Inchess,compensation is the typically short-term positional advantages a player gains in exchange for typicallymaterial disadvantage. Short-term advantages involveinitiative andattack.
Compensation can include:
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| 8 |        | 8 | |||||||
| 7 | 7 | ||||||||
| 6 | 6 | ||||||||
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Arook 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 betweenLev Polugaevsky andLarry Evans,[1] the rook on the seventh rank enables White todraw, despite being a pawn down (Griffiths 1992:102–3).
Position after 5.Ne5 |
Position after 13.Nc3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A famous 1960 game between futureworld championsBoris Spassky andBobby Fischer began with aKing's Gambitopening.[2] Whitesacrifices 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 thebishop 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 thebishop pair for theexchange.
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| 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 upthe 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 eventhe exchange.
Bibliography
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