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A note on good Bishops vs bad Bishops

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deeper_insight 17-Apr-16, 17:59	A note on good Bishops vs bad Bishops Bishops are one of the least understood pieces on the board.Some players refuse to voluntarily give up their Bishop(s)for they feel that they are a bit more powerful than Knights.Others believe the opposite,that Knights have more value.It is all relative to the position and if a game is more open or closed later on in that game. If you were to ask most senior masters or GM's which pieces(Knights or Bishops)are overall more statistically valuable with the majority bulk of their games,you will more than likely hear that Bishops,not Knights have a bit more personal value to the ultra strong players.I tend to agree with that.Many games that are closed,eventually open up and then the Bishops shine more with open positional strategies. Theoretically speaking,I have read in a few books that the Bishop has an open game value of approx 3.1 or 3.2 as compared to the Knight at approx 3.0 or perhaps 2.9 if it is positioned on the a or h file.Subject to change of course. Then obviously,the Bishop can attack more squares simultaneously at longer distances.In a closed game there are limiting factors,but eventually the Bishops,with careful play and not exchanging your good Bishop,can eventually shine at that "3.2" value that may have been analyzed by a program to be 2.9 or 3.0 a few moved prior. Well more about good vs bad Bishops: A bad Bishop is generally defined as a Bishop that moves on squares of its own color where most of the same color pawns are fixed centrally on the board.Or secondarily,by any of the same color pawns that are blocking/locking in the same color Bishop in a fixed position,or temporarily. A good Bishop does not have its diagonals blocked and has much more freedom of movement. Generally speaking,too many pawns,including the bishop on the same color squares usually leaves the opposite color squares insufficiently guarded. Position of too many light squared pawns blocking in a light squared Bishop making it a "bad"Bishop: Above...it does not matter where Black's Bishop moves to,it'll either be blocked in by its own pawns or blocked in by the threat of capture,from White's Queen and light squared Bishop. In the next position below,this is an example of too many pawns on the same color squares.Black's Bishop isn't blocked in,since it can move to f5,but look at the Black pawns... they're all on the same light-color squares,making Black weak on the dark-squares,which result in making Black's Bishop "Bad",since any enemy pawn or piece is able to sit comfortably on a dark square without fear of capture: If the position can unlock itself relatively quickly,then the Bishop is not considered "bad",but a good Bishop in delay factor.You must weight this all in before feeling that you should exchange that bad Bishop. In summary: When you have an option of exchanging Bishops where you have a Bad Bishop whose weakness is unlikely to be rectified in a few moves,make every attempt to keep the good Bishop!Or,if you notice your opponent has a Bad Bishop,aim to take his Good Bishop and leave him with his Bad Bishop. One final note is that a good Bishop that has a theoretical value of 3.1 can be easily diminished to a point value of 2.8 or 2.9 if it is positioned for any length of time on a flank file such as the a or h file,even if it is categorized as a good Bishop.This is due to positionally limiting the amount of movement and attacking squares in that Bishops domain.So,in essence,it can be a good Bishop with decreased value.In a case like that,if it is forcibly frozen,it may be a better idea to exchange that Bishop for a Knight,even in an open game....but usually it will be locked or frozen on a flank file in a semi open or closed game statistically speaking. TA
deeper_insight 17-Apr-16, 18:49	One more point on statistics: Which defense offers one of the most statistically prone "bad Bishop"scenarios? Answer:The French Defense. The French Defense is an opening, which most players either love or hate.With the very first move, Black tells the problemchild Bishop at c8 that it is going to be a while before that piece will play a active role in the game,at least on the king side(because it is locked in the pawn chain by blacks first move).White will generally have an advantage in the center and an advantage in space,at least in the opening. So the French is not everyone's piece of pie.It can take great patience to first defend then go on the offensive later on...which is characteristic of this defense.The subtle maneuvering can easily block in ones Bishop(s)long or short term,leading to swift victory for white if not handled correctly by black.This is why I usually do not recommend the French for early learners.But the French Defense does offer some extreme value in defensive study/play,including practice on how to develop your Bad Bishop into a good Bishop!

