piece values

In chess the pieces have the approximate values

Queen 9.5

Rook 5.0

Bishop 3.0

Knight 3.0

Pawn 1.0

What are the values for the piece in Shogi?

There are several systems.

The "best" proposed system might be Tanigawa's value table.

Pawn = 1

Lance = 5

Knight = 6

Silver = 8

Gold and promoted Silver = 9

Promoted Knight and Promoted Lance = 10

Tokin (Promoted Pawn) = 12

Bishop = 13

Rook and Horse (Promoted Bishop) = 15

Dragon (Promoted Rook) = 17

But shogi is not a very materialistic game.

While attacking you can promote pieces, fork pieces and exchange weak pieces for strong pieces. So a good initiative is worth a lot of material.

Important to know:

- 2 Generals are worth more than a major piece

- 2 Minor Pieces are worth more than a General

- Having 1 Pawn in hand is very important and can be worth giving up an exchange

- Many pieces of little value are usually worth more than few better pieces because they give more attacking options.

Keep in mind: Chess values of pieces can change during the chess game and are relative!

The difference in chess piece value between a rook and a bishop or between a rook and a knight, is 2 pawns if the position is equal.

Do exchange your knight or bishop for the rook of your opponent to gain a material advantage in an even position.

The value changes as the game goes on and depends upon the structure of the particular position.

For example:

A knight is stronger than a bishop in a blocked position.

A bishop is stronger than a knight in an open position.

TWO bishops are stronger than two knights in an open position.

TWO knights are stronger than two bishops in an blocked position.

TWO knights are stronger than a bishop and a knight in an blocked position.

TWO bishops are stronger than a knight and a bishop in an open position.

Karthum, why is a promoted pawn worth more than a promoted knight or lance, and why are all of these worth more than a gold or promoted silver? Aren't they all golds? I guess a promoted lance is a gold that can turn back into a lance if captured, so is that the difference? But why would a promoted pawn be worth more than a promoted knight or lance?

I think the reason a promoted pawn is worth more than a gold (or a knight or a lance) is because a base pawn is worth less than a gold (or a knight or a lance). It means that you can throw your promoted pawn into an attack (or sacrifice) without being afraid of giving your opponent a good piece. You need to be more careful with your gold (or knight or lance).

yes, that makes sense! :))

Thankyou Karthum are there different values for minishogi?

What about a piece in hand, wouldn't they be different to those one the board?

Yes there are exceptions to the rule, but it is a basic guide to understand how to handle exchanges and I consider a helpful start to understanding shogi.

The king effectively has infinite value and therefore any amount of material sacrifice that gets checkmate is justified!

"The king effectively has infinite value and therefore any amount of material sacrifice that gets checkmate is justified!". True but in many chess endgames the king has also a practical value, usually equivalent to a minor piece. Of course, as opponent always would also have his king, their values would cancel off. Nevertheless, many times, player with a more active king wins.

As shogi has no endgame (at least in chess perception of the meaning of this word), king's practical value seems more or less irrelevant to me. Its position may be crucial to put opponent's king into a checkmate net, though...

In support of what U have been saying...NICE OBSERVATION!!

These are just a few situations which may be encountered in the course of a game, so it is always advisable to examine your pieces in relation to the squares they control before making a move. But remember, as a general rule of thumb:

King = 10,000

Queen = 9

Rook = 5

Bishop = 3

Knight = 2.7

Pawn = 1

Chess, like life, is ever-changing, and should be treated as such. Happy playing!

Of course the king in chess can win the ending by having a better position than his counterpart, but the value I was considering just concerned if the king is effective captured (mated) then any "sacrifice" is fully justified to achieve mate.

Putting the piece on the right square is naturally another part of the journey towards improvement.

I hadn't have read the LG's forum for a long time and I accidentally found this topic today. I know it's rather late but I think I would like to share my view on the values of minishogi pieces since there are no information so far.

When I play minishogi. I classify the pieces into three categories;1-King, 2-weak piece-Pawn, 3-strong pieces-the rest. If I put points to each piece except for King, it's like this;

Rook --- 5.0
Bishop --- 4.5
Gold --- 4.5
Silver --- 4.0
Pawn --- 1.0
Promoted Rook --- 7.0
Promoted Bishop --- 6.5
Promoted Silver --- 5.0
Promoted Pawn --- 5.5

Practically, I would rather take care of keeping the number of my own strong pieces four or more on the board and in hand after some exchanging transaction than to seek for minor material advantage.

Of course, like shogi, drastic sacrifice will be justified when there is mate for the opponent's King.

Thankyou Takodori