Academy | Calculation | Counting | Example #2
We can calculate all the trades:
1… c5 2. dxc5 Bxc5? 3. Nxc5 Rxc5? 4. Rxc5
If you calculate this far, you will see that playing 1… c5 would simply lose the material.
Alternatively, we can quickly count: Black has two defenders (bishop and rook), while White has three attackers (pawn, knight, rook). This simple count already shows that 1… c5 would lose the pawn, unless there are some tactical resources—which, in this position, there aren’t.
Note: There are exceptions, but in a series of captures, it is usually best to capture with the lowest-value pieces first. In this example, after 1… c5, White would capture on c5 with the pawn first, rather than the knight or rook.