{"id":17099,"date":"2022-04-15T18:35:22","date_gmt":"2022-04-15T18:35:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/?p=17099"},"modified":"2022-04-23T07:23:02","modified_gmt":"2022-04-23T07:23:02","slug":"when-a-pawn-is-better-than-a-queen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/en\/when-a-pawn-is-better-than-a-queen","title":{"rendered":"When a Pawn is better than a Queen"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\"><strong>When a Pawn is better than a Queen<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n<p>When we talk of some pieces being better than others in chess, we are talking about statistical facts. This is, we are talking about what pieces perform better in actual practice. Chess is a formal game in which the ultimate goal is to capture the opponent\u2019s King: material relations are only a very handy and quite reliable way to evaluate our chances. As a matter of fact, there are exceptions to all rules about<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Chess_piece_relative_value\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> material value<\/a>. As an extreme example, we can see that sometimes a pawn is better than a Queen. Of course, these examples are so rare that simply ignoring them wouldn\u2019t hurt our chess evaluation very much in the overall scheme of things.<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>Example of a pawn being better than a Queen<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>For example, in the following diagram we can see a legal chess position in which a pawn is stronger than a Queen and a Knight. Indeed, if the f5-pawn was magically traded for the a8-Queen, the position would be a draw. Interestingly, this position is won only thanks to the fact that White can leave black in zugzwang! One may think that it\u2019s glaringly obvious that this position is a win for White, but this is not the case. In fact, Stockfish 12 engine, whose rating is above 3500 (far above the Worl Champion!), doesn\u2019t see a win for white even at depths close to 80 ply (half moves). As humans, we can immediately realize that the Queen is very inactive on a8, and that it will have trouble to come out to the battle arena.<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>Composition by Alejandro Tello: &#8216;When a pawn is better than a Queen&#8217;<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n<p class=\"rpbchessboard-spacerBefore\"><\/p>\n\n<div class=\"rpbchessboard-chessgame\">\n    <noscript>\n        <div class=\"rpbchessboard-javascriptWarning\">\n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        <\/div>\n    <\/noscript>\n    <div id=\"rpbchessboard-69d463600ad0b-1\"><\/div>\n    <script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n        (function() {\n            function renderThisPGN() {\n                RPBChessboard.renderPGN(\"rpbchessboard-69d463600ad0b-1\", {\"pgn\":\"[Event \\\"?\\\"]\\r\\n[Site \\\"?\\\"]\\r\\n[Date \\\"2022.04.15\\\"]\\r\\n[Round \\\"?\\\"]\\r\\n[White \\\"Composition\\\"]\\r\\n[Black \\\"Alejandro Tello\\\"]\\r\\n[Result \\\"*\\\"]\\r\\n[Annotator \\\"Alejandro Tello\\\"]\\r\\n[SetUp \\\"1\\\"]\\r\\n[FEN \\\"qn5k\\\/1p1p4\\\/pPpP4\\\/P1P2Pp1\\\/6P1\\\/8\\\/8\\\/K7 w - - 0 1\\\"]\\r\\n[PlyCount \\\"35\\\"]\\r\\n\\r\\n{In this position, if the Pawn on f5 and the Queen on a8 magically disappeared,\\r\\nit would be a draw. However, with its extra Queen, Black is lost. Let&#8217;s see\\r\\nwhy.} 1. Kb2 Kg7 2. Kc3 Kf7\\r\\n\\r\\n(2... Kf6 3. Kd4 {The Black King has to move away\\r\\nand allow the enemy infiltration.})\\r\\n\\r\\n3. Kd4 Kf6 4. Ke4 Kf7 5. Ke5 Kg7 6. f6+ Kf8\\r\\n\\r\\n(6... Kg6 7. f7 $1 Kxf7 8. Kf5 {transposes.})\\r\\n\\r\\n7. f7 Kg7 8. f8=Q+ $1 {White\\r\\ncould promote another piece, but it must promote.}\\r\\n\\r\\n(8. Kf5 $2 {This move is a\\r\\nmistake, because Black will gain the opposition when capturing the pawn.} Kxf7\\r\\n9. Ke5 {Now white has to defend the pawns on the Queenside, and won&#8217;t be able\\r\\nto make progres.