Which is generally stronger? a queen or two rooks?

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Avatar of Senior-Lazarus_Long

Queen,to prove it I will play anyone with you having King,2 Rooks,and all 8 pawns,against me having King,Queen,and all 8 pawns.

Avatar of Discogambits

Generally speaking,  two Rooks are stronger than a Queen.However, without reference to the specific position,  the previous statement is of rather limited value.

Avatar of Senior-Lazarus_Long

No,all 8 pawns on their original squares. Then Queen wins easily.

Avatar of TurboFish

The queen (at least in open positions) because she is so adept at forking.

Avatar of TurboFish
Lasker1900 wrote:

And if you get into an ugly argument with your opponent, you have two rooks to throw at him, and he has only one measly queen QED

But the sharp points on the queen's crown will do more damage than blunt rooks, and she's taller, so she'll penetrate deeper into the brain.  Surprised

Avatar of VIPchesschamp

Two rooks are usually better. If there are open files on the board the rooks are almost always better. If there are key diagonals to be attacked the queen may have superiority. All depends on the situation, but I almost always take two rooks.

Avatar of diamondpawn1

It all depends on the position of the peices that are on the board.If its away down to two Rooks and a king checkmating a king,then two rooks can do it a lot sooner.Two rooks are 10 points to the Queens nine points,so if i was in that position soon in mygame i would take the two rooks.

Avatar of hatsubuu
Avatar of Nordlandia

Two rooks are worth slightly more than a queen, but much depends on the position. The rooks benefit from open files and the possibility of lining up against enemy pawns. They are poor at combining duties and cannot easily go on the attack if they are tied down by defensive responsibilities. Therefore a safe king is an important asset when playing with the rooks. Conversely, the side with the queen should attempt to weaken the enemy king position.

Understanding Chess Middlegames. 

Avatar of FChopin99

3 pieces > queen

2 rooks > queen

Avatar of eastyz

What about a wrestling match?  The rooks will have to play tag.

Avatar of Nordlandia

FChopin99 

How much better is two rooks vs queen "Ceteris Paribus?

The answer = trivial stronger. 

Statistically meaningless. 

Avatar of eastyz

But ceteris are now always paribus.  In fact, they rarely are.

Avatar of Nordlandia

«A natural assumption is that the two rooks will be stronger than the queen in the majority of positions; another is that a material balance is struck when the side with the queen has an extra pawn. I must admit that, when I examined top-flight games from my database, I was surprised to see that the queen outscored the rooks. I would have predicted a small edge for the rooks but in fact the side with the queen managed 55%»

«The Queen is weaker than two Rooks if the hostile King is protected against Checks, otherwise it may be stronger. Ceteris paribus, it would appear that the Queen is trifle weaker than two Rooks»

Definition of trifle "something that does not have much value or importance"

"With other things the same" or "other things being equal or held constant"

Avatar of VeetheEspeon

Depends on the position really. On average I would say the two rooks though.

Avatar of SaintGermain32105

There's a game of Alekhine on the subject, the board was crowded and he was the proud queen holder on the occasion, if I'm not mistaken.

Avatar of dragonair234

If we're talking about eating pieces then it depends which piece tastes better. 

Avatar of u0110001101101000

10 > 9 so... yeah... hopefully it's not too confusing.

Avatar of Elubas

The two rooks are better when they are more effective than the queen. Sometimes, though, the queen is better, particularly in positions where the queen is the better piece.

Avatar of 123lord456

a pawn is stronger