Counting attackers and defenders

WISE CAPTURES

The Bishops and Knights are worth 3 points but it is generally considered that the Bishops are
worth slightly more than the Knights. However, it depends upon the position on the board. In
positions where the centre is blocked by pawns, Knights (that can jump over these pawns) can
be better than Bishops that need open
diagonals to function efficiently.

DIAGRAM 1

In the diagram RHS, White is able to capture

either the Queen or the Bishop with her Rook.
The Queen is worth 9 points and the Bishop is
worth 3 points. Therefore, it would be better if
White captured the Queen because the Queen
is more valuable than the Bishop.

DIAGRAM 2

In the following diagram the Knight is able to

capture the Bishop or the Rook. If White
captures either piece the Knight will be
recaptured with a pawn. Is it still a good idea to
capture one of the pieces? If White captures the
Bishop she will lose her Knight. Therefore, she
will have gained 3 points and lost 3 points. It
would be an equal exchange. Nobody has
gained anything. However, if White captures
the Rook she will gain 5 points and only lose 3
points so capturing the Rook is a good
exchange!
COUNTING ATTACKERS & DEFENDERS

Diagram 3

Should White capture the Black Knight? If the

White Knight captured the Black Knight the
black pawn could take the White Knight and it
would be an equal exchanged. However,
let's look at little closer at the position. The
Black Knight is being attacked by White's
Knight, Bishop, Queen and Rook. Thus it
is being attacked four times. It is being
defended three times by the Black pawn,
Bishop and Queen. White can win a pawn
by playing 1.Nxd5 cxd5 2.Bxd5 Bxd5
3.Qxd5 Qxd5 4.Rxd5. It is generally a good
idea to capture with the piece of smallest
value first. If White had played 1.Qxd5 Black
could answer with 1...cxd5 2.Nxd5 and
Black need not continue to exchange
pieces. White has lost a Queen and only gained a Knight and a pawn. This is not good!

Counting how many times a piece is attacked and defended is a good way of working
out whether captures are wise. If a piece is attacked more times than it is defended,
it is possible that you will gain something by capturing it. When you attack something
with the same or fewer number of pieces you will not gain anything. When applying this rule
you must also remember the value of the pieces. It would not be good to win a Knight and
a pawn for a Queen!
Diagram 2

In the next diagram, the White Knight is attacking the pawn on e5 but it is being
defended by the Knight on c6. White can still win the pawn by capturing the defending Knight.
1.Bxc6 dxc6 2.Nxe5 wins a pawn. (Destroy the defender)

Some good advice about exchanging chess pieces

 Exchange pieces if by doing so you gain material. As little as an extra pawn can lead to
a won game.
 When you have more material than your opponent, exchange pieces not
pawns. When there are lots of pieces on the board the effects of your extra piece will
not be felt as much. International Grandmaster Arthur Bisguier gives a graphical
explanation. He says, "It's sort of like basketball or soccer: five players will sometimes
have trouble scoring against four opposing players, but take away three from each side
and the stronger team will find it easier to score with two players against one."
 When you have less material than your opponent, exchange pawns not pieces.
If your opponent has a Knight and pawns she will try to promote a pawn as she can not
checkmate with only a Knight. If she has only a Knight and no pawns the game is
drawn!
 When you are under severe attack exchange pieces. To quote Bisguier again, "The
fewer men each player has, the weaker the attacking player's threats become, and the
easier it is for the defending side to meet these threats."
 If you have a cramped position where your pieces do not have much room for
movement it is a good idea to exchange pieces. Exchange some of them and the others
will have more room to move!
 Exchange pieces if you weaken your opponents pawn structure by doing so.
In the diagram below, white wants to capture the pawn on e5. Will that capture win
material? To decide, count how many attackers are aiming at e5. Next count how many
defenders are protecting e5. Finally, check to see if the
attackers and defenders are of the same value. HINT: White
can capture on e5 with a b-file bishop, a c-file knight, or an
f-file knight. The quiz software allows only one "right"
answer. "c" which piece to capture with first!

Aiming at the e5-pawn in the diagram above, white had three

attackers (N, N, and B) and black had two defenders (N, B).
Knights and bishops are worth three points each. So each
attacking and defending piece was of equal value. Since
there was one more attacker than defender, white won a
pawn. Now you have the basics of counting. In To take, or
not to take, the values of the attackers and defenders vary
for more of a challenge. In the meantime, The Count wants
you to count! Count both attackers and defenders every time you are considering a capture.
The capture will win material if there are more attackers than defenders...

REFERENCES
http://www.chesscorner.com/tutorial/basic/capture/capture.htm

https://www.chesskid.com/article/view/count-attackers-and-defenders