The Unopposed Bishop

Knowing which pieces to sacrifice and when to sacrifice them is probably a matter of opinion as much as anything. There are of course exceptions where a sacrifice is just plain silly. When and why to sacrifice a bishop is often a matter of opinion since some players see a bishop as being highly valuable while others see it as having little value.

One way to gauge that value is to look at what is called the 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 then your opponent has an unopposed bishop.

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. 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. 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.

An unopposed bishop can become quite a valuable asset if you are aware of how to best utilize it. Often though many inexperienced players will sacrifice a bishop in order to keep a knight. This may be an appropriate move in some circumstances. The point is not to surrender your bishop and to allow you opponent to get away with an unopposed bishop.



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1. Offense or Defense
2. God Save The Queen
3. Bluffing
4. Keep from Blocking Yourself
5. Middle or sides
6. Skewering and Pinning
7. Castling
8. Put your Pieces to Work
9. The Power of the Pawn
10. The Double Threat

21. End Game Ideas
22. Doubled Pawns
23. End Game Goals
24. Middle Game Tactics
25. Chart Your Progress
26. Deflection
27. Master An Opening
28. Chess Notation Part 1
29. Chess Notation Part 2
30. Chess Notation Part 3

41. The Classic Kings Pawn Opening
42. Chess Variants
43. Checkmate
44. Defend Yourself
45. Simplicity
46. Attack on the Kings Side
47. Play Against a Computer
48. Zwischenzug
49. Do Not Fret
50. Take Advantage of Your Opponents Doubled Pawns

61. Memorizing Openings
62. Winning a Won Game
63. You Are Going to Lose
64. Castling Ideas
65. A Winning Attitude
66. Develop Your Pieces
67. The Best Move
68. Ways to Protect an Attacked Piece
69. What is Your Opponent Trying to do?
70. When to Capture a Promoting Piece

81. Pinning
82. Plan Ahead
83. Retreat
84. Take a Risk
85. The Best Move 2
86. The Center of the Game
87. The Problem With Pawns
88. The Skewer
89. The Unopposed Bishop
90. Two Weaknesses

(more coming)

Other Chess Resources
11. The Trade Off
12. Three Types of Draws
13. The Strategic Sacrifice
14. Hidden Attacks
15. Understanding The Three Stages of a Chess Game
16. Four Move Checkmate
17. Use Your Moves Wisely
18. Utilizing Your Bishops
19. King Of The World
20. Pony Up


31. Join a Chess Club
32. Chess Etiquette
33. Pay Attention
34. Gambits
35. Have Your Game Analyzed
36. Long Term Thinking
37. Think Ahead
38. Watch Others
39. Learn from Grandmasters
40. The Spike or Grob Opening

51. The King as an Offensive Piece
52. Blockades
53. Chasing
54. Study Chess Problem Diagrams
55. Exchanging Pieces
56. Exploit Weaknesses
57. Learning About Bishops
58. Play the Board
59. The Lone Pawn
60. Why Play Speed Chess

71. When to Capture the Pinned Piece
72. Doing Nothing
73. Which Forked Piece to Capture
74. Explore Variety
75. Studying is Hard Work
76. Activity
77. Center Domination
78. Development
79. Pawns on the Third Rank
80. Piece Values

91. What is your opponent doing?
92. Chess History
93. Lack of Tempo

Books:
Chess History And Reminiscences
Chess Strategy