Secrets of Trapping Pieces: Bishop Dominated by Pawns Part 1 of 5

KevinSmithIdiot

Updated: Feb 18, 2024, 5:27 PM | 3

I'll presume everyone has played enough to have trapped a Bishop with pawns, or had a Bishop trapped by pawns. But there is quite a variety of traps that Bishops can fall into--and the defender may have ways to make those traps partially or fully ineffective.

SOME GENERAL OBSERVATIONS REGARDING BISHOPS TRAPPED BY PAWNS
Before getting to diagrams and puzzles, some basic observations regarding Bishops trapped by pawns.
CRITICAL: Just because a piece is trapped, does not mean you are necessarily winning or losing. It's just one feature of the game.

In almost all instances, what are a few typical advantages for the player who trapped a Bishop with pawns?
A. Potentially the side that trapped the Bishop is playing a piece up somewhere else on the board. It's difficult for the defender if they are outnumbered!
B. If the enemy King is trapped with the Bishop there might be mating nets in store if lines open.
C. Your opponent may have to expend an inordinate amount of time and energy trying to rescue the enmeshed piece.
D. Mentally it should raise your spirits to know you have trapped one of your opponent's pieces. And perhaps lower their spirits!

What should the side with the trapped Bishop consider in almost cases?
A. If possible, and safe, consider a way to attack the base of the pawn chain that is confining your Bishop.
B. Consider preparing a sacrifice of the trapped Bishop on the leading pawn.
C. Seek counterplay elsewhere on the board. For pawns to advance this far into your neighborhood suggests that there might be opportunities behind the enemy pawns or in another sector of the board.
D. Don't panic. Unless your opponent can quickly open lines and has more forces in the area than you. If that's the case, I hope you brought your towel (a little throwaway line for fans of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and not a reference to Tark the Shark, aka Jerry Tarkanian).

I'll start with some observations on a few standard configurations that find Bishops trapped or about to be trapped. Followed by some puzzles related to those configurations. Later I'll offer a diagram with different configurations along with some corresponding puzzles. There are a few configurations I am not presenting in this blog. Don't want to take too much of your time at one sitting.

KEY POINT: These are quite generic configurations. There could quite well be other pawns or pieces on squares in each of the quadrants depicted. However, these specific configurations are what I deemed the most salient features after examining several hundred games. The location of other pawns and pieces varied substantially in the games I considered. By focusing on the "standard" features I believe one is then able to apply that knowledge to a broader assortment of in-game positions one is likely to encounter.

WARNING: There will always be outliers. This information is to simplify chess life in general, not to solve every specific problem related to the entrapment or freeing of Bishops that find themselves corralled by pawns.

BRIEF DISCUSSION OF SOME GENERIC CONFIGURATIONS IN WHICH BISHOPS ARE TRAPPED BY PAWNS
There are other configurations than the ones depicted in the diagram below. This is the first blog in a series looking at a series of configurations that merit different considerations.

Upper Right-Hand Corner

A specific issue. If the h-file is opened and White is able to double major pieces on that file, life can become excruciatingly difficult for the trapped cleric.

How might this configuration have happened--some sample scenarios.
A. When White played f6 there was another Black piece on f8 so Bh8 was the only realistic option.
B. Black moved from g7 to h8 earlier, perhaps to avoid White exchanging off Bishops if White had dropped his Bishop on h6.
C. Voluntarily after White played f6, even though f8 was open. I did find examples, though the one presented below does NOT make a good case for such shenanigans.

Lower Right-Hand Corner

Some specific observations. This Bishop has some relative freedom of motion compared to the Bishops trapped in the configurations shown in the other corners. But the status of the h3 square (or the a3, a6 or h6 square if this configuration were rotated to different corners) is critical to concrete understanding of whether the trapped Bishop is a temporary or permanent concern.

How might this configuration have happened--some sample scenarios.
A. Black pushed the e and f-pawns hard and White had good reasons to believe that playing f2-f3 was better than exchanging on e3 or allowing Black to exchange on f2.
B. The players are investigating a topical line. For instance, Nakamura - Aronian, Sinquefeld Cup 5th, 09.08.2017 was a line in the English Opening seeing a lot of interest from top players. Although in that game it should be noted that Black had no pawn on f4, while White had an unusual pawn structure: c3, c4, d3, e2, f3, g3 and h2. That game was featured in three puzzles in Secrets of Trapping Pieces as Nakamura and Aronian battled to resolve issues around White's trapped Bishop on g2. The most recent high-level (2600+ FIDE) game I found was Aryan - Alekseenko, Biel HTO 55th (7) 20.07.2022. Again, due to this specific line Black has no pawn on f4, unlike the diagram below. For an example where White planted pawns on c5 and d6 while Black had pawns on c6, d7 and e6, one can start by looking at Ivanchuk - Radjabov, Bazna Kings 3rd (4) 17.06.2009. Several puzzles from that game are offered below.
C. Black had planted a piece on e3 and White was compelled to capture it, allowing Black to play ...dxe3.

Lower Left-Hand Corner

A general observation. The absence or presence of White pawns on the a and b files, plus the possible inclusion of a White doubled pawn on c3, greatly impacts evaluations of this generic configuration.

How might this configuration have happened--some sample scenarios.
A. Black had a pawn on c5 and was able to push it strongly to c4. This might be okay if White still has a pawn on b2, but if White had doubled pawns on c3 then White would face serious difficulties extracting the Bishop from a2 except via sacrifice.
B. Or White had a pawn on b4 and some other circumstance, for instance a discovered attack along the a8-g2 diagonal, allowed Black to uncover the attack by playing ...c6-c5 and then could follow it up with ...c5-c4 before White could prevent that.

