Who has the advantage?

Alright, let's try a new position:

I'd go with white on this one, since the four queens can easily form batteries threatening checkmate.

...while black blocks those batteries effectively. Meanwhile, white's king is exposed, and black has enough material compensation for the three queens

I feel like it's a similar situation to the one I posted in my first comment, where people generally preferred black. Here white's situation is similar to black's in my first post - king exposed, but ahead in development. So I would say white has an advantage, but of course I could be wrong. Technically black is up 3 points in material, but since there is a lot of argument as to how much a queen should be valued, I think we can basically consider the two sides to be equal in terms of material.

its actually hard to say, now that I think about it more

This last position is easily won by black, on average among equal players. The first position posted is easily winning for white because black having no paws can never build any territory and keep it. That's what pawns do. In the last position black is

simply up a piece with all the pawns

I had to edit that

3 reasons
1: Though the rook has the capabilities of being more powerful that a bishop, it is only through the opening of the files do they really achieve peak performance. Since the ending position was littered with pawns, black's rooks are not as strong.
2:  A bishop pair can be quite formidable (and is often underrated). From move 22 to move 30, white's bishops are optimally placed, giving them the greatest influence, and equalizing the position.
3: White has first move, and therefore the best chances. ;) 

I don't know about that...black having no pawns gives him an accelerated development...something to consider.

I understand the fast development but then what after the pieces are out. There must be a PLAN based on imbalances. Ok, black has a lead in development. So his plan should be to open the game quickly to take advantage of that and go after whites king. Given that be has no pawns to open the game with (exchanging pawns) he would have to sac. That only works when there is a weakness to target. White just plays normally and protects everything.

,My Opinion, is like the old joke ,opinions are like a--holes,everybody has one,Butt in this case ,I believe the answer seems to be to obvious ,a high majority will say White ,it looks to good to be true ,an illusion of sorts, any chess player would take 4 Queens , but Black must be laughing ,Harry Houdini is playing Black-I am not versed enough to know the answer but my money  and my reputation is on the opposite of obvious (i have no reputation),winnerdmc3-1400+ 

White has the advantage if the game plays in a turn-by-turn basis (regular). It would be very difficult for black to not be placed in a checkmate due to white's quick development and massive threat.

However, if black was given the chance to develop properly then white would very likely lose.

Forced mate in 10 for white.

rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/8/2QQKQQ1 w kq - 0 1

Analysis by Houdini 3 Pro x64:

1.Qxf7+ Kxf7 2.Qh5+ g6 3.Qcg5 e6 4.Qxh7+ Rxh7 5.Qxg6+ Ke7 6.Q1g5+ Nf6 7.Q6xf6+ Kd6 8.Qd4+ Kc6 9.Qc3+ Kb6 10.Qga5# 

+-  (#10)    Depth: 22/20   00:00:08  94967kN

However if you switch the placements of the king and queen black gains -2.0 advatage.

rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/8/1QQKQQ2 w kq - 0 1

Analysis by Houdini 3 Pro x64:

1.Qcf4 Nf6 2.Qxf6 gxf6 3.Qxf6 d6 4.Qxh8 e5 5.Qf1 Bg4+ 6.Kc2 Qc8 7.Kb2 Be6 8.Qbxh7 Nd7 9.Qh6 c6 10.Qd3 d5 11.Qa3 c5 12.Qg5 d4 13.Qa4 Qc6 14.Qxc6 bxc6 15.Qh7 Rb8+ 16.Kc2 c4 

-+  (-1.96)    Depth: 19/58   00:00:49  442mN

Yup, that looks like a pretty definitive conclusion. Thanks for your comment! Does anyone want to put up a new position to discuss?

I would say though black and white have equal material, from just the quick glance would choose white because even though he has no queen his pawns being all on the 2nd rand are protected and the king is very safe. Once white develops his minor piece, black will be spending a lot of time figuring out how to defend his completely open king! Yes a queen is a powerful piece but how will black mate white if its busy dealing with white's threats on the open black king? macer75 wrote:

Hi everyone!

So in this thread, people can post interesting (but not necessarily realistic) positions that seem more or less equal at a glance, and we will discuss which side has an advantage.

To start off, this is a highly unrealistic yet intriguing position:

So, who has the advantage here?

Thanks for your input Genkstar! So far most people think that black is better, but I tend to agree with you, pretty much for the same reasons you have mentioned. One thought I would like to add, though is: you said that once white develops his minor pieces black's King will be under constant threat. However, black can develop more quickly than white, so maybe balck can move his minor pieces onto good squares and force trades?

for some reason I can't see the positions? Could you describe the material imbalances?

@GROLK The position I'm referring to is the first post. White has all pieces in starting position minus a queen and black also has all piece in starting position minus all his pawns. Material is even 9pawms=1queen, but like mentioned earlier I believe white is better due to his king having protection while blacks king is exposed anywhere he goes and only way to be protected is at the cost of using a few minor pieces to make a barrier like if they were pawns.

@Macer75 Yes even though black doesn't have to waste 4 pawn moves to get the bishops, rooks, & queen out; just think of a regular game, even oncr those pieces are out, its still not simple to mate with all pawns being on 2nd rank, while white continues developing, as protecting his king further can then disregard black's attack and start his own attack on the exposed black king on white fully develops and castles to safety. And if done correctly, I believe black won't have time to finish his attack as unlike black who has to position his pieces prior to attacking, white's every move could not only be setting up the pieces for the final blow but they all can come with check thus forcing black to strictly defend as opposed to say disregard white's moves and continue on his own focus, or say counter attack. I might be wrong, maybe there is some forced mating net from this type of position for black, but unless one of us sets this position up and has Fritz or Rybka auto play for both sides and proves black's superiority, I am sticking to Advantage White :-)

Advantages?

8/8/1pk5/1pb5/1p1p4/1P1PpK2/1BB1P3/8 b - - 0 1

Analysis by Houdini 3 Pro x64:

1...Kd5 2.Kf4 Bd6+ 3.Kg4 Bb8 4.Ba1 Ke5 5.Kh4 Kd5 6.Bb1 Bd6 7.Kh3 Bc7 8.Bc2 Bb8 9.Kh4 Bc7 10.Kg4 Ke5 11.Bb1 Bd8 12.Kf3 Bc7 13.Kg3 Bd6 14.Kg4 Be7 15.Bb2 Bd6 16.Kg5 Be7+ 17.Kg6 Bh4 18.Ba1 Bd8 19.Bb2 Be7 20.Ba1 Bd8 21.Bb2 

+/-  (1.55)    Depth: 36/57   00:00:32  375mN

(Doe,  06.07.2013)