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Welcome back. Perhaps you'd like to tell me what you'd like me to call you this lesson.
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Have you played and understood all the ROOK games, kiddo?  Yes, I understand all the ROOK games I don't understand all the ROOK COMBAT games I keep on losing the CAPTURE THE FLAG rook games I'm no good at the TARGET PRACTICE quizzes |
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In that case you're ready to learn about a different piece in your army. In this lesson we're going to look at the BISHOP. The BISHOP is the elephant in your army. You might think elephants are rather slow but this elephant is pretty fast. Just as fast the the ROOK, but in a different way. 
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This is what a BISHOP does. It moves DIAGONALLY as far as it likes.North East and North West, South East and South West. These are the squares it can move to on an empty board. Count them: there are 13. A BISHOP can only move to 13 squares from the middle of the board. Put it in the corner and it can only move to 7 squares! You'll see that all the squares the BISHOP can move to are WHITE. A BISHOP that starts on a WHITE SQUARE stays on a WHITE SQUARE all its life. And a BISHOP that starts on a BLACK SQUARE stays on a BLACK SQUARE all its life as well.
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Like the ROOK but unlike the PAWN, the BISHOP captures in the same way as it moves. In this position the BISHOP can CAPTURE the Black pawn on c6. The BISHOP cannot jump over other pieces. In this position the White pawn on f3 stops the BISHOP moving to g2 or h1 and the White pawn on c2 stops the BISHOP moving to b1. Note also that if the BISHOP moved to d5 it would be CAPTURED by the Black pawn on c6, so this move would not be safe. Easy, isn't it? Let's see how much you can remember.
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How many squares can the bishop move to in this position?
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How many different pawns could the bishop capture in this position?
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Which pawn can the bishop capture this move?
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Which pawn can the bishop capture SAFELY this move?
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When you're using the BISHOP in a game of CAPTURE THE FLAG you will often have to move your BISHOP to attack the square that the pawn is going to move to next move. Look at this position. Can you work out where White should move his BISHOP? The answer is that he should move to d3. Next move Black will have to move to e2: then you will capture the pawn and win the battle.
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Now think about what you'd play for White in this position. Black's trying to get his b-pawn to the end. You have two moves which attack the b1 square. You could move your BISHOP to e4 or to a2. It may look like it doesn't make any difference. Whichever square you choose you'll be able to capture the black pawn when it turns into a queen. But in chess you have to THINK AHEAD. If you move to e4 it's true that Black would lose if he moved to b1, but if he moved to a2 instead he'd win the battle. So instead you should move to a2. Now he has no choice: he must move to b1. You take him, and then he has to move to a2, and you take him again, winning the battle yourself.
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In this position you're playing the pawns. Which one should you move: a6 or b6? Your pawn on b6 is in danger so it looks like you should move it. But if you move to b7, Black will move his bishop to a7 and you'll lose both your pawns instead. Try moving to a7, giving up your pawn on b6. He's welcome to it because next move you'll be able to get to the end of the board and CAPTURE THE FLAG. It's all about LOOKING AHEAD and predicting your enemy's next move.
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If you're playing with the pawns against the bishop in a BISHOP COMBAT game your best plan is to move onto the same colour square as the enemy bishop as long as your move is safe. It's very tempting to move onto the OPPOSITE colour square to the enemy bishop because it's safe, but look at what happens. At present the black pawns are safe but it's his move and, one, two, three, all his pawns are going to get killed in turn by the bishop. Black can only decide in which order they die.
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Just like ROOKS, BISHOPS can do FORKS and SKEWERS. In this position White has a choice. He can move his BISHOP to d5 to FORK the black pawns on b7 and f3. Or he can move his BISHOP to c8 to SKEWER the black pawns on b7 and a6.
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Are you ready to answer some more questions, kiddo? Yes, I understand how to use BISHOPS I'd like to see the last part of the lesson again No: I don't like answering questions |
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This is just the same as in the ROOK lesson. For the next few questions you use the keypad to enter the square you want to move to. Remember: enter the letter of the square followed by the number, then press ENTER to get your answer marked. Take your time. Stop and think carefully before answering each question.
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It's White's move. Which square should he move his bishop to?
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It's White's move. Which square should he move his bishop to?
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Where should White move his bishop to FORK Black's pawns?
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Where should White move his bishop to SKEWER Black's pawns?
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It's White's move. Which square should he move his bishop to?
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Congratulations, Kiddo!! You have now completed the BISHOP lesson. 
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You'll soon be able to move on and take the part of a different soldier in the army. But first you and I are have some more battles to fight. When you've completed these assignments you'll be able to learn about the other pieces. Awesome! I'm ready to take you on! I'd like to repeat the lesson first please I'll do it later if you don't mind - I have to go now I'm too stupid to learn about the other soldiers |
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