BISHOPS

Bishops are long range pieces that should be placed on long open
diagonals. Unlike the knight, the bishop doesn't necessarily need an
outpost in the centre of the board - it can exert influence on the centre all
the way from the edge. The best position for a bishop is one where it
commands an open diagonal, and cannot be attacked by enemy pawns or
knights.

The Fianchetto
Fianchetto is an italian word meaning 'little flank'. It is a method of
developing a bishop on b2 or g2 (for white) or b7 or g7 (for black) so that it
sits on the longest diagonal from corner to corner, and fires right across the
centre of the board. Here is an example - in this position, black has
developed the dark squared bishop with a fianchetto on g7:
A bishop developed this way is called a fianchettoed bishop. From the
flank, the bishop is able to control squares in the centre while a knight on
the same square would be in the doldrums. The pawns around the bishop
form a miniature fortress, shielding the bishop from attack and stopping an
enemy knight from approaching too closely.
A fianchetto is a standard feature of many openings, but it isn't always the
right choice. Fianchetto openings are often more difficult to handle than
more straightforward development, and if the bishop moves away or is
captured, it can leave behind holes in the pawn structure. If the king is
castled behind a fianchettoed bishop, a common method of attacking is to
exchange the bishop off, in order to exploit the holes left behind.

The fianchettoed bishop is an important defender of the black king - if white

can exchange it off, he should have a strong
attack.1. Bh6 b4 2. Bxg7 Kxg7 3. Nd5 Nxd5 4. hxg6 Now the white queen
can move into the hole on h6 with a deadly attack.
4... Nf6 5. Qh6+ Kg8 6. g7 Re8 7. g5 Checkmate will follow soon. So, be
aware of the risks that sometimes come with a fianchetto!
Horwitz Bishops
Two bishops working in tandem on adjacent diagonals are sometimes
known as Horwitz bishops, after the 19th century master Bernhard
Horwitz. With their ability to complement each other and control many
squares in the opponent's camp, they can be incredibly powerful, as the
following example shows:

This is the position after white's 19th move in a famous game, Rotlewi vs
Rubinstein, Lodz 1907. Akiba Rubinstein was one of the strongest players
of the early 20th century, and this game is considered perhaps his greatest
achievement of all.19... Bb6+ See how black's bishops direct their fire
across the centre of the board at white's king.20. Kh1 Ng4 21. Be4
The black bishops are rather menacing, so white tries to exchange one off.
Note that if white had captured the knight with 21. Qxg4 black could
capture the white bishop with 21... Rxd3 21... Qh4 22. g3 Trying to fend off
black's attack, white opens the diagonal against his king. This allows a
spectacular finish:22... Rxc3!! 23. gxh4 Rd2! 24. Qxd2 Bxe4+ Now black's
bishops command the whole board, and the white king is cornered like a
rat.25. Qg2 Rh3!
The rook is immune to capture because the white queen is pinned by
black's mighty bishop on e4. Here white resigned, as checkmate can only
be delayed for a few moves. The game could have finished like
this:26. Rf2 Rxh2+ 27. Kg1 Bxf2+ 28. Kf1 Bd3#.
Bad Bishops
As we have seen, bishops like clear, open diagonals to attack along.
Because they only move on squares of one colour, bishops are vulnerable
to being blocked by pieces on that square colour. The worst nightmare for a
bishop is when it finds itself blocked by its own pawns, and the pawns are
in turn blockaded by the enemy, dooming the bishop to perpetual
imprisonment. A bishop that is blocked by its own pawns is known as a bad
bishop. Here is an extreme example:

Here, white's bishop is stuck behind its own pawns, which are in turn
blockaded by black. The bishop is next to useless - it can't ever do anything
active and does little more than get in the way. Not only is the bishop bad,
but because both bishop and pawns stand on the dark squares, the light
squares are left unguarded. There is little white can do to stop the black
pieces infiltrating on the light squares. Black is a pawn down, but he should
eventually win the game because white's bad bishop is little more than a
fancy pawn and no match for black's knight. This is a case where a bishop
is worth a lot less than the usual 3 points!
So, it's clear we should try and avoid putting all our pawns on the same
colour square as our bishop, but we start the game with two bishops on
opposite coloured squares. We have to put our pawns on the same colour
as one of them. If there are only a few pawns on the board this isn't usually
a problem, but often it means you will have a good bishop and a bad
bishop.

Both players have a good bishop and a bad bishop. Black to move should
try to exchange his bad bishop for white's good
bishop.1... Bb5 2. Bxb5 axb5 Now black is left with a good bishop against
white's bad bishop. Black's bishop on the dark squares and pawns on the
light squares complement each other nicely, so that each controls squares
the other cannot. By contrast, white has much less ability to control the light
squares.
If you can't exchange your bad bishop for your opponent's good bishop,
then exchanging it for a knight is almost as good. Failing that, a bad bishop
can become a useful piece if you can station it outside your pawn structure
where it can attack squares in the enemy camp. On the board below, white
has placed the light squared bishop, which would otherwise be bad, on an
active square outside the pawn structure:
An active bishop is always better than a passive prisoner, but it still suffers
from being blocked by its own pawns - you should take care that this
doesn't result in the bishop becoming trapped. A bad bishop might not be a
good piece, but that still doesn't mean you can afford to lose it for nothing!

Here, black has placed his bad bishop outside the pawn structure to make
it active, but the pawns still restrict the bishop's mobility. White can take
advantage of the black bishop's lack of retreat squares to trap it with a
pawn advance:1. g4 Be4 2. f3 Bg6 3. h5The bishop has no more squares
to run to. If your bishop looks like getting trapped, try moving a pawn to
make a gap for it to retreat into - in this example, if black had moved the h-
pawn, the bishop could have taken refuge on h7.