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.
Compensation can include:
a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | ||
8 | 8 | ||||||||
7 | 7 | ||||||||
6 | 6 | ||||||||
5 | 5 | ||||||||
4 | 4 | ||||||||
3 | 3 | ||||||||
2 | 2 | ||||||||
1 | 1 | ||||||||
a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h |
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).
|
|
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:
reaching the position shown (first diagram). Fischer examines an alternate fifth move for Black:
reaching the position shown (second diagram), where Fischer explains "White has more than enough compensation for the pawn." ( Fischer 2008:123)
Possession of the bishop pair often yields long-term compensation for sacrificed material.
a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | ||
8 | 8 | ||||||||
7 | 7 | ||||||||
6 | 6 | ||||||||
5 | 5 | ||||||||
4 | 4 | ||||||||
3 | 3 | ||||||||
2 | 2 | ||||||||
1 | 1 | ||||||||
a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h |
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.
a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | ||
8 | 8 | ||||||||
7 | 7 | ||||||||
6 | 6 | ||||||||
5 | 5 | ||||||||
4 | 4 | ||||||||
3 | 3 | ||||||||
2 | 2 | ||||||||
1 | 1 | ||||||||
a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h |
A relatively interesting middlegame has been reached. White is up the exchange, while Black is compensated by two active bishops forming a crisscross pattern.
a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | ||
8 | 8 | ||||||||
7 | 7 | ||||||||
6 | 6 | ||||||||
5 | 5 | ||||||||
4 | 4 | ||||||||
3 | 3 | ||||||||
2 | 2 | ||||||||
1 | 1 | ||||||||
a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h |
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.
Bibliography