The True Value of a Piece
The True Value of a Piece
One of the first things you learn in chess is that all pieces have a different value. Pawns are worth a point. Knights are usually worth three points. Bishops are three to three and 1/2 points. Rooks are worth five. The queen is worth nine. The king is priceless, because, if you lose him you lose the game.
This is just a quick easy way to calculate who has the stronger army at any given moment. For instance, you could trade a knight and a bishop, which, together are worth about six points, for a rook and a pawn, which are also worth about six points. Or you could trade two Rooks for a queen and a pawn, all of which are combined worth about 10 points.
This is a good starting point but it’s just the beginning. A piece’s true worth is actually relative to something called Board Dynamics. Again, think back to controlling the center. A knight in the center of the board has more reach and influence. And therefore, it is more valuable than a knight in the corner.
One of the best examples of this was in the 1985 World Championship Match when Gary Casperov showed us that a single Knight, if positioned correctly, can dominate a queen and two Rooks simultaneously. That legendary little horsey was dubbed The Octopus Night, and he lives on in infamy to this very day.
Here’s how to use this Framework to think strategically inside of your business. The value of your people is dependent on what they’re capable of, and where you put them on the board. Jim Collins famously expressed this as getting the right people on the bus into the right seats. When you do this, it’s amazing how much easier the game actually gets.
This doesn’t just apply to business. This Framework can also work in your personal life. For example, if you’re struggling with a problem, let’s say weight loss, the question we often ask is, how should I solve this. But perhaps the better question is, who do I know that could help me solve this. Maybe your best friend’s brother is a nutritionist, and you could reach out for guidance and accountability. Boom the problem just became that much easier to solve.
A really great resource if you want to go deeper on this topic is the book named “Who, not how by Benjamin Hardy and Dan Sullivan”.