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The Great Pawn Hunter
Chess Tutorial

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The fight of Minor pieces

After the opening comes the fight for superior minor pieces. The following diagrams come from endgames and show simply the concepts that are used for knights and bishops after the opening occurs. This is why endgames are so strongly recommended for students of the game.

The bishop is better than the Knight because the knight will be captured on whatever square it moves to. This is called "Putting the knight in the corral". If you pay close attention, you will notice that the bishop is placed on one of the four center squares. There are also no pawns on the board to restrict the bishop in its movement. The bishop is very much like a low flying airplane. Low flying Airplanes must go around mountains.Without mountains in the way, a bishop becomes a very strong piece. In chess, pawns are the mountains. Your bishops are long range pieces. They do not require closeness to the enemy and so do not need support by pawns. If there are no pawns the enemy bishops are strong as well. Try to restrict the mobility of the enemy bishops by closing up their diagonals. If you can not post your knights so they are hostile to the enemy then try to trade them off for the opponents bishops.
Remember: In an open game with no mountains(pawns) in the way, the bishops are usually more effective.

The knight in diagram #2 is better than the bishop because the bishop is blocked by pawns and will be captured on what ever square it tries to move to. The bishop is said to be "Bad". A knight is a short range piece, it requires protection to keep from being chased away by the enemy king. Pawn and knight work to complement each other. Knights are like pack mules that are used on mountain trails. They are slow ground animals. While bishops are like airplanes that need to fly unencumbered by mountains which only get in their way. If you understand these fine points you will be developing your pieces toward the center and then be asking yourself whether you want to fight an air game or a ground game.

Remember:

In an "Air game", your bishops are used and their diagonals are clear. Enemy bishops should be restricted by closing their diagonals or traded off with your unhostile knights.

In a "Ground game", your knights are used with pawns that block diagonals. The enemy knights should be restricted, sometimes by pawn advances, or traded off with your "Bad" bishops.