Skip to content
TheChessWorld.com
TheChessWorld Facebook TheChessWorld Twitter TheChessWorld Pinterest TheChessWorld YouTube
  • Start Here
  • Play
  • Learn
    • Training Techniques
    • Openings
    • Middlegame
    • Endgames
    • General Information
  • Tournaments
  • Academy
  • 21-Day Course
  • Store
    • TheChessWorld
    • TCW Academy
    • Chess-Teacher
    • Modern Chess
    • Roman Chess Lab
    • Foxy Chess
    • Grandmaster Magazine
    • ChessLecture
    • ICC
    • Rules Chess Strategies
    • Others
  • Contact
TheChessWorld.com
Close

The Bad Bishops

WGM Raluca Sgîrcea, IM Renier Castellanos
WGM Raluca Sgîrcea, IM Renier Castellanos
01.26.2018
Category: Middle Game
Tags: bad bishops, bishops, chess, middlegames, strategies
The Bad Bishops

Understanding the fundamental strategic elements is one of the keys to improving your level and converting into a strong player. Strategy is one of the aspects that make the difference between a club player and a master. While lower-rated players can have good opening knowledge and decent calculation skills, it is usually in the strategic battle that they tend to make mistakes and allow the opponent to get the upper hand.

Probably one of the most difficult strategic elements to understand and get to master is making the right exchanges. It would, of course, be ideal to get rid of your worse-placed pieces and your opponent’s most active ones. This would lead to a superior position where your “good” pieces would dominate your rival’s “bad” ones. In this article, we are going to talk about one specific type of such domination – that of a good bishop versus a bad one.

The concept of bad bishop is well known among experienced chess players and it refers to a bishop whose activity is limited, making it a liability of its possessor’s position. In the bishop’s case, what makes it “good” or “bad” is the pawn structure. Most of the times, a bad bishop is hindered by its own pawns, which are placed on the same color as its own and keep it from getting active.

However, if the said bishop is placed outside the pawn chain, everything changes and it can become a dangerous piece. Another situation when a bishop can become bad is when it “crashes” against the opponent’s pawn chain and has no good diagonals to occupy. To give you a better idea of what we mean by this, just imagine a fianchettoed bishop on g7 against white’s b2-c3-d4-e5 pawn chain (see example 3 below).

To make it easier to understand this concept, we have selected three games where we will focus more on the strategic battle that is going on than on concrete lines. Once you understand the basic strategic concepts, you will be able to select the right moves based on general ground and instinct and less on calculation.

We will start with a very instructive game played by the ex-World Champion Anatoly Karpov. He is well-known for his great positional sense and the ability to squeeze their opponents like a boa constrictor once he has a small advantage.

This is exactly what happened in the following game, against Joel Lautier:

bad bishops

Karpov, A – Lautier, J, Biel, 1992

In the diagrammed position the opening has just finished, but Karpov already had in mind the position he wanted to reach.

Black’s liability in this type of structure is the bishop on b7 and, if he doesn’t manage to play the freeing move c5, he will have problems with it forever. This is exactly what the ex-World champion tried to exploit here and we will see how every move he makes from now on is directed against black’s idea of c5.

The next position appeared in the game between the Dutch International Master Arthur Pijpers and the Ukrainian legend Oleg Romanishin:

bad bishops

Pijpers, A – Romanishin, O, Hoogeven, 2009

White has a slight pressure on the f file, but on the other hand, he has a very bad bishop on c2. He could try to increase the pressure and, of course, he would like to get to play the move e5 and free his pieces. Hence, black continued here with 30…f6! keeping the bishop on c2 passive.

The game later transposed to a better endgame for black, with good versus bad bishop, where we will see a common idea in such cases – sacrificing the bishop for a few key pawns.

Last, we chose a game where the bishop is bad because it hits the opponent’s powerful pawn chain. We chose to start from the following position since again, it is very instructive to see how white makes all the right exchanges in order to keep black in a passive position:

bad bishop

Bogoljubow, E – Stahlberg, G, Gothenburg, 1930

We can see that white has a superior position thanks to his space advantage. However, if black manages to develop the bishop on f8, he will probably be just fine. White continued here with 14.Be6, in order to hinder black’s development. Even if the bishop eventually developed via g7, it continued to be passive for the rest of the game.

Find this post useful? Share it?
Become a Chess Player You've Meant to Be!
TCW Academy is the fast, fun & convenient way to become a MUCH better chess player.
Join Academy Today!

Related Posts

  • 5 Tips to Improve Your Calculation5 Tips to Improve Your Calculation
  • Good Knight vs. Bad BishopGood Knight vs. Bad Bishop
  • 3 Greatest Wins from Alexei Shirov3 Greatest Wins from Alexei Shirov
Related Products
0 0 votes
Article Rating
Login
1 Comment
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
ayush gupta
01.28.2018 18:41

thanks for the aritlce sir i had just finished the below 1600 tournaments and

0
Reply
Join the FREE Road to 2200 Masterclass (and learn how to Attack Like a Chess Master)
We value your privacy
Supercharge Your Chess in 21 Days!
Join Academy Today!
TheChessWorld.com
http://pogonina.com/
Company
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • F.A.Q.
  • Partnership
  • Blog
  • Grandmasters
  • Jobs
Chess Resources
  • TCW Academy
  • The Store
  • 21 Day Course
  • Play Computer
Top Resources
  • Opening Lab
  • Mastermind
  • Chess Mastery Series
  • Academy
100% Secure Purchase
Money Back PayPal SSL Comodo
Customer Support +1 (410) 656-9104
Email Us [email protected]
Contact Us
Facebook Twitter Mail Pinterest Youtube
Copyright 2007-2023 • TheChessWorld.com • All Rights Reserved
Cookie Policy | Acceptable Use Policy | Privacy Policy | Terms and Conditions
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of all the cookies.
Cookie SettingsAccept
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT
wpDiscuz