Playing against the bad bishop

Someone asked for some chess pointers so I thought I'd share one of the many posts from our private Dune forum.

I've mentioned that a person has a bad bishop when his pawns are on the same color as the bishop. Here's a game that demonstrates how to play against a bad bishop.

Event "March 2007 Split I"
Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"
Date "2007.03.02"
Round "1"
White "Arrakis"
Black "2advent"
Result "1-0"
Game 3256860

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bc4 e6 7.Bb3 Be7 8.O-O O-O 9.Be3 Bd7 10.f4 Nc6 11.f5 e5 12.Nxc6 Bxc6 13.Qd3 b5 14.Nd5 a5 15.Nxf6+ Bxf6 16.Rad1 Be7 17.Bd5 Bxd5 18.Qxd5 Qc7 19.c3 Rfb8



This position arose after Black's 19th move. Black has a backward d-pawn, but many would think this position is a draw because there is no way for White to win the pawn. However, Black's problem is not that he has a weak d-pawn; his problem is that he has a bad bishop! Hence White continues to exploit that point.

20.g4! Qb7
Black could have played 20...h6, but this would not have stopped White's plan. White would play his king to g2, g3 and then play h4 and g5.

21.g5 Qxd5 22.Rxd5
Of course White captures with the rook to maintain pressure on the d-pawn. Capturing with the e-pawn would give Black his draw because he could immediately play ...Bd8 and ...Bb6.

22...g6 23.f6
Not only is White slamming the door on the Black bishop, but the Black king is imprisoned too!

23...Bf8 24.Rc1 a4 25.Kf2
White dare not make his pawn breaks w/o the king being in a good position. Notice that White has all the time in the world to move his king up towards the center while Black can do nothing.

25...Rb7 26.e2 Rc8 27.d3 Rc4 28.b3 Rc6 29.Rc2?!
I must admit, I was so wrapped up in my plan that I didn't take time to see that 29.bxa4 bxa4 30.Ra5 Rb2 31.Rc2 is a quicker win.

29...axb3 30.axb3 Ra6 31.c4 bxc4+ 32.bxc4 Rb3+ 33.Ke2 Raa3 34.Bf2 Rc3 35.Rxc3! Rxc3 36.c5 dxc5 37.Rd8 Rc2+ 38.Ke1
and here's the point. Black will not be able to keep his rook on the c-file defending the pawn and preventing White from moving his bishop to the c-5 square.

38...Rc4 39.Kd2 Rxe4
After 39...Rd4+ 40.Bxd4 cxd4 41.Kd3 Black is caught in zugswang.

40.Bxc5 h5 41.Rxf8+ 1-0[/b]

Oh, this is a thread I'll study intensively. Thank you!

Originally posted by Arrakis
I've mentioned that a person has a bad bishop when his pawns are on the same color as the bishop

Cheers for this Arrakis, I'll go through it in a minute.

I tend to think of bad bishops as bishops with the central (d and/or e) pawns fixed on the same colour as the bishop.

D

Thanks for the support.

very nice example, perhaps a good knight vs bad bishop situation?

eg. Game 3246709

Originally posted by YUG0slav
very nice example, perhaps a good knight vs bad bishop situation?

eg. Game 3246709

Sounds interesting! Why don't you annotate it for us.

Originally posted by Arrakis
Sounds interesting! Why don't you annotate it for us.

maybe if I have time (it's the last day of spring break...which means I have ALL my homework to do)

Originally posted by YUG0slav
maybe if I have time (it's the last day of spring break...which means I have ALL my homework to do)

Homework should be OUTLAWED when it comes to spring break! 😵

Originally posted by Arrakis
Homework should be OUTLAWED when it comes to spring break! 😵

maybe you could try annotating it, then compare it to mine later?

unfortunately, the game I posted is not the best example of a bish v knight situation as when said imbalance is reached, it is so that white can win a pawn. But it does still play a large role leading to the end of the game

Originally posted by YUG0slav
maybe you could try annotating it, then compare it to mine later?

unfortunately, the game I posted is not the best example of a bish v knight situation as when said imbalance is reached, it is so that white can win a pawn. But it does still play a large role leading to the end of the game

Nah, it is a good example of a good knight vs a bad bishop, but I think our fans are realizing what a bad bishop is now. So if I'm going to annotate a game it will have to be something a bit more spectacular.