If you are in the midst of a chess game, you are very well aware of the material that is on the board. But when analyzing a position presented to you, whether it’s during a break in a tournament or while assessing a chess position in a book, it can be helpful to have a system to quickly count the material that is on the board. This may seem like a minor point, but it can save a second or two of time and reduces the risk that counting material will distract you from more important considerations.
By material, I’m referring to Q, R, B, and N. Pawns are material, but pawns serve a highly positional role in many positions, so I make a distinction and will talk about pawns in later posts.
Here is the system: Start with the queen, then the rooks, then the bishops, then the knights. Count how many of each are on the board for each side.
As an example, consider this position. For white we have 1-2-1-1, meaning there is 1 queen, 2 rooks, 1 bishop, and 1 knight. For black we have a count of 1-2-2-1. We immediately see a tangible difference in material – white is down a bishop.
Leave out pieces that are the same that have disappeared on both sides. For example, if there were no queens in this position, then we would start with the rooks, and we would count 2-1-1 (R-B-N) versus 2-2-1. As another example, if there were no bishops in this same position, we would have 1-2-1 (Q-R-N) versus 1-2-1, and material would be even.
So is is bad that white is down a bishop in this position? No. White has forced mate starting with Nxc6+. In this position, material is irrelevant. White wins.