}\\r\\n\\r\\n(9. Kxg5 {Capturing the pawn allows Black to free its own\\r\\nQueen. Let&#8217;s not forget that Black also has extra Knight! Consequently, when\\r\\nWhite promotes its pawn, it will arise with clear material deficit.} Ke6 10.\\r\\nKf4 Kd5 11. g5 Kxc5 12. g6 Kb5 13. g7 Kxa5 14. g8=Q Kxb6 $19 {Black is clearly\\r\\nwinning with its extra Knight and three pawns.})\\r\\n\\r\\n)\\r\\n\\r\\n8... Kxf8 9. Kf6 $1 Kg8 10.Kxg5 {The first phase of the strategy has been accomplised. Subsequently,\\r\\nWhite will try to put Black in &#8216;zuzwang&#8217;. For its part, Black has to try to\\r\\nstop the pawn from Queening.} Kg7 11. Kf5 Kf7 12. g5 Kg7 13. g6 Kg8 14. Kf6 Kf8\\r\\n15. g7+ Kg8 16. Kg6 {This position would be a stalemate if Black did not had\\r\\nits Queen! Unfortunately, Black is forced to move and the game will end very\\r\\nshortly.} Qa7 17. bxa7 b5 18. axb8=Q# {Checkmate. Sometimes, one pawn is better than a Queen} *\\r\\n\\r\\n&nbsp;\",\"pieceSymbols\":\"figurines\",\"navigationBoard\":\"scrollLeft\",\"withPlayButton\":true,\"withFlipButton\":true,\"withDownloadButton\":false,\"nboSquareSize\":40,\"nboCoordinateVisible\":true,\"nboTurnVisible\":true,\"nboColorset\":\"my-colorset\",\"nboPieceset\":\"cburnett\",\"nboAnimated\":true,\"nboMoveArrowVisible\":false,\"nboMoveArrowColor\":\"b\",\"nboSound\":true,\"idoSquareSize\":40,\"idoCoordinateVisible\":true,\"idoTurnVisible\":true,\"idoColorset\":\"my-colorset\",\"idoPieceset\":\"cburnett\"});\n            }\n            if (document.readyState === 'loading') {\n                document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', renderThisPGN);\n            }\n            else {\n                renderThisPGN();\n            }\n        })();\n    <\/script>\n<\/div>\n\n<p class=\"rpbchessboard-spacerAfter\"><\/p>\n\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>Are these extreme cases even possible?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>We can see that this position, although legal, is very unlikely to happen in a game. Surely Black must have played like a total patzer\u2026 Inspite of this, we can imagine scenarios in which a similar position could occur simply by the extreme pursuit of material gains. Let us suppose the next scenario: White gave a fork and captured a Rook on a8 with his Knight. Black brought its Queen to trap that Knight on a8 and captured it; White played a Rook to the eighth rank, attacking the Queen; Black had nothing better than interposing his Knight to save the Queen\u2026 White could have been advancing his Queenside pawns and locking the Black Queen while Black was capturing material.<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>Conclusion: In chess, material value is relative<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The value of a piece in chess is situational. The relative value of the pieces in chess is an statistical abstraction. Ultimately, the value of each piece depends on their position on the board in relation to the other pieces. A piece is as good as the function it fulfills for the ultimate aim of checkmating the enemy King. Sometimes, even the a priori weakest piece can be better than the strongest. Sometimes, a pawn is better than a Queen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When a Pawn is better than a Queen When we talk of some pieces being better than others in chess, we are talking about statistical&hellip;<\/p>","protected":false},"author":907,"featured_media":17100,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_ppp_document_settings_meta":"","cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[122,101],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english-language","category-fundamentos-del-ajedrez"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17099","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/907"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17099"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17099\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17327,"href":"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17099\/revisions\/17327"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}