http://www.princeton.edu/~jedwards/cif/intro.html

Larry Evans once wrote that there are four major components to a chess game. Time, Space, Material, and Pawn Structure. Important in roughly that order. A short explanation. Time: If it takes me 2 moves to Checkmate you and it takes you 3 moves to Checkmate me, I win. (considering of course, that if possible, either of us could make moves to prevent the other). Or time advantage can lead to the win of space, material or pawn structure. Space: Control (not necessary occupation) of most of the board allows better placement of pieces, which will provide an advantage in one of the other areas. Material: This is the traditional method of strategy, Queen worth 9-10 points, Rook 5 points, Bishop/Knight 3-3.5 points, Pawn 1 point. But material is worthless if your King is getting checkmated (Time). And pawns on the seventh rank getting ready to Queen are worth more than 1 point (Space and Time), so Material is subject to greater forces in Time and Space. Pawn Structure: This is the most rigid part of the game as pawns can only move forward. Weak pawns can be lost (Material). Strong pawns can be used to gain space. As the game goes on, and pieces are traded, if all other things are equal, the weaker pawn structure will likely lose. From Larry Evans, I think it was called "New Ideas in Chess" and is not really that new of a book.