Originally posted by sonhouse
I always thought you put the pawns on opposite color of the opponent bishop so they can't be attacked. That is wrong?

The general principle is to limit the mobility of the opponent's pieces. There may be many ways of accomplishing this, one of which is to place one's own pawns on the same colour as the opponent's bishop. That is assuming he has only one bishop; if he has two, then other means must be applied.