Piece values

What is each piece worth?

The table takes the soldier as its unit. A soldier is worth 1 before it crosses the river and 2 after it. An advisor and an elephant are worth 2 each, a horse and a cannon 4 each, and a chariot 9. The general does not appear in the table.

Treat these values as a first estimate. They do not take into account where the piece stands (apart from the soldier's crossing of the river), where the other pieces stand or how many pieces are left.

Two terms come up in the rest of this guide. The minor pieces are the horses and the cannons. The defensive pieces are the advisors and the elephants, which, apart from the general, are the only pieces that cannot cross the river.

Horse or cannon?

A horse and a cannon together are generally better than two horses or two cannons. When you compare one horse with one cannon, the stronger piece changes as the game goes on. Early on the cannon is stronger, because screens are plentiful and the many pieces on the board often block the horse. In the endgame the horse is the stronger attacker, since it needs no screen, while the cannon generally defends better.

On the first board, the cannon on b2 can take the horse on b6, because the horse on b4 stands between them as the screen. It cannot take the chariot on b8, with two pieces in between, or the soldier on g2, with none. The second board shows the horse's leg, the first point of its move. The soldier on e4 stands on that point and blocks both of the horse's forward jumps from e3, to d5 and to f5.

The chariot

The chariot is the strongest piece, and it is generally stronger than any two minor pieces together. When the material on both sides is about equal in value, the side with more chariots generally has the advantage, above all when one side has a chariot and the other has none. A Chinese saying puts it briefly: 有车压无车 (you ju ya wu ju), "the side with a chariot presses the side without one". Before you give up a chariot, then, make sure you get more than its value back, and take the most care over your last one.

In basic endgames, though, the chariot is not particularly strong. Against the four defensive pieces a chariot generally only draws, while two horses, or even three unadvanced soldiers on the first two ranks past the river, usually win.

The soldiers

A soldier's value doubles when it crosses the river, because from then on it may also step sideways. On the board, the soldier on e5 has crossed, so it may step forward to e6 or sideways to d5 or f5, although it still may not step back.

The soldiers' worth also depends on the stage of the game. In the opening and the middlegame, keeping the initiative and your pieces' mobility often means giving up soldiers. The soldiers nearer the centre file are generally worth more, because they can join the attack. Once few attacking pieces are left, soldiers gain power and cross the river more easily, but an advanced soldier is generally weaker at that stage, since soldiers cannot move backward.

In basic endgames, three soldiers that start on their seventh rank, the second rank past the river, are about equal to a chariot. They can force a win against the four defensive pieces, or against a horse or a cannon with two elephants, where a chariot cannot. A chariot, in turn, cannot force a win against them when they are well defended.

At the other extreme, even five soldiers that have all reached the opponent's back rank cannot force checkmate or stalemate against a bare general, because they do not have enough material. When you weigh a trade, start from the values, then ask what stage the game is in and where the pieces stand. The numbers will not choose your trades for you, but they give you a first count to check them against.