The bishop moves and captures in a very straightforward fashion. Traveling diagonally, it can control many squares at a time and create powerful tactics.

In this post:

Chess 101: the bishop

How the bishop moves

Strategy tips

Tactical strengths

Bishop vs. knight

The fianchetto

The bishop pair

Opposite-colored bishop endgames

The bishop has a pointed top with a distinctive diagonal notch, often thought to represent the Christian religious figure’s traditional hat, called a mitre. Each player begins with two bishops, positioned on c1 and f1 for White, and c8 and f8 for Black.

In earlier versions of chess, including its ancestor chaturanga , this piece began as an elephant. In fact, many languages still use a word meaning “elephant” for this piece today!…