Hello! This lesson is going to talk about Knights and Bishops with regards to opening and middlegame strategy. In previous lessons, we talked about developing actively and controlling the center, but making your pieces active, effective, and coordinated is so much more than that! Using some examples, I will explain how Knights and Bishops should be used in a chess game, and things to look for when you are playing.
1. Knights: Knights are best on squares called Outposts. An outpost is a square where a piece (any piece, not just knights), can sit safely and not be kicked away by an attack from a pawn. Outposts are usually in the center of the board, and they help to make the opponent's development more challenging. Let's look at an example of how Knights can be powerful pieces when used correctly using an instructive game. Be sure to read the comments in the game, and be sure to look at the alternate lines that I put in (try not to look at the alternate lines until you have found them on your own!). For an additional exercise, pay attention to the opening moves for both White and Black and figure out how each move follows the Opening Principles talked about in a previous lesson. This is obviously secondary in this lesson, but still good to do.
This game was played in 1956. Kingscrusher made a YouTube video featuring this game back in 2008, which I used for this lesson. Here is the link if you are interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNdGTi_3rLY
Notice how without the Knight being on such a strong outpost, so many of white's threats would not have been possible! A centralized Knight on an outpost can be a big advantage. Try to watch for outposts in your own games.
2. Bishops: Bishops belong on open diagonals where they have lines to attack! In many openings you will have a Good and Bad Bishop. I will go over what this means with an example.
This example features an opening called the Colle System, specifically the Zukertort Variation. This example is by no means meant to say that this opening is bad! In fact, it has a very solid reputation!
Looking at the position above, as it stands right now which bishop would you say is White's "Good" Bishop and which one is his "Bad" Bishop?
Hopefully you concluded that White's Light Square Bishop is his Good Bishop and the Dark Square Bishop is his Bad Bishop. A Bad bishop is a bishop that is currently blocked by its own pawns. This, of course, does not mean that the Bishop will stay bad forever. If White manages to find a way to open the a1-h8 diagonal, the Bishop on b2 will be very strong, aimed directly at Black's King.
Here is one more example. Identify which of Black's Bishops is Good, and which one is Bad:
Hopefully you concluded that Black's Good Bishop at the moment is his Dark Square Bishop, which is aimed at White's castled King. His Light Square Bishop cannot help at the moment. I can assure you, however, that it will become useful later in the game!
To illustrate how powerful bishops can be on open diagonals, here is a very fun and interesting tactic you can look for in your games called the "Greek Gift Sacrifice." This is a tactic you can play using a Bishop Sacrifice that will win the game when played correctly. However, there are things you must check before playing it, which I will not get into in depth here. I strongly encourage you to watch this YouTube video later done by "Hanging Pawns." This video will go in depth into this tactical idea and show you when it should be played: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mo_brhZfj1k
This is just one example of how this sacrifice can go. The attack that white gets can be very fun to play.
As you can see, once the opening is over and you have put your pieces on active squares, it is important to find plans for those pieces. Try to maneuver your Knights to strong outpost squares, and to maneuver your bishops to strong diagonals, or to open up the diagonals that your bishops are placed on. Doing these things will give you good attacking chances, and open up many tactical possibilities!
Hello! This lesson is going to talk about Knights and Bishops with regards to opening and middlegame strategy. In previous lessons, we talked about developing actively and controlling the center, but making your pieces active, effective, and coordinated is so much more than that! Using some examples, I will explain how Knights and Bishops should be used in a chess game, and things to look for when you are playing.
1. Knights: Knights are best on squares called Outposts. An outpost is a square where a piece (any piece, not just knights), can sit safely and not be kicked away by an attack from a pawn. Outposts are usually in the center of the board, and they help to make the opponent's development more challenging. Let's look at an example of how Knights can be powerful pieces when used correctly using an instructive game. Be sure to read the comments in the game, and be sure to look at the alternate lines that I put in (try not to look at the alternate lines until you have found them on your own!). For an additional exercise, pay attention to the opening moves for both White and Black and figure out how each move follows the Opening Principles talked about in a previous lesson. This is obviously secondary in this lesson, but still good to do.
This game was played in 1956. Kingscrusher made a YouTube video featuring this game back in 2008, which I used for this lesson. Here is the link if you are interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNdGTi_3rLY
Notice how without the Knight being on such a strong outpost, so many of white's threats would not have been possible! A centralized Knight on an outpost can be a big advantage. Try to watch for outposts in your own games.
2. Bishops: Bishops belong on open diagonals where they have lines to attack! In many openings you will have a Good and Bad Bishop. I will go over what this means with an example.
This example features an opening called the Colle System, specifically the Zukertort Variation. This example is by no means meant to say that this opening is bad! In fact, it has a very solid reputation!
Looking at the position above, as it stands right now which bishop would you say is White's "Good" Bishop and which one is his "Bad" Bishop?
Hopefully you concluded that White's Light Square Bishop is his Good Bishop and the Dark Square Bishop is his Bad Bishop. A Bad bishop is a bishop that is currently blocked by its own pawns. This, of course, does not mean that the Bishop will stay bad forever. If White manages to find a way to open the a1-h8 diagonal, the Bishop on b2 will be very strong, aimed directly at Black's King.
Here is one more example. Identify which of Black's Bishops is Good, and which one is Bad:
Hopefully you concluded that Black's Good Bishop at the moment is his Dark Square Bishop, which is aimed at White's castled King. His Light Square Bishop cannot help at the moment. I can assure you, however, that it will become useful later in the game!
To illustrate how powerful bishops can be on open diagonals, here is a very fun and interesting tactic you can look for in your games called the "Greek Gift Sacrifice." This is a tactic you can play using a Bishop Sacrifice that will win the game when played correctly. However, there are things you must check before playing it, which I will not get into in depth here. I strongly encourage you to watch this YouTube video later done by "Hanging Pawns." This video will go in depth into this tactical idea and show you when it should be played: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mo_brhZfj1k
This is just one example of how this sacrifice can go. The attack that white gets can be very fun to play.
As you can see, once the opening is over and you have put your pieces on active squares, it is important to find plans for those pieces. Try to maneuver your Knights to strong outpost squares, and to maneuver your bishops to strong diagonals, or to open up the diagonals that your bishops are placed on. Doing these things will give you good attacking chances, and open up many tactical possibilities!