Bishop (chess)

On the other hand, in the early going a bishop may be hemmed in by pawns of both players, and thus be inferior to a knight which can hop over obstacles. Furthermore, on a crowded board a knight has many opportunities to fork two enemy pieces. While it is technically possible for a bishop to fork, practical opportunities are rare.

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A bishop which has trouble finding a good square for development in the center may be fianchettoed, for example pawn g2-g3 and bishop f1-g2. This forms a strong defense for the castled king on g1 and the bishop can often exert pressure on the long diagonal h1-a8. A fianchettoed bishop should not be given up lightly, because then the holes in the pawn formation around the king can easily prove disastrous.

Related Topics:
Fianchetto - Castled

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A player with only one bishop should generally place their pawns on squares of the color that the bishop cannot move to. This allows the player to control squares of both colors, allows the bishop to move freely among the pawns, and helps fix enemy pawns on squares on which they can be attacked. A bishop which is impeded by friendly pawns is sometimes disparagingly called a "tall pawn", or more simply, a "bad bishop". However, a "bad" bishop may not be really bad, if it is outside its own pawns' pawn chains. A bad bishop can be made good by getting it outside the pawn chain.

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An endgame in which each player has only one bishop, one controlling the dark squares and the other the light, will often result in a draw even if one player has a pawn or two more than the other. The players tend to gain control of squares of opposite colors, and a deadlock results. In endgames with same-colored bishops, however, even a minute advantage may be enough to win.

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