Chess: Values are only relative
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.ANYONE who still believes that a pawn is worth one point, a knight and bishop three each, while rooks and queens trade at five and nine respectively, does not understand the chess equivalent of the theory of relativity. While the 1,3,5,9 system gives a first approximation, the true value of each piece depends on the nature and positions of every other piece on the board.
Today's game from Amsterdam features confusingly changing balances of material. Ivanchuk's 7. e4]? led almost by force to a position at move 18 in which he had rook, knight and pawn for his queen. Numerically, it sounds equal (1+3+5=9), but in reality Black's game is precarious. If he plays 18 . . . c5 (attacking the knight on e4), then 19. d5] gives White a powerful passed pawn, and minor pieces are especially good at shepherding passed pawns forward.
By guarding d5, 18 . . . Nb4 made the threat of c5 real, but 19. Bd6 created new problems. After 19 . . . Bxd6 20. Nxd6 Qe7 21. c5, White's knights will dominate the game from d6 and e5. So Timman gave up rook for knight, and Ivanchuk promptly returned it. After 23. Rac1? Nxd4, Black stands better thanks to the co-ordination between queen and knight. 25. Re1 bxc5 26. Be5 Qxc4 27. a3 leaves White impregnable, despite having 'only' rook and bishop for the queen.
White: Ivanchuk
Black: Timman
1 d4 Nf6 14 Ne4 Be7
2 c4 e6 15 Rd1 Na6
3 Nf3 b6 16 Bxc6 dxc6
4 g3 Ba6 17 Bf4 Qb7
5 Nbd2 Bb7 18 Nxg4 Nb4
6 Bg2 Be7 19 Bd6 c5
7 e4 Nxe4 20 Bxe7 Qxe4
8 Ne5 Bb4 21 Bxf8 Qxg4
9 Qg4 0-0 22 Bd6 Nc2
10 Bxe4 f5 23 dxc5 Nxa1
11 Bxb7 fxg4 24 Rxa1 Qd4
12 Bxa8 c6 Draw agreed
13 0-0 Qc7
The London Chess Centre, 369 Euston Road, London NW1, has an open day of free events, lectures and simultaneous displays on Saturday 21 May. 071-388 2404 for details.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments