34
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I'm new to chess-what should be done here to win the game?
This position is a draw, the game is over. It is not possible for either side to checkmate the other from this position, not even if the side with the bare king would try to help.
The same is true for ...
- 27.8k
26
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Why is it better to control a vertical/horizontal than diagonal?
I'm not sure exactly what question you're asking, but here are a few ideas related to why rooks might be stronger than bishops:
Bishops are easier to block with pawns. If a bishop sits on a nice open ...
- 1,415
25
votes
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Why is Bb8 better than Bc7 in this position?
Why is Bb8 better than Bc7 in this position?
It's all about the a6 knight. It has no future on that square. It needs to relocate via either b8 or c7. c7 gives it a better circuit than b8 because it ...
- 94.5k
24
votes
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Why does a knight combine better with the queen than a bishop does?
It is a fairly short and simple explanation:
They can combine to attack any square, not just squares on one color. As part of that they can also shift the attack better from one square to another.
- 32.4k
20
votes
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A case where Bishop for knight isn't a good trade
it's a bishop for knight in my favor
So what? You will have moved the knight 3 times to your opponent's bishop 1 move and you will have improved your opponent's position by opening the f file for him....
- 94.5k
20
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What is the most suitable position for a bishop here?
In the diagrammed position you have a material advantage but Black's position is a little bit better because his rooks are connected and he has a safer king position. His immediate threat is RxR, when ...
- 94.5k
20
votes
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Maximum number of knights populating a chess board so that no knights are attacking one another
14 non-attacking bishops
We may consider the white-square bishops and the black-square bishops separately.
At most 7 bishops can be placed on white squares, namely, at most one bishop on each of the 7 ...
- 3,762
17
votes
Does "juicer" mean bishop?
Does “juicer” mean bishop?
This YouTube video of Hikaru playing the Beth Harmon bot gives some clues.
First, at 3:06 he says "I think I can just throw in a juicer check" and indicates a ...
- 94.5k
16
votes
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Why is the rook worth 5 points while the bishop is only worth 3?
Have a look at the wikipedia article on relative chess piece values, it provides an extensive discussion on the matter.
To see how you can compare two given pieces, let's consider your bishop vs rook ...
- 12k
16
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Why does a knight combine better with the queen than a bishop does?
One of the ways I teach kids how knights move is to put the queen and the knight on the same square. The knight can go to the nearest squares that the queen can't go to.
It is this unique ...
- 94.5k
16
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Would bishops be stronger or weaker on the same coloured squares?
And the correct answer, as always, is: "it depends on the position" :-)
OK, assume that you start with Bb1/Nc1. Lichess says +0.1. But this is the sum of...
the N generally standing a bit ...
- 15.5k
15
votes
Why does a knight combine better with the queen than a bishop does?
John Watson's "Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy" contains a section titled "Folklore or Reality? Queens and Knights" John lists some folks that say Queen and Knight are better
Capablanca
Shirov
...
- 5,096
14
votes
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What does "penned in" mean in Chess?
I believe Brian Towers and user58697 are correct, and the author wrote/meant pen instead of pin. The dictionary tells it's a small enclosure for animals, or an abbreviation for penitentiary, which ...
- 24.8k
14
votes
What is the most suitable position for a bishop here?
Brian Towers' answer is excellent. I'll just add this: if you play Rxe8, you are effectively trading your e1-rook for your opponent's a8-rook. A glance at the position should show that your e1-rook is ...
- 26.1k
14
votes
Theoretically, why is 4. Bd3 NOT one of the best candidates in Caro-Kann?
The line usually quoted is 4.Bd3 Bxd3 5.Qxd3 Qa5+ 6. Bd2 Qa6! If White now exchanges Queens or allows the Queens to be exchanged he already has a poor endgame structure with a bad dark-square Bishop. ...
- 8,155
14
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Maximum number of knights populating a chess board so that no knights are attacking one another
For knights, the maximum is 32. Since knights can only attack the color opposite of the square they’re on, placing one on 32 squares of the same color is therefore optimal.
[FEN "N1N1N1N1/...
- 17.1k
14
votes
Why is it better to control a vertical/horizontal than diagonal?
I am answering the mathematically-oriented question why are rooks controlling more squares (the chess question of why are rooks better pieces is well-answered here: Why is the rook worth 5 points ...
- 291
13
votes
Would bishops be stronger or weaker on the same coloured squares?
Are you familiar with the variant known as Crazyhouse? Basically, if you capture an opponent's piece, you can spend a later turn to place it anywhere you like on the board, as your own piece. This ...
- 862
13
votes
Accepted
Can the "bishop pair advantage" be supported by statistics?
Download all games from top players. Around 341k games excluding the duplicates.
Use pgn-extract to get BBvNB, BBvNN and BNvNN games.
Run bayeselo to get the stats.
Results
Table 1
Rank Name: Elo ...
- 3,885
12
votes
Why is the rook worth 5 points while the bishop is only worth 3?
You need to understand that the point system is only a rough guideline meant to assist you in evaluating positions or in deciding on potential exchanges. Many factors, particularly the pawn structure, ...
- 20.7k
12
votes
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Why would trading this bad bishop be a bad move?
Tactics.
Trading dark-squared bishops is useful in the long run, but a4-Ba3 is a bit too slow to exchange the Bf8 that hasn't moved yet; Also you weakened the dark square b4 in the process. Black can ...
- 15.8k
12
votes
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Why does Stockfish recommend this bishop exchange early on?
I wouldn't say it was a "sacrifice", it was more like an exchange of bishops.
My lichess engine was actually giving me ...Bd6 as the first move.
I don't understand why it wants me to move ...
- 22.4k
12
votes
What is the name of this unconventional opening?
This set up is often called "The Hippo", a possible reason is that bishops look like the eyes of a hippopotamus.
For example: Eric Rosen: Don't Mess With The Hippo
- 6,506
12
votes
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Why does stockfish give "-28.8" as the evaluation number for this position?
Computer programs are great at performing the specific tasks they've been designed for and useless for anything else. Chess engines are no different. It's just not worth it to design an engine so that ...
- 16.3k
12
votes
Why exchange bishop for knight in this endgame?
Easy. Exchange BOTH pairs of light officers (BxN, then NxB) and you have an almost trivial won pure king/pawn endgame. General Principle: If you are material up in the endgame, exchange officers. If ...
- 15.5k
12
votes
Why exchange bishop for knight in this endgame?
After Kf5 white replies with Nc4 and the only way to avoid losing the a pawn is to play the knight back to the poor square b7 and it is very difficult to see how black can make progress. If the ...
- 94.5k
11
votes
Accepted
How can I get a collection of chess games with a 'Greek gift' sacrifice?
Something which might help here is Chess Query Language. Just like SQL does for relational databases, CQL can search in a database of chess games for positions/games which match certain criteria.
I ...
- 24.8k
11
votes
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Good Knight Against Bad Bishop Endgame - A More Constructive Plan?
First, the good: You are probably winning this throughout the game, and thus, improving your position gradually was the perfect plan. It also was one of the best examples of Shereshevsky's "Do Not ...
- 32.4k
11
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Theoretically, why is 4. Bd3 NOT one of the best candidates in Caro-Kann?
But I have never seen 4. Bd3 played in titled games.
The reason could be that Black gets a superior version of the French Defense. In the French, Black blocks the natural diagonal of the c8-bishop ...
- 3,525
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