Bishop Pair

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Home * Evaluation * of Pieces * Bishop Pair

Since in the initial position bishops stand on the squares of different color, throughout the game they control a disjoint sets of squares. This means that their power will never be wasted for carrying out the same tasks. On the other hand, lack of one bishop may introduce a color weakness. Taking all those considerations into account, one might conclude that possessing both bishops is a desirable thing. The question is, however, how much they are worth.

Larry Kaufman proposed the value of half a pawn [1]. It must be stressed, however, that this number is a part of a broader system, in which knights are stronger with many pawns on the board.

See also

Publications

Forum Posts

External Links

References

  1. Larry Kaufman (1999). The Evaluation of Material Imbalances. (first published in Chess Life March 1999, online version edited by Dan Heisman)
  2. Looking for Mark Sturman by Mark Lefler, rec.games.chess, July 02, 1995

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