for me it is a very tough disission. I would have to say that bishops can help you in the end of the game for getting chec mates but knights give you a very good defence at the bigining of the game. I really cant come to a consensison this.

Long standing argument with the general consensus stating that they both excel in different scenarios and are difficult to compare, however many people do value the bishops (particularly the bishop pair) as being very slightly more valuable.

I think that the most amassed information on this subject so far (on this site) has been collected/discussed in a thread I posted some time ago (with lots of contributions!) called "Knight vs Bishop summary(/essay)". Look it up, read ,then we can continue the discussion there where it is convenient to compare all viewpoints.

I must agree. I think that bishops do more in the long run and are ample for setting up forks due to there long atack range. alas, knights do target more squares so I think that they can be invalueble for setting up a good ofence

Two Bishops are stronger than two Knights, two Knights are meant to be better than a bishop and a knight. So Bishops are normally a bit better.

A bishop on an open diagonal actually targets more squares than a knight.

Thetman and Rich - sorry but you've got somewhat askew: first off, knights are preferred for defence actually, in the overall trend. Also, their value is completely dependent on which other pieces/pawns are on the board. This relates to whether or not it is a closed/open position  or not. Furthermore, you have to factor in the bishop pair factor.

These are some of the TRUE determinants, though had you looked at everyone's input into the thread I mentioned above, you'd know that...

both

2 Bishops > 2 Knights

1 Bishop < 1 Knight

...Positional considerations aside, of course.

I find that when one bishop is gone it realy limits the amount you can do with your bishops because with only one bishop you can only own 50% of the squares so I would say that a 1 knight is better than one bishop

 very true but if you get a knight out in the middle of the board it has a very broad attack spectrum

But a Knight has to go to a different color square every time, so it's not all that different from one Bishop. But one Bishop can only get on 32 squares on a board one Knight could eventually go on all 64 squares. Bishops are useful in the opening and endgame, Knights on the other hand are best in the middle game normally. Bit it depends on who's using them, some people are better with Knights, some are better with Bishops.

Try THIS on for size!! lol

The value of bishops as opposed to knights is entirely dictated by the position. Some positions a bishop is superior to a knight, other positions the reverse is true. This is also true of pairs.

In evaluating the value of a piece without considering positions one must compare its attributes. A knight moves to and can attack squares of both colors which can be a plus but at the center of the board where a piece can be said to exert it's greatest power, it attacks only eight squares and as it moves to the edge or a corner it's power decreases considerably. Also a knight cannot "lose" a move which is a drawback. A bishop attacks only squares of the color on which it sits which can be a negative but it can exert its power over more squares which is a plus. Also a bishop can "lose a move" which is a plus. Most authorities hold that a knight is worth 2.5 while a bishop is worth 3 making the bishop slightly stronger generally speaking and without consideration of the specific position which may or may not support that general rule. Another general rule is that bishops in open endings where there are pawns on both sides of the board because of their attacking scope, are better. The reverse is can be true in closed positions.

But I have always said a Bishop is better, just because if you place a Bishop in the centre of a chess board it can cover 13 squares, but 14 if you count the one it's on, a Knight can only cover eight, nine if you count the one it's on.

 lol is right. tell me when you run across that scenario some time

 I completely agree. a bishop can give you an amazing chec mait or cost you the game, it realy just depends on the situation

 true but you rairly run across the situation where you have all ove the squares open llike that. you are only able to target up to 4 peices when a knight can target up to 8

it's all positional
knights are better defenders and are better with closed games, and bishops are better when it is open and are deadly when you have both bishops vs 2 nights

In the endgame when there is few pieces on the board you normally have good diagonals for the Bishops.