Bishops:The good and the bad

The bishop is a powerful piece on some cases but it needs experience and study to identify them, this article has a superficial way to know the best bishop.

The bad bishop

"A bad bishop is the one blocked by our own pawns formation or by enemy formation."

Look at the example:

The queenside bishop is the good one, the kingside one...is the worse on this case because it is blocked by your own pawns.

• A bad bishop is one that lacks mobility (blocked by pawns).
• A bad bishop cannot perform powerful attacks or a big role.
• A bad bishop can be traded easily but needs evaluation first.
• A bad bishop can protect your pawn formation.
• A bad bishop is a deciding factor on the endgame.

To trade a bishop you need to do an evaluation first like checking if it defends a piece, pawn, area or the king saying that, that bishop is not bad at all .

As an exercise identify which is the good bishop on that formation and post it on the commentaries:

The good bishop

"It is the contrary of the bad bishop!"

When you learn one the another is linked and is easier to know the concept but a good bishop can be equal to a rook in some positions. But there is something important here and it is really important, your fianchetto bishop:

The above position is not recommended because it leaves too many weak black squares and your kingside bishop needs to be there, so this can be exploited easily.

• Try to make a good formation for a fianchetto bishop.
• If there is a fianchetto on the enemy's king, attack it!.
• Never exchange a good bishop for a less active piece.
• Use the good bishop to protect the weak squares.
• If you lose your bishop in a fianchetto, you are exposed to various tactic attacks!.

Another dangerous things:

Remember, the study and practice is what will tell to you the best thing, keep playing games and fight your weakness, i invite you to make this puzzle which is related:https://www.chess.com/news/view/sunday-special-10-tricky-bishops

See you the next time!.