Good and bad bishop

The bishop is a special piece, it can only access squares of one color. 
We call a bishop which operates on light squares a light-squared bishop; its colleague is the dark-squared bishop.
In a game of chess the pieces have a job to do. A passive piece, which also has no prospect of playing an effective role in the game, is a bad piece.

The good bishop
The bishop is good if it has points to attack, or if it controls important squares or diagonals. This is the case when:
1) most of your pawns are properly posted (on squares which are not of the same color as that of the bishop) so that they do not restrict its mobility;
2) the bishop is outside of your pawn chain and able to play an active role.

The bad bishop
The bishop is bad if:
1) most of your pawns are badly posted (on squares of the same color as the bishop) and the bishop is inside your pawn chain;
2) your opponent's pawns limit the mobility of your bishop to a great degree.

It is often necessary to consider whether in the battle against a knight we have a good or a bad bishop.
The most important guidelines:
1) The bishop is stronger in open positions and in play on both flanks. For example, it can at the same time support its own passed pawns and struggle against an opposing passed pawn.
2) The knight is better in closed positions, in play on a single flank and in situations in which its opponent has some pawn weaknesses. 
3) The bishop is like a sharpshooter, able to operate from a distance. All it needs are open diagonals.
4) The knight is a hand to hand fighter. It needs to get closer to the enemy. For that it needs secure outposts.

fax

Great info.

It might also be helpful to discuss how to Maximize or transform a position to suit the piece you have or want to highlight.....ie pawn breaks to open a particular bishop or securing an outpost for a knight.

Thanks! I'll be covering that in one of the future posts.