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deeper_insight
17-Apr-16, 17:59

A note on good Bishops vs bad Bishops

Bishops are one of the least understood pieces on the board.Some players refuse to voluntarily give up their Bishop(s)for they feel that they are a bit more powerful than Knights.Others believe the opposite,that Knights have more value.It is all relative to the position and if a game is more open or closed later on in that game.

If you were to ask most senior masters or GM's which pieces(Knights or Bishops)are overall more statistically valuable with the majority bulk of their games,you will more than likely hear that Bishops,not Knights have a bit more personal value to the ultra strong players.I tend to agree with that.Many games that are closed,eventually open up and then the Bishops shine more with open positional strategies.

Theoretically speaking,I have read in a few books that the Bishop has an open game value of approx 3.1 or 3.2 as compared to the Knight at approx 3.0 or perhaps 2.9 if it is positioned on the a or h file.Subject to change of course.

Then obviously,the Bishop can attack more squares simultaneously at longer distances.In a closed game there are limiting factors,but eventually the Bishops,with careful play and not exchanging your good Bishop,can eventually shine at that "3.2" value that may have been analyzed by a program to be 2.9 or 3.0 a few moved prior.

Well more about good vs bad Bishops:

A bad Bishop is generally defined as a Bishop that moves on squares of its own color where most of the same color pawns are fixed centrally on the board.Or secondarily,by any of the same color pawns that are blocking/locking in the same color Bishop in a fixed position,or temporarily.

A good Bishop does not have its diagonals blocked and has much more freedom of movement.

Generally speaking,too many pawns,including the bishop on the same color squares usually leaves the opposite color squares insufficiently guarded.

Position of too many light squared pawns blocking in a light squared Bishop making it a "bad"Bishop:

Above...it does not matter where Black's Bishop moves to,it'll either be blocked in by its own pawns or blocked in by the threat of capture,from White's Queen and light squared Bishop.

In the next position below,this is an example of too many pawns on the same color squares.Black's Bishop isn't blocked in,since it can move to f5,but look at the Black pawns... they're all on the same light-color squares,making Black weak on the dark-squares,which result in making Black's Bishop "Bad",since any enemy pawn or piece is able to sit comfortably on a dark square without fear of capture:

If the position can unlock itself relatively quickly,then the Bishop is not considered "bad",but a good Bishop in delay factor.You must weight this all in before feeling that you should exchange that bad Bishop.

In summary:

When you have an option of exchanging Bishops where you have a Bad Bishop whose weakness is unlikely to be rectified in a few moves,make every attempt to keep the good Bishop!Or,if you notice your opponent has a Bad Bishop,aim to take his Good Bishop and leave him with his Bad Bishop.

One final note is that a good Bishop that has a theoretical value of 3.1 can be easily diminished to a point value of 2.8 or 2.9 if it is positioned for any length of time on a flank file such as the a or h file,even if it is categorized as a good Bishop.This is due to positionally limiting the amount of movement and attacking squares in that Bishops domain.So,in essence,it can be a good Bishop with decreased value.In a case like that,if it is forcibly frozen,it may be a better idea to exchange that Bishop for a Knight,even in an open game....but usually it will be locked or frozen on a flank file in a semi open or closed game statistically speaking.

TA

deeper_insight
17-Apr-16, 18:49

One more point on statistics:

Which defense offers one of the most statistically prone "bad Bishop"scenarios?
Answer:The French Defense.

The French Defense is an opening, which most players either love or hate.With the very first move, Black tells the problemchild Bishop at c8 that it is going to be a while before that piece will play a active role in the game,at least on the king side(because it is locked in the pawn chain by blacks first move).White will generally have an advantage in the center and an advantage in space,at least in the opening.

So the French is not everyone's piece of pie.It can take great patience to first defend then go on the offensive later on...which is characteristic of this defense.The subtle maneuvering can easily block in ones Bishop(s)long or short term,leading to swift victory for white if not handled correctly by black.This is why I usually do not recommend the French for early learners.But the French Defense does offer some extreme value in defensive study/play,including practice on how to develop your Bad Bishop into a good Bishop!

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