Jump to content

Compensation (chess)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In chess, compensation is the typically short-term positional advantages a player gains in exchange for typically material disadvantage. Short-term advantages involve initiative and attack.

Forms

[edit]

Compensation can include:

  • Better pawn structure.
  • The "two bishops", or "bishop pair", which refers to having bishops of both colors while your opponent does not. Almost all modern players consider having both bishops as an advantage, although historically there has been great debate as to how much of an advantage they constitute. The two bishops are most likely to show their power in the endgame.
  • Better piece activity and/or better development (common in gambits).
  • Having the enemy king exposed to future attack, either due to a loss of pawn cover or being trapped in the center of the board, is often excellent compensation.
  • Passed pawns are often decisive in the endgame. Connected and/or protected passed pawns are even more deadly.
  • Control over key squares, diagonals, files, or ranks.

Examples

[edit]

Polugaevsky versus Evans

[edit]
Polugaevsky vs. Evans, 1970
abcdefgh
8
g8 black king
b7 black pawn
d7 white rook
g7 black pawn
a6 black pawn
c6 black pawn
a5 white pawn
f5 black pawn
b4 black rook
e3 white pawn
f2 white king
g2 white pawn
h2 white pawn
8
77
66
55
44
33
22
11
abcdefgh
White to move, draws

A rook on the seventh rank (the opponent's second rank) is usually very powerful, as it threatens the opponent's unadvanced pawns and hems in the enemy king. A rook on the seventh rank is sufficient compensation for a pawn (Fine & Benko 2003:586). In this position from a game between Lev Polugaevsky and Larry Evans,[1] the rook on the seventh rank enables White to draw, despite being a pawn down (Griffiths 1992:102–3).

Spassky versus Fischer

[edit]
Spassky vs. Fischer, 1960
abcdefgh
8
a8 black rook
b8 black knight
c8 black bishop
d8 black queen
e8 black king
f8 black bishop
g8 black knight
h8 black rook
a7 black pawn
b7 black pawn
c7 black pawn
d7 black pawn
f7 black pawn
h7 black pawn
e5 white knight
e4 white pawn
f4 black pawn
g4 black pawn
h4 white pawn
a2 white pawn
b2 white pawn
c2 white pawn
d2 white pawn
g2 white pawn
a1 white rook
b1 white knight
c1 white bishop
d1 white queen
e1 white king
f1 white bishop
h1 white rook
8
77
66
55
44
33
22
11
abcdefgh
Position after 5.Ne5
abcdefgh
8
a8 black rook
b8 black knight
c8 black bishop
d8 black queen
e8 black king
g8 black knight
a7 black pawn
b7 black pawn
c7 black pawn
f7 black pawn
h7 black rook
d6 black pawn
h6 black bishop
h5 black pawn
c4 white bishop
d4 white pawn
e4 white pawn
f4 white pawn
g4 black pawn
c3 white knight
d3 white knight
e3 white bishop
a2 white pawn
b2 white pawn
c2 white pawn
d2 white king
a1 white rook
d1 white queen
h1 white rook
8
77
66
55
44
33
22
11
abcdefgh
Position after 13.Nc3

A famous 1960 game between future world champions Boris Spassky and Bobby Fischer began with a King's Gambit opening.[2] White sacrifices a pawn on his second move:

1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5 4. h4 g4 5. Ne5

reaching the position shown (first diagram). Fischer examines an alternate fifth move for Black:

5... h5 6. Bc4 Rh7 7. d4 d6 8. Nd3 f3 9. gxf3 Be7 10. Be3 Bxh4+ 11. Kd2 Bg5 12. f4 Bh6 13. Nc3

reaching the position shown (second diagram), where Fischer explains "White has more than enough compensation for the pawn." (Fischer 2008:123)

The bishop pair

[edit]

Possession of the bishop pair often yields long-term compensation for sacrificed material.

Berthelot versus Flear

[edit]
Berthelot vs. Flear, 1988
abcdefgh
8
f8 black king
a7 black pawn
b7 black pawn
c7 black pawn
f7 black pawn
g7 black pawn
h7 black pawn
b6 black bishop
g4 black bishop
c3 white pawn
a2 white pawn
b2 white pawn
g2 white pawn
h2 white pawn
a1 white rook
b1 white knight
e1 white king
8
77
66
55
44
33
22
11
abcdefgh
Two bishops and a pawn are often sufficient compensation for a rook and knight.

An unbalanced position has arisen straight out of the opening, in which, with an open center, Black has a pawn and the bishop pair for the exchange.

Balashov versus Quinteros

[edit]
Balashov vs. Quinteros, 1976
abcdefgh
8
a8 black rook
b8 black knight
b7 black bishop
e7 black king
a6 black pawn
e6 black pawn
f6 black pawn
h6 black bishop
b5 black pawn
g4 black pawn
c3 white knight
a2 white pawn
b2 white pawn
c2 white pawn
g2 white pawn
h2 white pawn
c1 white king
d1 white rook
e1 white knight
h1 white rook
8
77
66
55
44
33
22
11
abcdefgh
Position after 21...Bh6+. White is up the exchange; Black is compensated by two active bishops.

A relatively interesting middlegame has been reached. White is up the exchange, while Black is compensated by two active bishops forming a crisscross pattern.

Bishops of opposite colors

[edit]
Example position
abcdefgh
8
a8 black rook
c8 black bishop
d8 black queen
e8 black king
h8 black rook
a7 black pawn
b7 black pawn
f7 black pawn
g7 black pawn
h7 black pawn
d5 black pawn
d4 white knight
e4 black pawn
b3 white pawn
e3 white pawn
a2 white pawn
b2 white bishop
d2 white pawn
f2 white pawn
g2 white pawn
h2 white pawn
d1 white queen
f1 white rook
g1 white king
8
77
66
55
44
33
22
11
abcdefgh
Opposite-colored bishops and White's knight anchored in the center yield compensation for loss of the exchange. Black is better, but Black's bishop cannot dislodge the white knight from its centralized outpost.

Opposite-colored bishops sometimes give the defender drawing chances in the long run, even if the opponent has a material advantage of one or two pawns or even the exchange.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Lev Polugaevsky vs. Larry Melvyn Evans, Siegen ol (1970)". Chessgames.com.
  2. ^ "Boris Spassky vs. Robert James Fischer, Mar del Plata (1960)". Chessgames.com.

Bibliography