Expert: Tony D'Aloisio - 1/26/2008

Question
How much dollars are the king,queen,pawn,rook,bishop,and knight are?

Answer
Well, I'm not really sure what their monetary values are...but their relative values are usually given as follows (with a Pawn equal to 1):

Queen = 9
Rook = 5
Bishop = 3 (some say a bit more--up to 3 1/2)
Knight = 3

The King of course is priceless, since its capture ends the game.  In terms of relativity mobility though, it's usually thought to be around 4--somewhere between a Bishop (or Knight) and a Rook.

These values are only approximations though, and all sorts of considerations can alter them (sometimes quite drastically).  Also bear in mind that the farther a Pawn moves down the board, the closer it comes to being able to promote into a Queen.  A good deal of the subtlety and nuance of the game is involved in perceiving these fluctuations, and taking advantage of them accordingly.