Understanding before Moving 64: The power of the diagonal

In the previous shows we have already talked about the "elements of Steinitz". One of those elements is the diagonal. If a  player put his bishop on an open diagonal and his pieces help to increase the power of this bishop, it can lead to a significant strategic advantage.

Obtaining such an advantage is an art in itself, and exploiting such advantages also requires the insight and experience. Nevertheless, it is useful for club chess players to take note of  these kinds of strategic techniques.

In Episode 44 I showed that having opposite-coloured bishops in the middlegame sometimes lead to an irresistible attack. The principle is fairly simple. If a bishop does not have an "opponent" of the same colour, that bishop can become incredibly strong.

In the diagram position, White made a remarkable decision. Do you see - with the above in mind - what  decision he made and how he proceeded afterwards?

This week’s show (for Premium Members only)

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
• Understanding before Moving 43: Good bishops, bad bishops
• Understanding before Moving 44: Attacking with opposite-coloured bishops
• Understanding before Moving 45: Cooperation between the pieces (1)
• Understanding before Moving 46: Cooperation between the pieces (2)
• Understanding before Moving 47: The target on h6
• Understanding before Moving 48: The target on g6
• Understanding before Moving 49: The beginning of an attack
• Understanding before Moving 50: Typical Sacrifices
• Understanding before Moving 51: The black squares!
• Understanding before Moving 52: Space advantage
• Understanding before Moving 53: Space advantage (2)
• Understanding before Moving 54: Pawn vs knight
• Understanding before Moving 55: Pawn vs knight (2)
• Understanding before Moving 56: The Octopus
• Understanding before Moving 57: The Elephant
• Understanding before Moving 58: "Hemmungsstrategie"
• Understanding before Moving 59: Dynamic vs Static
• Understanding before Moving 60: The advantage of having the two bishops
• Understanding before Moving 61: Light-square strategy
• Understanding before Moving 62: Light-square strategy (2)
• Understanding before Moving 63: The light-squared bishop
• Herman Grooten - An interview with a chess authority