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Making good trades

Piece values and how to come out ahead.

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What a learner can do afterwards

  • Can explain Making good trades

The lesson

Every piece is worth about a number of points. This helps you decide if a trade is good. A pawn is worth 1. A knight is worth 3 and a bishop is worth 3. A rook is worth 5. The queen is worth 9.

A trade means you give up a piece and take one of the other side's pieces. A good trade wins points: you give a smaller piece and take a bigger one.

Good to know

The king has no number because you can never trade it. Losing the king loses the game.

Try it together

You can take a rook worth 5 with your bishop worth 3. Count the points. You come out ahead, so it is a good trade.

Pawns are 1, knights and bishops are 3, rooks are 5, and the queen is 9, so trade a smaller piece for a bigger one.

Watch it

Where it sits

Then practise

8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.

Making good trades · Chess, ages 8 to 11 · LightMySky