Bishop and Knight pairs?

Is a Bishop pair or Knight pair better than 1 bishop and 1 knight (value vise im pretty sure they're equal). If so why? Or does it not matter/down to personal preferences? Just wondering.

Thanks :)

Harryz, thanks for that. So in certain positions can knights be worth more than 6 points?

It depends entirely on the position and the way the game´s developing. If you´re heading for an endgame with many pawns and/or cramped positions, knights are going to be better. Bishops come into their own when the board´s open, especially as a pair; they can however be rendered completely useless by well-placed pawns. If some of the minor pieces are exchanged early on, try and develop the game according to the characteristics of the pieces you have left.

All immense generalisations of course - every game is unique, there´s no fixed rule about knight/bishop pairs or combinations.

If you want a brilliant example of how to place knights and bishops, have a look at Kasparov´s famous "Octopus Knight" game against Karpov (Kingcrusher´s commentary is also very enjoyable, particularly his laughing fit when he says "just look at that knight!"); all eight bishops and knights are on the board, but it´s not what you´ve got, it´s the way you use it ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8a9gVFXieT0

Ahhh thank you guys, helped me understand a lot, greatly appreciated.

bishops are better most of the time since open positions are more common and if the position is closed you can normally exchange pawns to open up

About octopus knights, I also like Lasker vs Capablanca: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUBFJYCwMiY

Thanks ajmeroski, teriffic game!

Dudes this has become a dillema for me since  i started playing the Caro-Kann. Since knights are the rullers of the caro-kann, i would almost always trade my bishops for whites knights. I got so used to it that i even trade my bishops even in a QGD, Slav and yes even in the KI.Funny it seemed it became a habbit...an instantaneous reflex action.lol

In the middlegame the knights are worth more than the bishops, in the endgame the bishops are worth more than the knights.

Nope and nope!

You must remember piece value, is totally dependent on the position.

That includes bishops, and knights. If your bishop is hemmed in by its own pawns, it isn't worth anymore than an overgrown pawn in most cases, there are some exceptions to that statement as well.

Your Queen can be just as useless in some cases. Where a bishop, knight, or even, gasp dare I say, a lowly pawn, could possibly dominate her.

What is the Queen worth in such a position ? Practically the same as a pawn. If she is on the other side of the board pawn grabbing, and your opponent has a mating net on your King, your Queen is worthless in some situations. 

With all that being said, generally speaking, the bishop pair is stronger than the knight pair. Its very easy to prove that as well. Put the bishop pair in the center of the board, observe the number of squares they control. Now do the same with the knight pair, in different configurations.

The bishops control more squares. The key in many positions, is the long diagonals that they can control. You also can force checkmate with the bishop pair, and unless there is an exceptional position, 2 knights can not force check mate. 

Most stronger players know this, and therefore value the bishop pair more. There are some other reasons as well, but that should be enough to let you know, never be dogmatic about the value of pieces, or pawns, they constantly change during a game, and it is totally dependent on the position.

This is one of the most asked questions in chess. Almost any beginner chess book will tell you what the values are etc, and it really doesn't, or shouldn't take you long to figure it out on your own.

I knew a guy once upon a time however, that was so good with his knights, he could beat much stronger players. The knights are tricky, never underestimate them. Good luck.