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Bishops are usually considered a less valuable piece than rooks. I’m not here to overturn any established commonsense in the game of chess! A bishop is certainly a less powerful piece than a rook on average. However, pieces don’t exist in isolation and need to be considered in the context of the game and the interactions with other pieces. A pair of bishops synergise with each other in a way that makes the pair potentially much stronger than a rook. This is especially the case earlier in the game, for instance, the middle game, when there are still a lot of pieces on the board. Rooks often can’t exert their influence while bishops slip through the diagonal cracks of the opponent’s line of pawns. This phenomenon was well demonstrated by a game I played today.

In the second half of the middle game, I had one rook and the bishop pair, while the opponent had both rooks. We both still had 7 pawns each. The opponent’s rooks were boxed in by their own pawns, allowing me to extend my advantage, almost entirely through manoeuvring the bishop pair. Once my passed pawn reached the seventh rank, the game was effectively over as my opponent was forced to trade a rook for a pawn.

I hope you found this video interesting and useful, and thanks for watching!

Game on chess.com: https://www.chess.com/game/live/36806403331

[Event "Live Chess"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2022.01.24"]
[Round "?"]
[White "vitualis"]
[Black "argosnet"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C28"]
[WhiteElo "1215"]
[BlackElo "1211"]
[TimeControl "1800"]
[EndTime "16:25:14 PST"]
[Termination "vitualis won by resignation"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. f4 d6 4. Bc4 Be7 5. d3 Bg4 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. f5 Nd4 8. O-O Nxf3+ 9. gxf3 Bh5 10. Ne2 d5 11. Bb3 Bc5+ 12. Kh1 dxe4 13. fxe4 Ng4 14. Qe1 Nf2+ 15. Rxf2 Bxf2 16. Qxf2 Bxe2 17. Qxe2 Qh4 18. Qg2 Qe1+ 19. Qg1 Qxg1+ 20. Kxg1 f6 21. c3 O-O-O 22. Bc2 Rhg8 23. Be3 b6 24. d4 exd4 25. cxd4 g6 26. Bb3 Rg7 27. Be6+ Kb8 28. Bh6 Re7 29. d5 gxf5 30. Bxf5 c6 31. Bf4+ Kb7 32. Rd1 cxd5 33. exd5 Re2 34. Bxh7 Rxb2 35. a3 Rh8 36. Be4 Re8 37. Bf3 Rb3 38. Bg2 Rxa3 39. d6+ Ka6 40. d7 Rd8 41. Bc7 Rg8 42. d8=Q Rxd8 43. Bxd8 f5 44. Rf1 Ra5 45. Bh3 Rd5 46. Bg5 b5 47. Bxf5 b4 48. Bc8+ Ka5 49. Rf5 Rxf5 50. Bxf5 Ka4 51. Kf1 b3 52. Ke1 a5 53. Kd1 Ka3 54. Bb1 a4 55. h4 Kb4 56. h5 a3 57. Bf6 b2 58. Bxb2 axb2 59. h6 Kc3 60. h7 Kb3 61. h8=Q Ka3 62. Qb8 Ka4 63. Kc2 Ka5 64. Kc3 Ka6 65. Kc4 1-0