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The bishops, especially when I’m able to hold onto the bishop pair, are one of my favourite pieces in chess. The skewer, especially against the king with check, is one of the most powerful tactics in chess to win material. This often becomes available as the board starts to clear up in the middle and endgames. In this game I played today, I managed to use this tactic twice to win the game.

If you can, holding onto your bishop pair can give you an advantage in an otherwise materially balanced game. I really enjoy using the bishops for pins and skewers, and these diagonal tactics are often a little more difficult for the opponent to see coming. As an interesting historical note, the modern bishop was originally the elephant in India, and as it passed to Europe through Persia. The modern version of Chinese chess still has the bishop piece as the elephant. Why the elephant? Imagine elephant archers – like those in the massive battle scene from Lord of the Rings. The archers can’t shoot straight ahead, as the elephant’s head is in the way, but rather, they aim at enemy troops diagonally!

I hope you enjoyed this video, and thanks for watching!

Game on chess.com: https://www.chess.com/game/live/35936939775

[Event "Live Chess - chess"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2022.01.15"]
[Round "?"]
[White "JoyRed"]
[Black "vitualis"]
[Result "0-1"]
[TimeControl "1800"]
[WhiteElo "1197"]
[BlackElo "1193"]
[Termination "vitualis won by resignation"]

1. e4 e5 2. f3 Nf6 3. a3 d5 4. d3 d4 5. Ne2 Nc6 6. g3 Be7 7. Bg2 O-O 8. Nd2 b5 9. f4 a5 10. fxe5 Nxe5 11. b3 Neg4 12. Nf3 Ne3 13. Bxe3 dxe3 14. Qc1 Ng4 15. h3 Nf2 16. Rf1 Nxd3+ 17. cxd3 Qxd3 18. Qb1 Qxb1+ 19. Rxb1 Bxa3 20. Ned4 Bb4+ 21. Ke2 c5 22. Nxb5 Be6 23. Kxe3 Rad8 24. Ng5 Bd2+ 25. Ke2 Bxg5 26. Nc7 Bd7 27. Nd5 Bb5+ 0-1