Oftentimes, we find ourselves in a position where we can’t discern who is better in a position. One of the best ways to evaluate this is to separately consider four topics and then comparing the whole. This may sound confusing, but with practice, it becomes much easier.

So how do we evaluate a position? There are four things we need to look at in order of importance

1) King safety

2) Piece activity

3) Material

4) Pawn structure

Let’s start by talking about King Safety. Obviously, the king is the most important piece on the board so it only makes sense that how safe our king is is prioritized in evaluating who is better in a position. If your king has just a mere pawn covering it while your opponent has an army of pawns plus a knight guarding it, your opponent’s king safety is better. In most situations, it is very easy to tell who’s king is safer.

Take a look at the below position. Whose king do you think is safer?

If you said white, that would be correct. White has pawns closely covering his king plus many pieces surrounding it. Though black does have pawns in front of his king, they’re not directly in front. Secondly, his pieces are not protecting the king that well. White can easily begin his infiltration with Rxc1+, Bxc1, Bb5+.

The second thing to take a look at is Piece Activity. In the below, same position, who’s pieces do you think are more active?

This is a little harder to find out, but black is better in terms of activity. White’s pieces are all cramped and in the back while black’s pieces are free and ready to attack. So, black wins the point for better piece activity.

Third is material. Material is simply counting all the points to see who is winning. If you are not familiar with how many points each chess piece is worth, read our blog post on it before continuing. Now, try to see who is winning in terms of material in this position.

If you said white, you would be correct. White is ahead by 11 points.

Lastly, we have pawn structure. Pawn structure is essentially counting how many pawn islands you and your opponent have. If you are unfamiliar with the concept of pawn islands, read our blog post on it before continuing.

In the position, is white’s or black’s pawn structure better?

If you said black, you would be correct. Black has two pawn islands while white has three. Technically, white is considered to have two pawn islands as g3 will make it two, but since black will still continue to dominate more space, black is better.

So from these 4 evaluations, what can we conclude as part of the whole? White is winning in terms of king safety and material, but black is winning in terms of piece activity and pawn structure. So is it safe to assume that the position is equal? No.

The reason is that King safety is prioritized over piece activity, material, and pawn structure; piece activity is prioritized over material and pawn structure; and material is prioritized over pawn structure.

Although both black and white are better in two, white is overall better as he has a safer king which is prioritized over the others.

Thus, white is better in the this position.

Try this example yourself. Who is better in the below position? (The answer can be found below the image.)

Answer: Black is winning in this position

Evaluating a Position

Pawn Islands

Middle Game Ideas