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The Bishop In The Endgame - Is It Overrated?

The Bishop In The Endgame - Is It Overrated?

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Ragnorak
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Originally posted by Lolette
In endgame i would like to have bishop more then a knight. Because in endgame usually most of the chess pieces are gone, bishops have a open way to move and work very well with pawns, unlike the knight, which is i feel better in middle game, as it can jump through the crowd and cause threats 😉

Lolette
1970 and the individual position doesn't come into it for you?

D

L
5. f3

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Originally posted by Ragnorak
1970 and the individual position doesn't come into it for you?

D
what? 😕

N

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In the ancient times the warrior would use a rather large spear and get on top of an Elephant then during battle they would attack the enemy with the spears from an angle--Bishop= Elephant in Russia!

N

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Oh-yea! even though my name is ninja"knight" i"ll take the bishop.

T
Mr T

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Game 4226726

Here is a good example of a game where the bishop was overpowered by the knight.

c

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I agree completely🙄

t

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Originally posted by Tyrannosauruschex
Game 4226726

Here is a good example of a game where the bishop was overpowered by the knight.
your opponent played that ending badly so that doesn't count.

T
Mr T

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It was more a case of I played the endgame quite well, the only point I thought he could have bettered his performance was not allowing me to play f4+ and exchanging the pawns instead but that did give me a passed pawn to play with.

There is no way anyone can say that endgame is a forced win for the bishop even with perfect play.

Ragnorak
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Originally posted by Tyrannosauruschex
It was more a case of I played the endgame quite well, the only point I thought he could have bettered his performance was not allowing me to play f4+ and exchanging the pawns instead but that did give me a passed pawn to play with.

There is no way anyone can say that endgame is a forced win for the bishop even with perfect play.
He played that endgame very poorly. 33...c4??

D

t

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Originally posted by Tyrannosauruschex
It was more a case of I played the endgame quite well, the only point I thought he could have bettered his performance was not allowing me to play f4+ and exchanging the pawns instead but that did give me a passed pawn to play with.

There is no way anyone can say that endgame is a forced win for the bishop even with perfect play.
I am not saying that it is as I am not good enough to say this but he just let the game become locked up and exchanged of all the queenside pawns(almost) which make the conditions perfect for a knight! I didn't say you played badly either I said that he played badly in that ending especially with all those pawn moves! sheesh! he barely moved his bishop!

T
Mr T

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Game 3860517
Here is some confirmation from the highest level (on red hot pawn) what a great asset the knight can be in the endgame.

t

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Originally posted by Tyrannosauruschex
Game 3860517
Here is some confirmation from the highest level (on red hot pawn) what a great asset the knight can be in the endgame.
Thats a great example! It shows the exact kind of conditions that knights thrive in!


But when are you going to come up with a pro bishop example?

T
Mr T

I pity the fool!

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The point I am trying to make, is that with good play there are many more examples of wins with knights then with bishops.

I can only think of one or two games I have seen where the bishop turned out to be better.

Game 4000680
This one, he had already put the groundwork in by winning a pawn before the endgame really got going - Be3 is a strong move that I didnt see coming.

Game 4079595
And this one, from the 2007 championships. The bishop really pulled its weight in this endgame, I was sure the knight would take it, but the pawns were just rightly placed for the bishop to be effective.

t

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I think the reason why the knight has more wins is superficial...its just easier to use a knight!. I couldn't use a bishop to its full potential if my life depended on it but on a good day I could get the max potential out of a knight.

T
Mr T

I pity the fool!

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I think another reason people over rate bishops is the arguement that they have the longer range.
Whilst this is true, most endgames are conducted at very short range anyway with kings and minor pieces all at each others throats. This reduces the bishops usual advantage because the knight does not fear going too far away from supporting pieces in case it gets picked off - as would usually be the case in a middlegame.

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