Compensation (chess)
In chess, compensation is the typically short-term positional advantages a player gains in exchange for typically disadvantage. Short-term advantages involve initiative and.
Forms
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 and/or better .
- 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,,, or.
Examples
Polugaevsky versus Evans
A rook on the seventh 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. In this position from a game between Lev Polugaevsky and Larry Evans, the rook on the seventh rank enables White to draw, despite being a pawn down.Spassky versus Fischer
A famous 1960 game between future world champions Boris Spassky and Bobby Fischer began with a King's Gambit opening. White sacrifices a pawn on his second move:reaching the position shown. Fischer examines an alternate fifth move for Black:
reaching the position shown, where Fischer explains "White has more than enough compensation for the pawn."