Understanding before Moving 43: Good bishops, bad bishops

Pawns often get blocked and if you have a bishop it is important to know whether the blocked pawns are good or bad for you. The rule of thumb claims that a bishop suffers if the pawns are blocked and stand on squares of the colour the bishop moves on. Such a bishop is often a so-called "bad bishop". If the bishop is not hemmed in by his own pawns we speak of a "good  bishop".

This is an important principle and it is good to study positions with "good" and "bad" bishops, which often occur in the endgame.

The diagram position shows an endgame study by the great endgame expert Yuri Averbakh. Black's bishop is completely blocked by his pawns and Black has a very bad bishop. White's bishop can move much more freely and the diagram position is in fact won for White.
But do you see how White can win? Maybe by forcing Black into zugzwang?

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Links

• More videos...
• Understanding before moving 1: How to design a concept in the opening
• Understanding before moving 2: How to improve the activity of my pieces
• Understanding before moving 3: Queen in the corner
• Understanding before moving 4: King in the box
• Understanding before moving 5: Locked up pieces
• Understanding before moving 6: Paralyzed
• Understanding before moving 7: Divided in two - Part 1
• Understanding before moving 8: Divided in two - Part 2
• Understanding before moving 9: Hunting the king - Part 1
• Understanding before moving 10: Hunting the king - Part 2
• Understanding before moving 11: Pattern Recognition
• Understanding before moving 12: Advantage in Development
• Understanding before moving 13: Compensation
• Understanding before moving 14: Smoking the king out
• Understanding before moving 15: Knight on the Rim
• Understanding before moving 16: Limiting the opponent’s activity
• Understanding before moving 17: The Panno knight
• Understanding before Moving 18: The bad bishop
• Understanding before Moving 19: The rook lift
• Understanding before Moving 20: Activate your worst piece
• Understanding before Moving 21: Strong knight vs bad bishop (1)
• Understanding before Moving 22: Strong knight vs bad bishop (2)
• Understanding before Moving 23: "V" stands for Victory!
• Understanding before Moving 24: Strategic Thinking
• Understanding before Moving 25: The "Strategic Thinking Protocol"
• Understanding before Moving 26: Cooperation between queen and bishop
• Understanding before Moving 27: A "multi-stage" plan
• Understanding before Moving 28: A curious endgame
• Understanding before Moving 29: To exchange or not to exchange
• Understanding before Moving 30: To exchange or not to exchange (2)
• Understanding before Moving 31: To exchange or not to exchange (3)
• Understanding before Moving 32: To trade or not to trade (1)
• Understanding before Moving 33: To trade or not to trade (2)
• Understanding before Moving 34: The principles of Dick Van Geet
• Understanding before Moving 35: Advantage in Development (1)
• Understanding before Moving 36: Advantage in Development (2)
• Understanding before Moving 37: Advantage in Development (3)
• Understanding before Moving 38: The Critical Move (1)
• Understanding before Moving 39: The Critical Move (2)
• Understanding before Moving 40: The Critical Move (3)
• Understanding before Moving 41: The Critical Move (4)
• Understanding before Moving 42: Mating Patterns
• Herman Grooten - An interview with a chess authority