User manual

WHEN TO EXCHANGE BISHOPS

There will be many instances in your games when you are unsure about

whether to exchange off a particular bishop. A useful rule is to first decide

whether the bishop is “good” or ‘bad”. In general you should be happy about

exchanging a bad bishop for a good one or for an enemy knight.

Photo pg. 45

“OPPOSITE COLORED” BISHOPS

The above position provides an excellent example of what are called opposite

colored bishops. This does not mean that White has one bishop and Black has

one bishop. It means that each player has only one bishop and they stand on

squares of opposite colors. Here, for example, white has a bishop on a dark

square whereas Black has a bishop on a light square. What then is the

significance of opposite colored bishops?

If you think about this position you will soon realize that half of the squares on

the board are completely safe for each player. Black’s king, for example, cannot

be dislodged from the e6 square because it can NEVER be checked by the

white bishop, and by leaving his own bishop occupying or controlling the d5

square Black prevents his opponent from advancing the pawn from d4 to d5.

2 . . . K d 6 - c 7

3 B b 7 x a 6 K c 7 - b 6

4 B a 6 - c 8 K b 6 - c 7

only safe squares for the white bishop are a6 and f5, and if the bishop returns

to a6 then the black king returns to b6. So White plays

5 Bc8-f5 Bg6xf5 6 g4xf5

And White will eventually win because of his extra pawn.

“GOOD” BISHOP vs. “BAD” BISHOP

We refer to a bishop that has plenty of scope as a good bishop and one which

is restricted by its own pawns as a bad bishop. In the above position the black

bishop on c8 is bad because its own pawns at e6, d5, c6 and b7 create what is

almost a coffin, keeping the black bishop out of play for several moves.

In order to escape from behind this pawn chain Black must go through the

somewhat tortuous maneuver: ... Bc8-d7, ... Bd7-e8,...f7-f6 and ... Be8-g6 (or

... Be8-h5). The problem with this plan is that it takes 4 moves to carry out

and in the meantime White will be doing something active. It is rare in chess

to be given the luxury of 3 or 4 “free” moves to carry out a plan without the

opponent being able to use his reply moves very productively.

Contrast the restricted scope of the bishop on c8 with that of the “good” white

bishop on e2. This bishop is ready to come into play on the Q-side or K-side,

whichever is appropriate. It is also able to switch from one side of the board to

the other very rapidly.