The Bishop. The relative value of this piece has given rise to different opinions among masters and authorities. Some have shown or expressed a distinct preference for the Knight in the ending and it has also been asserted that in conjunction with Queen and Rook, the Knight is stronger than the Bishop. But after careful consideration of the average of positions that have attracted our attention and the few exceptions positively in favor of either piece, we have come to the conclusion that the power of the Bishop corresponds for practical purposes with its estimated superior mathematical value over the Knight in the opening, and in the middle part as well as in the ending, and in the majority of combinations with other forces. The great power of the Bishop, especially in conjunction with the other Bishop for attack in all directions, as well as for the defense has been first systematically and consistently demonstrated in practice over the board by the great German master, Louis Paulsen, who may be regarded in many respects as one of the chief pioneers of the modern school.
In the opening the King's Bishop is preferable to the other on account of his usual aggressive bearing against the hostile Kingside. His best post in the development of open games is at c4, whence he is often retreated to d3 or c2 after advancing d2-d4 and c2-c3 if the opponent has castled on the Kingside. In some openings in which the adversary is enabled to bring his Knight to e5, or in closed games, or when the opponent threatens an attack on the Kingside by bringing his pieces or pawns to bear against the g4 square, the King's Bishop is sometimes better posted at e2 in order to avoid its being exchanged for a Knight or for other defensive purposes. The Queen's Bishop is mostly developed at d2 or e3, but in some openings can be kept at home for a long time until f2-f4 can be played with advantage, and in case the adversary capture that pawn with the e-pawn, an excellent game will often be obtained by retaking with the Bishop. As already stated it is often useful to keep the respective Bishop within reach of the Bishop's square on the side on which the King has castled. It is usually best to keep both Bishops in communication with both wings and for that reason as well as on account of the superior value of the Bishop it is very rarely of advantage to pin an adverse Knight. Notably should the pinning of the hostile King's Knight by Bg5 be avoided excepting when some clear advantage or compensation can be perceived. For the opponent by attacking the Bishop with ...h7-h6 will either effect an exchange more favorable to himself, or the Bishop will have to retreat with great loss of time. It is generally disadvantageous to allow the Queen's Bishop to be driven back to g3 out of communication with the other wing, especially when his Knight is posted at f3. For defensive purposes it is generally advisable to retain the Bishop of the color on which the majority of pawns are placed or likely to be fixed, more especially when such pawns are stationed on different separated diagonals. For the attack, the Bishop should be retained of that color on which the majority of the adverse pawns are placed and an advantage will then generally be effected by endeavoring to break through with well supported pawns. The superiority of the Bishop over the Knight is also shown by the fact that the former when placed on any square of the board will command at least 7 squares of one or more clear diagonals. In the middle of the board at e4, e5, d4, or d5, he will command 13 squares. On the other hand, the action of the Knight may be reduced to the command of no more than two squares, if he be placed into any of the four corners of the board, and the maximum of squares which he can command is eight.
The great power of the two Bishops combined has already been alluded to. They are a little superior to Bishop and Knight and considerably stronger that two Knights. With the qualifications mentioned in our description of the properties of the Rook where we have also given some comparative valuations of Bishop and Rook with pawns on either side, we would further compute that two Bishops and two pawns are considerably stronger than Rook and Knight, and that one Bishop is much better than three pawns. But it should be pointed out that two passed pawns on the sixth row even if separated will win against the Bishop with or without the move, if neither can be taken at once, and the adverse King stands at least three clear squares distant from either pawn. On the other hand, a Rook would easily stop such two or even more separated passed pawns if they cannot be supported by their King for some time, by simply placing the Rook on his second or fist row.
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