Bishop vs Knight - Porcy edition :0

The Bishop. The Knight. Two minor pieces which have the same amount of points. But which one is better?

The discussion is usually in favor of the Bishop. Bobby Fischer, one of the best chess players was known to prefer the Bishop over the Knight in most cases. But imo, it depends on the position you are in. Here is my blog on one of the most heated discussions in chess.

Why the Bishop is better

• Bishops are way better than Knight's in open positions. 
• They have a long reach of the chess board
• They are unstoppable in pairs (well. not really)

Why the Knight is better

• Of course, the Knight is better than the Bishop in closed positions.
• In endgames, specifically endgames with pawns on only one side, the Knight is better.
• Outposts 🔥
• They go to all the squares of the board.

The Bishop 

So in this section, I'm gonna explain the advantages of the bishop. Starting with....

Open Positions

In open positions, the Bishop gets to see two diagonals. In the endgame, when there are pawns on both sides, the Bishop can multi-task (unlike the Knight).

Here's an example:

The Knight and the Black King and stuck and need to protect the pawns. The Bishop attacks both at the same time and the White King marches and attacks the Knight. 

Bishop Pair

A Bishop pair is a pair of bishops which team up to kill you :0

A Bishop pair can give severe trouble with weird sacrifices and attacks.

Example:

If you ever have both bishops, it is best to keep them instead of trading them for something else. Of course, there are exceptions, but in 80% of positions, try to keep them.

Knight

Closed positions

Because of its ability to jump over pawns & pieces, it can dance around in any position (open or closed) unlike the Bishop. 

Outposts

An outpost is a square where a Knight cannot be attacked by an enemy pawn and is protected by our own pawn. 

The Knight cant be attacked by a pawn and is defended. It also stops the bishop from moving :0

Endgames

There is one case in which the Knight is mostly superior to the Bishop, even if few pawns are on the Board: endgames with pawns on only one side

In this case, the Knight does not need to travel long distances to cover the whole board. It also covers all squares of the board, unlike the Bishop. 

Example:

White will win the above position due to the eventual Zugzwang. 

Disadvantages

This is a short part of the blog where I talk about the disadvantages of both pieces. Note that these wont all be true in all cases, but will be mostly.

For the Bishop:

• In closed positions, the Bishop is not good. In positions where all of your pawns are on a certain color, but your bishop is also on the color, the Bishop is literally useless (mostly) and is called a "Bad Bishop".
• They can only access one color, meaning only 50% of the board.

For the Knight:

• Don't work that well in pairs (not as well as Bishops)
• Aren't as good as bishops in open* positions
• They are slow.

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Other things to note:

There are even cases in which you could sac your rook for a Knight/Bishop (this is called an exchange sacrifice). This is usually done to

• Attack the King 
• get better centre control

Conclusion

Both of the pieces are better in different situations. That sounds like a dumb thing to say after everything you've read, but it's true. 

Whenever you get the chance to exchange a Bishop for a Knight or the other way around, try to think about the advantages and disadvantages of the trade.

That's it from me! Thanks for viewing, have a great day (: