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Is it worth giving up the bishop pair for extra tempi?

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blasterdragon

hello i recently played a game where my opponet had only his queen defending his knight and i decided to take it with my bishop sacrificing the bishop pair but getting a tempi in return which won me the game basically is this judgement correct?

blasterdragon
just noticed a quicker mate
 
Oraoradeki

In this case, no offense to your opponent, but he played poorly and didn't take the advantage of his 2 bishops. After 10. Bd2, he could have gone Qa6, which would let the queen escape and prevent YOU from castling. He can then castle queenside and develop with ...e6 in the future.

To answer your question, I don't think its worth it for you to sacrifice your "good" bishop for a knight, since it leaves holes in the light squares. If I were you, I would play 8. Nc3. If he captures, the I get a big centre and if he doesn't I have more pieces developed.

blueemu

It's worth trading a Bishop for a Knight plus a tempo only if you can make good use of the tempo gained.