Bishop activity

Bishops have different desires than knights.  Bishops like to operate far from the battle through open lines. 

Diagram #1:  A bishop on the a1 square can be a good place for the bishop depending on several other factors.  It is typically a horrible place for a knight, but the bishop can be very happy there.  It influences 7 squares from there which is not it's best, but two of those squares are central squares (d4 and e5) and three others are in enemy territory (f6, g7, and h8). 


Diagram #2:  Bishops like positions where the central pawns are gone and friendly pawns are not on the same color that the bishop operates on.



Diagram #3:  This bishop will never have any fun because it is inside the pawn chain, the pawns are locked, and the friendly pawns are on the same color as the bishop. 


Diagram #4:  This bishop is outside the pawn chain so depending on other features may still be an effective piece even though the central pawns are locked and friendly pawns on the same color.  It is given the label "bad bishop" though due to friendly pawns on the same color, but a "bad bishop" outside the pawn chain is not always really a bad piece.

 

Diagram #5:  From the central square e4 the light squared bishop can influence 13 squares (maximum activity).  Six of those squares are on the b1-h7 diagonal and the other 7 are along the long diagonal a8-h1.  That does not mean the best square for a bishop is a central square, but that is where a bishop influences the most squares. 



Diagram #6:  As the bishop moves away from the center it can influence less squares (only 11 from f3,  4 along the d1-h5 diagonal and 7 along the a8-h1 diagonal), but there are plenty of cases where bishops are better when placed away from the center.  The bishop on f3 still influences two central squares e4 and d5 and four other squares in enemy territory (h5, c6, b7, and a8).



Diagram #7:  The bishop here influences 9 squares one of which is a central square d5 and three in enemy territory. 



 When placing a bishop, consider where the friendly pawns are, how many central squares the bishop influences from that square, and how many squares in enemy territory it influences.