In playing chess you must learn of all the little intricacies that come along with the game. One of these to learn is what is called an unopposed bishop. An unopposed bishop is one whose counterpart on the opponent’s side has been taken. In other words, if you have your dark square bishop and your opponent does not, then you have an unopposed bishop. The opposite of this is true if you have lost one of your bishops and your opponent still has theirs that is on that square color.

The danger of an unopposed bishop comes in many forms. The primary way that an unopposed bishop is dangerous is that if you are being attacked by an unopposed bishop you cannot block with your own bishop or trade out pieces with your own bishop of that color. Also if you have opened files, or semi open files, on your side that are open to attack, the unopposed bishop can exploit these quite easily. If your opponent has an unopposed bishop then your opponent can also use its to start taking down your pawns and your primary line of defense. If you had not lost your bishop of the same square color this attack would be much more difficult for your opponent to carry out.

Bishops are not always considered to be highly valuable pieces by inexperienced players, but they can have a dramatic impact on the game due in part to their ability to span the entire length of the board from corner to corner. An unopposed bishop becomes even more effective in the endgame with its ability to threaten the opponent’s king without having to guard against the opponents bishop of the same color square.