We've split this article into 2 parts.
In Part 1, we'll introduce you to the subject of Advantage Detection and cover the first two methods.
In Part 2, we'll cover the remaining 3 methods to help you capitalize upon advantages that may arise in your own games of Chess.
Okay, so let's get cracking...
Introduction to Advantage Detection.
During games of Chess, at any given point, you need to know who has the advantage, in order to help you with knowing whether your plans and strategies are going, well, "to plan".
Sometimes, it's easy to know who holds the advantage - perhaps you've captured more Pawns and Pieces than you've lost. In that case, you'll have a material advantage...
Having more material than your opponent means you have more options for attacking the enemy's position. You can also tactically sacrifice material, to gain better positions, or weaken your opponent's remaining defenses.
However, sometimes it can seem less obvious as to which side is doing better. Perhaps you both share the same quantities of Pawns and Pieces? Does that mean there are no advantages?
Chess isn't as simple as, say football (soccer), where goals are what determines which side is doing better, or whether both are level. If Arsenal have scored 2 goals and Liverpool have scored 2, it's clear to see that both are level - neither has the advantage.
The closest thing to goals, in Chess, is whether material has been captured. However, there's more to determining Chess advantages than just the number of captures made.
Here are 7 methods for determining who holds the overall advantage, at any given point, during your games of Chess:
Method 1. Control
Knights, Bishops, Rooks, Queens, and even the Kings, "Control" the squares they can legally move to; protect; or, capture on, in any given turn.
Pawns only controls the squares that they can capture on, in any given turn.
Neither Pawns or Pieces Control the squares that they are currently sitting upon.
Focusing on a single square, let's assume that White has 1x Pawn, 1x Knight and the Queen all able to capture upon the square, should a Black unit stray onto it.
In contrast, Black only has 1x Bishop in sight of that same square.
White has 3 units targeting that square, while Black only has 1. Therefore, White "Controls" that square.
You can use the exact same procedure to determine who Controls, say, the Queenside versus the Kingside of the chessboard.
Or, if you tot-up all of the different squares Controlled by you and all of the squares Controlled by your opponent, you can determine who Controls the majority of the entire board.
Method 2. Mobility
Mobility refers to ability to move about the chessboard. You have more Mobility when you can put more of your troops onto squares that won't result in them being captured.
The fewer available, 'safe' squares, the less Mobility your army has.
It works the same for your opponent as it does for you.
At any given point in your game, you can take a look at the board and see who has more 'safe' options - or, who has the greater Mobility.
Having better 'Mobility' is another tick on your Advantages list.
And that concludes Part 1 of this 2-part article about Advantage Detection Methods in Chess.
In Part 2, we'll be looking at three remaining Advantage Detection Methods:
1. Occupation;
2. Point Count;
3. Space Count.
