The Bishop Pin

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Avatar of MaetsNori

Ah, the bishop pin - familiar to chess players everywhere.

Players of all levels explore (or struggle with) this common tactic.

Some dislike it to the point of playing their pawns to h3/h6 or a3/a6 early on, just to stop the pin before it arrives.

Others welcome the pin and then like to "put the question" to the bishop afterward.

Others, still, ignore the pin and continue developing as if it isn't even there - feeling secure in the knowledge that they can "figure out how to deal with it later".

What about you? How do you like to handle the famous bishop pin?

Avatar of MaetsNori

Guess I'll start!

When I was newer to the game, I absolutely feared the bishop pin. I almost always played the prophylactic h3/...h6 or a3/...a6, to prevent any pin before it arrived.

I didn't like the tactical options that a pin gave my opponent, even if was only temporary. So I would spent time trying to prevent any pins before they could arise.

As I became more experienced, I started to see the pin as a "reason" to develop. So, if my opponent pinned my knight, I would think, "Thanks! Now I know where to put my own bishop."

So, at that point (intermediate level), I felt that allowing a pin helped me figure out how to develop my own pieces. I welcomed it.

Moving further in my development as a player, when I reached an advanced level, I began to see the pin as a dubious move from my opponent - because I started to slightly value bishops more than knights.

So I would allow the pin, then immediately put the question to the bishop with a pawn. "Are you willing to give up your bishop for my knight?"

At that point, I felt that, if my opponent exchanged pieces, then he would be "sacrificing the exchange" - giving up their more-valuable bishop for my less-valuable knight. And if they retreated the bishop, instead, then I felt that I had won a "free move" with my pawn move, gaining more space with minimal cost (which is often a useful pawn move in the future, regardless, to prevent endgame back-rank checkmates).

Now that I'm at an expert level, though, I've begun to experiment more with "leaving the bishop pin until the position clarifies further". I'm liking this approach, at the moment, because it leaves more options. I can put the question to the bishop with a pawn, if needed. Or I can break the pin with a bishop, or reinforce the knight with another knight ... or even move the pinned piece away and allow an exchange with doubled pawns - which would then offer a semi-open file for a rook to occupy ...

The only danger of this is that, by allowing the pin to stay for longer, there's a greater chance that the opponent can use the pin to further improve their position ... so my verdict is still up in the air ...

Avatar of MaetsNori
HangingPiecesChomper wrote:

Just play h3 and g4. Even when castled most of the time it's a good idea.

Didn't see this until now.

Yes, I sometimes toy around with that - usually more in bullet.

Though opening the kingside has gotten me clobbered there, many times. Black castles opposite and chaos ensues ...

Avatar of Frisk-Indie-Cross

hgyugy

Avatar of Josh11live
h3 g4 is not good because your king is too exposed especially for your level when everyone knows how to counter that, but you can do that if you are planning or went to the other side of castling. If you castled the other way you can gain tempi from that bishop for your pawn storm.
Avatar of ADAI916
Whoah calm down MaetsNori
Avatar of Josh11live
What do you mean?
Avatar of j0nysach

When i started playing chess, i wasn't caring about any pin to the moment it came. When it came i tried to get rid of it as fast as i could.

Avatar of MaetsNori
Josh11live wrote:
What do you mean?

He probably means that I'm making too big of a deal (typing so much) about such a minor thing in chess.

Avatar of Fet

Be7 if I'm in my normal mood. If I want to mess around a bit, h6 g5 and then castle queenside.

Avatar of blueemu

Like everything else in chess, it depends.

I typically do not pin the Knight with Bg5 unless there is a good reason... and no, "developing my Bishop" is not a good reason to pin the Knight. It's a good reason to develop the Bishop.

When somebody pins my Knight, I will kick it with my Pawn if (1) it is operating effectively on two diagonals, then ... h6 will force the Bishop to choose which diagonal it wants to operate on; or (2) we are entering an opposite-side castling situation, with an h6 / g5 Pawn storm in the offing, or (3) the h4 (h5 for Black) retreat square is more vulnerable than the Bishop's current square.

An example:

(1) Operating on two diagonals

Another, this time the h4 square is vulnerable:

Avatar of Guest2238235825
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