In the chess game, a player is allocated by two bishops. One bishop is located next to the king and it is known as the kingside bishop. The remaining bishop is known as the queenside bishop and it is located next to the queen. Bishop can be easily identified by the cut at the rounded top. Both bishop and knight are relatively equal in terms of value.
In the early stage of chess which was originated in India, the bishop used to move only two squares. Once the game came to the European region the Europeans made a slight difference to its moving pattern. In the present day we call chess a European oriented game, so let’s identify how the bishop move in the world-recognized game of chess.
How does the Bishop Move in Chess?
Bishop is capable of moving along any diagonal direction as long as wanted until it gets obstructed by another piece. Due to this moving pattern the bishop cannot move into an opposite-coloured square. In simple terms, after a move, it always remains on the same colour square where it was located initially. But no worries! A player is having two bishops; one on the black coloured square and the remaining bishop on a white-coloured square. Those bishops are known as “dark-squared bishop” and “light-squared bishop” respectively.
Important Positions of the Bishop
A player must be familiar with some tricks of the bishop’s movements. Bishop can gain its maximum advantage when the diagonal is fully open. Then the bishop is able to make a fast move for a longer distance.
According to the position of the bishop where it is on rest, it is referred to as either “good” or “bad”. If the path of a bishop is blocked with its own pieces, it is called a “bad bishop” and if those pieces are from the opponent, the bishop is known as a “good bishop”. So, the player should be mindful to use a good bishop for capturing and a bad bishop for defence.
If a bishop is having the freedom to move without any disturbance by the wall of pawns, it is known as an “Active bishop”. Transforming both bishops into an active stage will be more advantageous and effective.
There is a special move which is known as “Fianchetto”. This is used to make an instant involvement of a bishop towards the centre of the board. When a pawn of either file “b’ or “g” is moved forward, the bishop can move to the 2nd rank and in the next move the bishop can establish a development on the middle of the board and it provides better security while castling.
Capturing a Piece with the Bishop
Bishop can capture any piece(without the king) on the board which is in its moving direction. Once the bishop captured a piece, it has to stop at that position which the enemy piece was. But be wise! don’t let your bishop to be captured by an enemy.