Use the Bishop Pair as Dual Swords

“Keep in mind, these are dual swords. Two halves of a single weapon. Don't think of them as separate, 'cause they're not. They're just two different parts of the same whole..”

- Prince Zuko; Avatar: The Last Airbender, episode 27: "Zuko Alone"

Hi everyone. Hope you are all fine and, if not, that things improve soon.

Have you ever heard about the power of the bishop pair? It´s said that the bishop duo is like a weapon.

The above statement is not far from the truth. Let´s see the reason.

First, to help us to understand better the importance of the referred duo, let´s start by examining the initial chessboard.

We have 16 pieces on each side, distributed on 64 squares. Each side has 8 pawns, 2 rooks, 2 knights, 2 bishops, 1 queen, and 1 king.

 We can notice that, besides the king (the one we can´t allow being cornered) and the queen (the most powerful chess piece), all the other pieces have at least one copy.

 A pawn has 7 exactly identical twins, the knight and rook have 1 identical twin each, while the bishop has 1 twin, but they aren´t identical twins, because unlike their fellow colleagues, they do different functions.

 Yes, one is responsible for the control of the light-squares, whilst the other controls the dark-squares. One cannot substitute the other, but they can help themselves. They are like dual swords.

 That explains why experienced players put more attention in preserve their both bishops than both knights, because these last ones, by having the same function, sometimes disturb each other (one occupies the place the other one also would like to be in). You don´t have this problem with the bishops.

Let me tell you about the dual swords.

In episode 27 of Avatar, The Last Airbender series, Zuko, the proud prince of the Fire Nation, was on a personal journey trying to find his own destiny.

Riding around, Zuko got to a colony of another nation (The Earth Kingdom), where he met a boy called Lee and his family and, after an invitation, decided to take a rest at their home. Lee immediately becomes a fan of Zuko, as he had a warrior´s appearance.

Zuko was skilled in swordsmanship and carried on two swords with him, which he used as a weapon to fight. When Zuko was sleeping, Lee took the swords behind his back (Zuko perceived the kid´s movement, but allowed it anyway).

Right after, Lee took fright when, while he was cutting down some flowers with the swords, Zuko´s voice suddenly echoed: “you are holding them wrong”.

Zuko continued: “Keep in mind, these are dual swords. Two halves of a single weapon. Don't think of them as separate, 'cause they're not. They're just two different parts of the same whole.”

Then, he proceeds to demonstrate how to use the swords adequately, cutting some flowers in an elegant way.

So, we can apply the same train of thought Zuko had about his double swords to our bishop pair: “They´re just two different parts of the same whole.”

I remember seeing a video by GM Rafael Leitão (@GMRafaelLeitao) that a good rule of thumb is to always have a justification while trading a bishop for a knight. Note that the bishop is stronger than the knight, but, overall, it coordinates better with his twin than the knight´s do with his own (knight + knight) or with a bishop (knight + bishop). Obviously, this is just a general rule, we have to always analyze the concrete position and calculate the variations.

The strength of the bishop pair is even more apparent:

• when the game has open lines for them to operate, creating possibilities of conducting attacks and dominating the board; and
• in endgames, especially when we have pawns on both flanks and the center is not closed (the bishops have a long-range activity, and can go faster than knights from one wing of the board to another).

Besides all, another golden rule is the one said by the endgame expert GM Karsten Muller, that “bishops prefer dynamism in the position and knights prefer it to be static”.  A good way of implementing dynamism in the positions is to open them up.

We can exemplify the above statement when we compare the initial position of the next two diagrams;

In 1st diagram, we can see that Karpov´s, having the bishop pair, tried to open up the position with the pawn lever 25.f4-f5, playing on the light-squares, where he got no opposition as Black was lacking a light-squared bishop, and none of his knights were defending the f5-square at the moment. Karpov played dynamically!

To not escape the point, we are not going further in this game, but it´s an amazing one and I recommend you see it. Hint: GM Garry Kasparov makes a great analysis of it in his book: My Great Predecessors, Volume 5.

In this 2nd diagram, we have transformed the same position a bit. Now, it has a more statical nature. You see that if one of Black´s knight reaches the f5-square, it will have an outpost, and will exercise a strong influence on White´s kingside, besides putting pressure on the d4-pawn. Meanwhile, the White´s bishops have no real prospect at all. Black is clearly better.

Now, I prepared some positions with tests on them. Feel free to try to find the solutions yourself, and compare them with the ones were chosen in the games (the solutions are right after the exercises).

Ex. 1) This is a game of mine, played in the middle of 2014. White has just captured 18.Rxd8+, how should Black recapture, and why? 

Solution: The best way to recapture is 18...Kxd8!

The natural 18...Rxd8 is a strategic mistake, as it allows 19.Be4!, and to not hang the h7 pawn, Black has to trade the bishop pair, allowing White to put a strong knight on e4-square.

18...Bxd8, by its turn, allows a queenside expansion for White with 19.b4. This is not really dangerous, but we don´t need to allow White this extra option and voluntarily put our bishop on a more passive square.

You can see the full game below:

I remember after the game, I was walking and IM Alexandru Sorin Segal, came at me and praised my 18th move. I was very proud, after all, IM Segal was a very respected player, and was especially strong in endgames. This legendary IM, unfortunately, passed away 5 months later.

Ex. 2) Black is currently an exchange up, but, he is behind in development and has some coordination problems, as both his king and king´s rook on h8 are misplaced. How should White proceed?

Answer: 17.e4! Dynamism!

As White is ahead in development and is the one to currently handle the “dual swords” (the bishop pair)! In accordance with this, he should open the position to take advantage of it. He is now threatening  18.Bf4, developing his dark-squared bishop with a gain of tempo, and he also has the idea of putting this bishop on the excellent d6-square.

Visualization training: After 17.e4!, some more moves were made, which I suggest you try to visualize without moving the pieces. Doing that, you will sharp your visualization and calculation skills (17...dxe4 18.Bf4 Qf5 19.g4 Qg6 20.Qd2 Be6).

Now, we reached the next critical position.

Ex. 3) White has played very aggressively, but his aggression is justified, as a) he leads in development, b) Black´s king is more exposed, and c) he can´t let allow Black to consolidate his position.

Taking all that into account, what´s White´s best move?

Answer: 21.Bb8!

An amazing move. White uses tactics to help with his attack and, not surprisingly, they work out. The Bishop is immune on b8, as 21...Rxb8 allows 22.Qd6+, recovering the rook, with a subsequential mate.

Let´s see the whole game and appreciate its conclusion.

As I said before, the bishop pair is a weapon, and we should use weapons with care. If you apply the following rules while handling the bishop pair, you hardly will go wrong: i) have a justification every time you trade a bishop for a knight; ii) bishops work better aligned with dynamism; and, iii) try to open up the position while having the bishop pair.

I hope you have enjoyed all the concept, and, in your games, try to see the bishops as a dual sword, what means that besides they are different pieces, they are complementary of each other and should be used together.

Best Regards,

BKB99 (“hear me roar”).