pawns, rooks and, to a lesser extent, bishops may increase. The knight tends to lose some power, and the strength of the queen may be slightly lessened, as well. Some examples follow.

• A queen versus two rooks

• In the middlegame they are equal
• In the endgame, the two rooks are somewhat more powerful. With no other pieces on the board, two rooks are equal to a queen and a pawn

• A rook versus two minor pieces

• In the opening and middlegame, a rook and two pawns are weaker than two bishops; equal to or slightly weaker than a bishop and knight; and equal to two knights
• In the endgame, a rook and one pawn are equal to two knights; and equal or slightly weaker than a bishop and knight. A rook and two pawns are equal to two bishops (Alburt & Krogius 2005:402–3).

• Bishops are often more powerful than rooks in the opening. Rooks are usually more powerful than bishops in the middlegame, and rooks dominate the minor pieces in the endgame (Seirawan 2003:ix).
• As the tables in Berliner's system show, the values of pawns changes dramatically in the endgame. In the opening and middlegame, pawns on the central files are more valuable. In the late middlegame and endgame the situation reverses, and pawns on the wings become more valuable due to their likelihood of becoming an outside passed pawn and threatening to promote. When there is about fourteen points of material on both sides, the value of pawns on any file is about equal. After that, wing pawns become more valuable (Berliner 1999:16–20).

C.J.S. Purdy gave minor pieces a value of 3½ points in the opening and middlegame but 3 points in the endgame (Purdy 2003:146, 151).