Editing Bishop (chess) (section)

===Versus knight===
Knights and bishops are each worth about three pawns. This means bishops are approximately equal in strength to knights, but depending on the game situation, either may have a distinct advantage. In general, the bishop is slightly stronger than the knight.

Less experienced players tend to underrate the bishop compared to the knight because the knight can reach all squares and is more adept at [[fork (chess)|forking]]. More experienced players understand the power of the bishop.<ref>{{harvcol|Mednis|1990|p=2}}</ref>

Bishops usually gain in relative strength towards the [[Chess endgame|endgame]] as more pieces are captured and more open lines become available on which they can operate. A bishop can easily influence both wings simultaneously, whereas a knight is less capable of doing so. In an open endgame, a pair of bishops is decidedly superior to either a bishop and a knight, or two knights. A player possessing a pair of bishops has a strategic weapon in the form of a long-term threat to trade down to an advantageous endgame.<ref name=":0" />

Two bishops on opposite-colored squares and king [[Two bishops checkmate|can force checkmate]] against a lone king, whereas [[two knights endgame|two knights]] cannot. A bishop and knight [[bishop and knight checkmate|can force mate]], but with far greater difficulty than two bishops.

In certain positions a bishop can by itself lose a move (see [[Triangulation (chess)|triangulation]] and [[Tempo (chess)|tempo]]), while a knight can never do so. The bishop is capable of [[Skewer (chess)|skewering]] or [[Pin (chess)|pinning]] a piece, while the knight can do neither. A bishop can in some situations hinder a knight from moving. In these situations, the bishop is said to be "dominating" the knight.

On the other hand, in the [[chess opening|opening]] and [[Chess middlegame|middlegame]] a bishop may be hemmed in by pawns of both players, and thus be inferior to a knight which can jump over them. A knight [[Check (chess)|check]] cannot be [[Block (chess)|blocked]] but a bishop check can. Furthermore, on a crowded board a knight has many tactical opportunities to [[Fork (chess)|fork]] two enemy pieces. A bishop can fork, but opportunities are rarer. One such example occurs in the position illustrated, which arises from the [[Ruy Lopez]]: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 b5 6.Bb3 Be7 7.d4 d6 8.c3 Bg4 9.h3{{chesspunc|!?}} Bxf3 10.Qxf3 exd4 11.Qg3 g6 12.Bh6{{chesspunc|!}}

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{{Chess diagram
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|Bishop dominating a knight
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |bd|  |  |  |
|  |  |xo|  |xo|  |  |
|  |xo|  |  |  |xo|  |
|  |  |  |nl|  |  |  |
|The knight cannot move to any of its four legal squares without being captured by the black bishop.
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{{Chess diagram
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|Example of bishop fork
|rd|  |  |qd|kd|  |  |rd
|  |  |pd|  |bd|pd|  |pd
|pd|  |nd|pd|  |nd|pd|bl
|  |pd|  |  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |pd|pl|  |  |
|  |bl|pl|  |  |  |ql|pl
|pl|pl|  |  |  |pl|pl|
|rl|nl|  |  |  |rl|kl|
|After 12...Nxe4{{chesspunc|?}}, the forking 13.Bd5! wins {{chessgloss|material}} after, e.g., 13...Nxg3 14.Bxc6+ Qd7 15.Bxd7+ Kxd7 16.fxg3.
}}
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