Black just captured a pawn on b2. White has several adequate moves here, but find the best move.

Somewhat surprisingly, rough equality sets in. Black's Bishop is rendered innocuous by confinement to a tiny little corner. But White's Bishop is on sentry duty keeping Black's passed d-pawn from committing dire acts of expansion. And Black can easily guard f7 with as many pieces as White can use to attack it. Finally, White's King is actually a bit more exposed than Black's King, who is somewhat sheltered by White's pawns. Sure, it's a bit claustrophobic in that corner, but it could be worse!

Let's zoom ahead in the game. White needed to try 43.Qh2, initiating the threat of 44.h5. Instead White played it "safe" with 43.Kg2?!. How did the former World Champion to make a contest of it!

Lessons learned from the whole game, and not just this snippet: Anand did not panic because his Bishop was trapped on h8. He bided his time and eventually sacrificed the Bishop on f6. In return he received two pawns and sufficient counterplay to merit equality because White's King was a bit exposed with no pawns forming a wall in front of His Majesty, who apparently had no clothes. Later White made a mistake that allowed Black to win. These things happen in blitz games.

White just played 22.Ne3. How should Black respond?

Lessons learned: GAIN OF TEMPO! The key factor that allowed Black to trap White's Bishp was the presence of White's Knight on e3. One could assert that Black effectively got a free move because 22...f4 required White to relocate the Knight. If not for the need to save the Knight White would have had time to consider either f2-f3 to prevent ...f4-f3, or some other move if specifics allowed. One has to assume that if the Knight is miraculously not on e3, then certainly other specifics would have changed as well !!

The basic Bishop net that sidelines said piece permanently appeared in this game. White saw an intriguing option with 13.a4 and played it! What is Black's best response?

Lessons learned: Carpe diem - Sieze the day! If your opponent allows you to wrap their Bishop in a tight little cocoon, give it the necessary thought to ensure they haven't prepared a nasty trick elsewhere...and if it is safe then spring that trap!

White just played 29.Nc3. How should Black respond?

Lessons learned: Black used a threat to gain time that allowed trapping White's Bishop. And White unwisely chose to bury the Bishop in the corner. Pressure breeds mistakes! Finally, Black ignored merely gaining an Exchange in order to effectively play a full piece up.

White just played 18.f5. Black has four potential options with the g6 Bishop, with one option being to leave the Bishop in place on g6 and find some other move. How would you have continued as Black?

Lessons learned: As mentioned in the general observations for the side with a trapped Bishop, it is critical to maintain a keen eye for tactical opportunities. The full reasoning behind this tactical blow is a bit deep. But being aware that such possibilities may exist is critical to holding or winning more often than we think.

Okey-dokey! But what about that position in the lower right-hand corner of the initial diagram Does that really happen? Looks imaginary to me even though you mentioned some games between top players. How about showing one of those games, or some puzzles based around that configuration?

Here ya go, pilgrim (any John Wayne fans out there?).

Lessons learned:

A. The side with the trapped Bishop needs to seek play elsewhere on the board, as mentioned in the basic observations regarding how the defender should address the issue. In this instance White planted a Knight on e4 and pushed the c-pawn to create play.

B. Eventually the side with the Bishop needs to do something to activate that piece. In this case on move 21 White took necessary steps to both activate the g2 Bishop and to tamp down Black's activity on the Kingside.

C. Despite White living with a trapped Bishop for a number of moves, they were able to maintain the balance. They didn't panic. Not that one would expect a 2809 rated player to panic.

This position has been reached almost 8,000 times in the online DB I checked 28.05.2023. There are two main moves here, but we are looking for the most thematic move that seeks to entrap a Black piece.
So what would you play?

Lessons learned: Black enters this line frequently, including at the highest levels of play. That is strong evidence that allowing a Bishop to be trapped is not the end of existence on the board. However, as seen in the puzzles that follow, the side with the trapped piece needs to remain constantly aware of enemy threats and opportunities for their side to strike out elsewhere or free the trapped piece.

Black just played 13...Qd4. How should White respond?

Lessons learned: Note how White focused on control of the d6 square. Preventing Black from any possibility of playing ...d5 indicates exemplary focus on a key strategic point on the board.

Black is in danger of being suffocated, a la Karpov. How should they respond?

Lessons learned: Black is correctly and concretely focused on getting his c8 Bishop activated. That won't happen in the short term but serves a key purpose of requiring White to play precisely. Any slips and Black can quickly claim equality or more.

So what happens if Black gets too anxious, even panicky, and plays 16...Ba6 to trade off that horrible Bishop?

Lessons learned: Precipitous action to break free from a trap can have calamitous results. Patience is often required to carefully clip the links that chain a piece in place.

Black just played 16...Be7, preparing to castle. Things are not looking great, but surely a 2756 rated player can salvage something from this compressed mess?! How should White best proceed? Channel your inner Chuckie. Not the terrifying doll in the movie series...unless that works for you.

Lessons learned: Often moves can be delayed, awaiting just the right moment. The gain of a single tempo, as seen by White's delaying Nd6+ until Black had moved their Bishop one square, is not game changing in the near term. But the accumulation of such small subtleties can slowly improve the game. And keep the opponent just a bit more off balance. And an unbalanced opponent is more likely to commit errors. Just think of someone who is about to flag in a blitz game with no increment! The mistakes multiply!

Secrets of Trapping Pieces: Bishop Dominated by Pawns Part 1 of 5

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