How to assess a chess position

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You know what’s the commonest reason two chess players fight with each other?

(I’ll let you think for a minute)

.

.

.

They can’t agree on the evaluation of a critical position of their game.

Yep, that’s correct.

They can’t agree on which side has the advantage during a particular position on the board.

And you could think that this is due to their inability to be 100% objective.

And you would be partially right.

But the main reason for their disagreement is that they don’t KNOW how to properly assess a chess position.

Proper evaluation of a chess position is the cornerstone of chess improvement.

If a player THINKS he is better, he should try to attack (or risk losing his advantage).

But what if he was wrong and by attacking he would give his opponent the chance to open files and checkmate him?

If a player THINKS he can reach a winnable endgame, he may well force an exchange of pieces.

But what if he was wrong and by exchanging pieces he essentially hands the win to his opponent?

Evaluating correctly a position is a crucial chess skill that can be learned.

There are certain parameters that should be assessed in each position.

  1. King safety

It doesn’t matter if you have an extra Queen if your King is about to get checkmated. A safe King is necessary before even thinking of launching an attack. In every position, you should compare the safety of each King.

  1. Material on the board

This is the easiest parameter you should assess. Knights and bishops have similar value in most cases.

  1. Pawn structure

This is another easy parameter to evaluate. Doubled or isolated pawns are a liability in the endgame, but can be useful as part of an attack. Pay special attention to weak vs. strong squares created by pawns.

  1. Piece activity

An active piece is worth more than the same piece in an inactive role.

 

In general, evaluating your position as suggested above can help you in practical terms during a chess game especially if you don’t know what to do next.

This can give you guidance during the game e.g. by discovering vulnerabilities in your opponent’s camp or by highlighting which pieces to exchange (your inactive pieces for active pieces of your opponent).