How to Capture Enemy Pieces in Chess
Chess Action
In chess, the primary aim is to defend one's king while also pursuing the opponent's king. Between these two ends, a player attempts to weaken the enemy by attacking their men. When a chessman of one side takes over the square occupied by man from the other side, it is termed a capture. A captured chessman is removed permanently from the board. The only time a captured piece can make a kind of return is when a pawn attains a promotion to the rank of the captured piece (e.g. a queen).
Captures are very important in chess since the strength or weakness of an army is directly influenced by it. To be able to make captures wisely and correctly can make the difference between losing and winning. To avoid them means survival.
Chessmen Values
Every chessman has an assigned value that tells you how valuable it is. The only exception to this is the king, who is never captured. All the other pieces can be captured.
Chessman Symbol Value King K N/A Queen Q 9 Rook R 5 Bishop B 3 Knight N 3 Pawn P 1
Note that bishops and knights share the same point value. Most of the time, bishops are considered stronger than knights. But when the action is close and pieces block another, the knight's ability to jump over occupied squares becomes very useful.
It goes without saying that the king is the single most important piece on the chess board. He is so precious that he is invaluable—literally. A point value is assigned to every chess piece except the king. Further, the king is never actually captured in a chess match. When he is checkmated, the game ends right then. The checkmate then, is symbolic of the king's capture.
Capture Decisions
The most straightforward type of capture is when the area is clear of other pieces, there is only one target piece and the capturing piece will not be in any danger. There is no question as to what should be done. Often though a choice needs to be made.
Suppose there are two enemy chessmen available for capture by the same piece? You have to decide which of the two you should seize. Pick the most valuable one. For example, if a queen can capture either a rook or a knight, one should choose the rook.
What if capturing an enemy piece would result in a capture of the offending piece? Again you should use the point system to judge. For instance, a white bishop has the option to capture a black rook. After capturing the rook, the bishop would be under attack from the black queen. Should you proceed with the capture? Yes—because a bishop is worth only 3 points, whereas a rook is worth 5 points. Your opponent loses more than he or she gains in this one. It's a smart move.
Another point in capture is you have to foresee where a series of captures will lead to. If several pieces are capable of attacking/defending the same area, you need to weigh your captures and sacrifices. If you are going to lose a queen just to gain a pawn, it is obviously not worth it.