Good and bad, the Yin and Yang. In Chess, this is also very true. There are good positions and bad positions. This page is about the bad side of Bishops.
What is a Bad Bishop?
In Chess, a Bad Bishop is considered to be a Bishop when its own central pawns are on the same colored squares as the Bishop. This means that Bishop is blocked by its own pawns. This could render that Bishop an entombed piece and it would be beneficial to sacrifice that Bishop.
Remember, Bishops want to be on long diagonals starring directly at an enemy piece, not a friendly pawn as that would be wasting much of the power that Bishops have.
Examples
Example #1
Let’s have a look at the position below. White is ahead by two pawns, however it is Black’s turn to move. Black is losing, but instead of resigning, is there a win that Black can win a draw?
Example #2
In the PGN below, White’s bishop is considered to be a bad bishop since it is the wrong color and won’t be able to defend the promotion square of the Rook pawn from the Black’s King.
In order to win a draw, Black just has to capture the b-pawn.
What To Do If You Have a Bad Bishop
Generally, there is three options you have if you find yourself in possession of a bad bishop.
- Trade it
- Turn The Bad Into Good
- Make It Active
Trade it
Trade the Bad Bishop off for a piece or equal or greater value, typically an enemy Knight or Bishop. Trading a Bad Bishop for the opponents Good Bishop is ideal.
In the example above, Black trades the Bad Bishop for White’s good Bishop.
Turn The Bad Into Good
You can turn a Bad Bishop into a Good one by repositioning your pawns on the opposite color, if you’re able to. This becomes easier and easier at the game gets closer to the endgame and there is more squares available for pawns to move to.
Making an enemy Good Bishop into a Bad Bishop in the endgame can happen very quickly rendering that Bishop useless.
Make It Active
A Bad Bishop isn’t an active piece by default. Make the Bad Bishop active by moving it outside of the Pawn Chain. The Pawn Chain in front of the Bishop is what’s causing the Bishop to be bad, move it outside of it and it can become active. For more information on the importance of activating pieces making them mobile, see the guide on piece activity.
In the position above, White’s Bad Bishop can activate by moving outside of the central pawn chain.
I hope this explanation of what a bad Bishop is made sense and helped you. If you haven’t already, you may be interested in reading more about the Bishop in Chess.
