Chess Points System and How to Use it to Your Advantage
In Chess, you may think that the only way to win is to checkmate the opposing King. However, if you have limited time to play, there is an officially accepted points system in place that can be used to determine who is the true winner. Each piece on the board has an assigned value, and if the game ends for some reason, the player with greater total points is declared the winner. The points system is as follows:
Pawns = 1 Point
Knights = 3 Points
Bishops = 3 points
Rooks = 5 Points
Queen = 9 Points
The only piece that does not have an assigned value is the King, because if your King is cornered, or checkmated, the opponent wins the game.
The points system is multipurpose though. It can be used to help you strategize quickly when making moves. For example, if a space with the opponent's rook is under attack by your knight, and the same space is under attack by an enemy piece, the you know that the risk is worth it, as if the knight gets caught you will still gain more points from the exchange. If a space with an opponent's bishop is under attack by your queen, and the same space is under attack by an enemy piece, you will know the risk of capturing the bishop is not worthwhile, because if your queen is captured, the opponent will gain more points from the exchange.
Here is one of our videos covering the topic:
