Hippophobia

When Bruce Wayne suffered lasting psychological trauma from the bats he encountered in an old well in Wayne manor, little did he know that the seed was sown from which he would later draw much strength; he goes on to use the bat as his symbol - a hallmark of his power and ubiquity.

In a similar way, I am susceptible to bouts of hippophobia; I suffer much with horses – knights to be particular – and though I can’t say I’ve yet emulated Wayne’s complete mastery of his fear, I’d like to share with you, today, a game in which both the traits of hippophobia and the “Batman” effect were exhibited.

We often hear about the value of knights in comparison to bishops, the situations on the board in which they are weaker or stronger than their counterpart minor piece. The best word for them I can find right now is “pesky”, and thus they will remain until I start contributing some proper thought to the use of knights in my game.

Usually I’m all too happy to trade off knights for bishops, I fear being left with a pair of useless knights whilst my opponent storms the diagonals with a beautifully coordinated pair of bishops. But I think I need to start giving my knights a chance... there might even be a “Batman” in the making!