Often in chess we deal with material imbalances that often favour one side or the other. For example it is well known that 3 minor pieces can often overpower the Queen, or a minor piece almost always overpowers 3 pawns. Perhaps the most infamous material mismatch is the bishop versus the knight. Both pieces are worth 3 points, however most people consider the bishop to be better than the knight. Engines typically has shown that the bishop is generally stronger than the knight. But what does this all mean?
The “point” of the question.
In the very beginning of our chess journey, we learn that the pawns are worth 1 point, the bishops and knights 3 points each, the rooks 5 points, and the all-powerful queen worth a whopping 9 points! However as we move on in chess we learn that the bishop is usually stronger than the knight in most cases. So how much points is a bishop worth? I will show you some specific cases in the list below with explanations.
- Bishop in a bishop pair in an open position – 3.5 points each: A bishop with its partner can see all 64 squares, and in many cases during an attack, the defending side has to often choose which colour complex to weaken. Favouring at least 1 bishop.
- Lone bishop in open position – 3.25 points: a bishop has similar capabilities to a rook, however it can only see half of the squares on a chessboard. It can often be isolated or blunted its colour complex.
- Bishop(s) in closed position – 2.5 points each: In a closed position a knight’s value increases dramatically therefore, it is often a good idea to trade a less useful bishop to a more maneuverable, and valuable knight.
- A “bad” bishop – 2 points: A bad bishop is a bishop who is restricted by its own pawns, therefore it can’t easily participate in the game. Some good examples are the French bishop in the French defence, blocked by its e6 pawn, and the c8 bishop in many QGD (Queen’s gambit declined) positions. Occasionally, there are cases where the bad bishop serves a role in defending the pawns that block it, however, it is generally a good idea to trade your bad bishop
So that concludes our evaluation of the bishop’s power. Let’s think about it more. In a closed position, pawns often block the bishop’s potential diagonals and the bishops power is often reduced. In closed positions, games are often switch from open, tactical, and quick, to slow, maneuvering, and tense. Therefore, the knight can squeeze through the gaps and take outposts. Here is one example!
Diagram 1 – white to move
In the above image, black’s dark squared bishop is a lone, “bad” bishop it is also a relatively closed position. The queenside is locked, and the kingside is stable. The white knight enjoys its outpost on the d5 square which is a light square, it can’t be easily removed by by black. The knight attacks f6 and can always jump to b6. In addition, Qh6 wins a pawn and cashes in on the advantage.
So that illustrates the knight’s dominance over the bishop. Let me show you another example.
Diagram 2 – white to move
In this next example, a rook and minor piece endgame is significantly better for white. The Black knight on b8 is tied down to the defence of a6 and c6, The doubled black rooks are neutralized by the untouchable “octopus” knight on d5. Black’s bishop on g8 is a very bad bishop. Due to all these factors white is close to winning.
Now I think we had enough, taking a look at positions where the knight(s) dominate the bishop. Now we’ll take a look at the power of the 2 bishops working together in an open position. Here we’ll see how the knight serves almost no meaningful purpose in the game.
Diagram 3 – black to move
In the above position, white is down two full pawns yet, the attack is almost winning. It is black to move and white is threatening mate on g7. Here Bf6 can’t be played because of 1… Qf5! Which forces g6 and wins the bishop on f6. Therefore 1. g6 f5 2. Bf6 is the only line for black if they wish to survive. However 2… fxg6 3. fxg6 Bxf6!! which completely exposes the black king. Meanwhile the knight on b6 doesn’t serve a role in the defence of the black king.
One key thing about bishops to remember is that bishop are long range pieces while knights are quite short ranged. So in an attack the bishop pair can participate even if it is close to home. The knight on the other hand, has to get close to something attack or defend it. This is a principle to remember when we deal with knight vs bishop. So we have another position. This demonstrates the bishops power in an endgame!
Diagram 4 – white to move
Who is better? In the the endgame the bishops power increases because the positions tend to get more open. The knight can fight for both colour complexes and can target, immobile pawns on all 64 squares. The knight is limited in mobility itself as well. The bishop can cross the board in one swoop and can fight for both sides of the board like in the position above. The bishop can go to g7 and gobble some pawns. The bishop also restrains the knight on c8. White is better.
I can’t wait for part 2!
Due to other projects on this website, we have decided that this is all we can do for now. We are working on so many new things. Like the Anti-Caro weapon we are introducing in our e4 aggression course. Can’t wait to get all of this done! Don’t worry we will come back with more examples next time! Thank you so much!
From: The analysis team
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