Opposite Colored

Bishops in the
Middlegame

Samantha212

| Oct 30, 2015 at 11:46 PM

| Posted in: Samantha212's Blog

| 1460 reads

| 7 comments

Hello Chess Fans,

A middlegame with Bishops of Opposite Color
(BOC) is one of the sharpest middlegames. A
mistake can swing the game one way or another
and hinges on your understanding of the position
you're playing. How to utilize their unique
advantages is the object of this article.

As you already know from a previous article on

BOC in the endgame (Opposite Colored Bishop
Endgames), they
commonly
draw but in
the
middlegame they can create dynamic attacks.
Why? For the following reasons:
The BOC can not threaten one another.
Each bishop can attack a square or piece and
the other bishop can not come to its defense.
They can work in combination with other
pieces to create middlegame tactics.
If the queens are still on the board a
bishop/queen battery can be very powerful.
The bishop can attack squares around the
weaker king.

Basic concepts to keep in mind:

The initiative: This is perhaps the most

important factor. The attacking side can hold a
lasting advantage and the chances to revert this
situation are very small for the defending side.

The position of the kings: Usually the side

with the weaker king will be worse. An open
diagonal around the castled king and a future
rupture of the castled pawn structure are themes
to consider when playing with BOC.

The presence of queens: With queens on the

board the attacks become more dangerous, as we
will see in the examples below.

Collect new advantages: Creating new

weaknesses and obtaining new advantages will
increase your winning chances. This makes it more
difficult for the defending side to protect two
weaknesses at the same time and limits his ability
to create his own attacks.

Masters take advantage of BOC

in the Middlegame:
Viktor Bologan vs. Ahmed Adly
World Cup | 2009 | ECO: B90 | 1-0

1. e4c52. Nf3d63. d4Nf64. Nc3cd45. Nd4a66. Be3N

g47. Bg5h68. Bh4g59. Bg3Bg710. h3Ne511. Nf5Bf5
12. ef5Nbc613. Nd5e614. fe6fe615. Ne3O-O16. Be2
d517. O-ONg618. c4Nd419. cd5ed520. Bg4Nf421. R
c1Qa522. Nc2Nc223. Rc2Rae824. Bf3Rd825. Bf4[[Rf
4At this point in the game, Black's capture of the bishop
leaves a middlegame with Opposite Colored Bishops.
When we analyze the position we notice Black's king is
weakly defended and he has undefended open Light
Squares around him. The IQP is attacked twice and
defended twice and Black has a backward b7 pawn.

White's king is presently well guarded and Black could

capture his a2 pawn.
26. Re1Viktor takes control of the e-file
26... Bf6A quiet move that prevents the rook from
entering the 7th rank.
27. Rce2No problem...He just doubles up his strength on
the e-file, preparing to breakthrough his rook in the
future.
27... Kg7The king retreats from the Light Squares
28. Qb1The queen takes control of the LS diagonal
preventing the king from making any further progress.
28... d4This is a questionable move for Black. Do you see
why? In one aspect it transfers the babysitting of the
pawn to the bishop, allowing the queen to defend other
areas of the board but on the other side it blocks the
bishop's movement and opens the LS diagonal for White's
LS Bishop. Let's watch Viktor take advantage of it.
29. Be4POW! First he forms a battery with the queen.
29... Qc7Defends the b7 pawn. Do you see how Black's
pieces are tied down defending his 2 weak pawns while
White has no pawn weaknesses in his position to interfere
with his attack.
30. Qd3The queen blockades the pawn's advancement,
keeping Black's bishop limited in his scope of the board.
30... Be731. a3BAM! Prevents the bishop from attacking
Re1 and further limits his movement.

31... Bf832. Bf5This is a very interesting series of

maneuvers to watch
32... Rd533. Be6Rd634. Ba2Black played right into
Viktor's hands. Even with the attacks he's right where he
wanted to be.
34... Rdf6Black doubles up the f-file rooks but White's
kingside is well defended
35. Bb1WHAM! The bishop and queen have reversed
positions in order to have the bishop SUPER CHARGE the
queen's attack on h7, threatening a skewer on the black
queen.
35... Kg8The king retreats to protect his queen
36. Re7CAPOW! Black is in ZUGZWANG ...no move he
makes is good. If he retreats his queen, White mates with
Qh7#. If he captures the rook with the bishop, it blocks
the queen's defense of the 7th rank and White checks
with Qh7+.
36... Be7He captures the rook leading to an interesting
mating net, which takes place along the weak Light
Squares
37. Qh7Kf838. Qh8Kf739. Ba2The bishop & queen are
coordinated in their attacks on the Light Squres
39... Kg640. Qe8Rf741. Qg8Rg742. Bb1d343. Bd3K
h544. Qg7Rf245. Re7Picks up the bishop with an attack
on the queen.
45... Qc546. Qh6WHAM BAM! White sacrifices his queen

for the upcoming mate and Black resigned.

46... Kxh6IF it continued black would be forced to take
the queen
47. Rh7#Leading to mate with the rook supported by the
bishop.

J#,.@
Let's Review:
1. Bologan first prepared to infiltrate Black's 7th
rank with doubled rooks on the e-file.
2. The bishop & queen coordinated their control of
the light squares around the king.
3. White restricted access to open diagonals for his
opponent's bishop, keeping him limited and unable
to create an attack on white.
4. White created "Threats" on black's weak pawns,
tying them down to their defense rather than
coordinating his pieces to attack.
5. Viktor brilliantly reversed his Q/B battery,
allowing the bishop to rocket the queen into the
enemy's kingside.

6. The preprepared doubled rooks played a crucial

role in creating an INTERFERENCE tactic, which
broke down Black's defenses.
7. The bishop was positioned in the opposite corner
to make repeated long-distance checks on the
king.
8. The queen sacrifice to decoy the king was the
cherry on the cake. BAM! Made possible by all his
pieces working together.

Boris Gelfand vs. Sergey Karjakin

Amber Tournamanet (Blindfold) | 2008 | ECO: A07 | 0-1

1. Nf3Nf62. g3d53. Bg2c64. O-OBg45. c4e66. Qb3Q

b67. Qc2Nbd78. b3Be79. Bb2O-O10. d3a511. a3Qa6
12. Nbd2b513. h3Bh514. g4Bg615. Nh4Rfc816. Ndf
3a417. Ng6hg618. b4c519. bc5Nc520. cb5Qb521. R
ab1Nb322. Qd1Qe823. Nd2Nd224. Qd2Qf825. e4de
426. de4Rd827. Qe2Rab828. Qc2Ba329. Bf6[[gf6Aft
er Black's last capture we're left with a middlegame with
opposite colored bishops. Let's analyze the position:
White's king has weak dark squares around his position
and his LS bishop is currently blocked in and unable to
coordinate with the queen to create an attack. White's e4

pawn is weak and pushing the f-pawn to support it will

further block in the bishop. Black's king is relatively safe
and his DS bishop has open diagonals to exert force on
White's kingside. His a4 pawn is hanging and attacked by
the queen. The rooks also oppose each other on the bfile.
30. Rb8Rb831. Qa4Bd6POW! The bishop gains control
of the DS diagonal around the king.
32. f4Blocks the bishop's view....
32... Qh6BAM! The queen swings around to double
attack f4.
33. Qd4White attacks the hanging bishop
33... Bf4The bishop takes the pawn for FREE and regains
control of the Dark Squares around the king.
34. Qf6The queen compensates by taking a pawn for
herself but Black's king is well defended. Notice how
White's LS bishop still hasn't been activated to create an
attack on black.
34... e5BLOCKADES the pawn from advancing to keep
White's bishop limited and defends the bishop.
35. h4White prepares to pawn storm Black's kingside.
35... Qf8The queen swings around for a better attack.
36. h5White attempts to break through Black's kinside
pawns.
36... Qc5POW! Black takes control of all of the dark
squares around the king.

37. Kh1Only square to retreat to

37... Rb6Attacks the queen to evict her away from the
king.
38. Qd8Kg7The king moves exactly where he wanted to
be to defend his pawns.
39. Qd5This is typical move you'll see when you have a
strong attack on an opponent....Gelfand want's to
exchange queens leaving a BOC Endgame, which usually
draws.
39... Qe7The queen retreats from the exchange with a
threat to check on the h-file.
40. Qd3Gelfand prepares to block the check with the
queen.
40... Qh441. Qh3Qd842. Qc3Rc6Karjakin offers to
sacrifice his rook to deflect the queen off the 3rd rank.
43. Qh3Gelfand doesn't take the bait and continues to
defend his king.
43... Rd6The queen/rook battery will kick her away by
force.
44. Qc3Rd3POW! The rook shuts her out from returning
to her defensive position.
45. Qe1Bg3CAPOW! The nail in the coffin securing the
mate.
46. h6A final check from a lost position.
46... Kh8Retreats and White resigned.
47. Qe2If White retreated his queen he couldn't stop the

mate in 2.
47... Qh4+48. Kg1Qh2#

f
J#,.@
Let's Review:
1. Karjakin immediately positioned his bishop to
apply pressure on the open dark squares around
the
king.
2. Black's queen coordinated with the bishop to
attack f4 to reopen access to the DS diagonal.
3. Gelfand's pieces remained passive defenders
throughout the middlegame, using his queen as
the only attacking piece. On the other hand,
Karjakin activated all his pieces to create an
unstoppable
attack.
4. Black further restricted the e4-pawn from
releasing the bishop's access to the board.
5. Karjakin showed us his tenacity to never give
up. When one door closed he repositioned his

pieces

and

attacked

through

another

door.

6. Black avoided trading queens during the heat of

the battle. When you possess the stronger attack
in BOC Middlegames your opponent is playing for
the DRAW while you're playing for the WIN, which
often requires the queen.

I hope this has shed some light on Playing the

Middlegame with Opposite Colored Bishops.
Look for the next in the series and feel free to send
a friend request to be notified of future articles.
Until
then....Cheers.