While both Bishop and Knight are valued at three pawns, there are major differences between the two.

Firstly, the Bishop is a long-range piece, while the Knight is clearly a short-range weapon. Therefore, when there is plenty of open space on the board, the Bishop normally outperforms the Knight. In turn, in positions with fewer open squares, the Knight often prevails. These are just general observations; everything depends on the particular situation, especially when other pieces are involved. Knights like well-protected positions (outposts), while Bishops like large open diagonals. Bishops are generally great supporters of all kinds of pawn storms, while Knights are great in attacking fixed targets, since they may attack such targets from many different squares. In this lesson, we will take a look at two games from the Accelerated Dragon, where the Knight was better than the opposing Bishop.

F Olafsson - Simagin
Moscow, 1959
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.c4 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Nc3 Ng4 8.Qxg4 Nxd4 9.Qd1 Ne6 10.Qd2 d6 11.g3 Bd7 12.Rc1 a5 13.Bg2 Bc6 14.0-0 0-0 15.f4 Rc8 16.Rfd1 Nc5 17.Qf2 Qe8 18.Bd4 Bxd4 19.Qxd4 Rd8 20.Nd5 e5 21.Nf6+ Kh8 22.Qc3 Qe7 23.Nd5 Bxd5 24.Rxd5

White has the d-file under control, pressure against the e5-pawn, as well as pressure against the a5-pawn. Is White better here? The answer is no, since the pawn on e5 can be easily defended, and the capture of the a-pawn is met by Rd8-a8xa2. Black has a well-placed Knight on c5, which eyes the e4-pawn, plus White's Bishop can only serve as a defender and does not have any active role. Black must neutralize his opponent's pressure against e5, and then try to capitalize on the great position of his Knight by forcing his opponent to make a weakness on the queenside.

24...f6 25.f5

Taking the pawn on e5 is not as attractive as it might seem. If 25.fxe5 fxe5 26.Qxa5, then 26 Ra8 27.Qc3 (or 27.Qb6 Ra6 28.Qb5 Rxa2 29.b4 Rb2! As pointed out by IM Boris Zlotnik) 27 Rxa2 28.b4 Ne6 (or perhaps even 28 Rff2), and White's position looks very dangerous.

25...Qc7 26.Rcd1

In case of 26.fxg6 hxg6, Black can make use of the h-file, while White has little to do on the f-file. Instead, White tries to put some pressure on the weak d6-pawn. Black, in turn, starts putting pressure on the queenside.

26...Qb6!? 27.Kh1 g5

A necessary step in view of upcoming attack on d6. If Black loses d6, then the opening of the f-file can be an additional problem.

28.Qd2

It looks like the d6-pawn is lost and White has prevailed, but Black prepared a very interesting positional trap.

28...Rf7 29.Rxd6 Rxd6 30.Qxd6 Qb4!

A very strong move! Now the c4-pawn is under attack, and Black threatens ...Rf7-d7 on top of that. Here 31.Qd8+ Kg7 leads to almost the same position as in the game. White's Rook also can't leave the first rank in a view of ...Qb4-e1+.

31.b3 Kg7

Of course, the immediate 31...Rd7 would lead to Qd6-f8 mate. Here you can see how poorly placed the Bishop on g2 is.

32.Qd8 a4!

This move represents a very important step in Black's plan. Now Black demolishes his opponent's pawns on the queenside, while White is suddenly without any play.

33.bxa4?

This move costs White dearly. After this, Black takes total control of the game.

Far better was 33.Bf3! with a very complicated position. After 33...axb3 34.Bh5 Qxc4 (34...Rf8? 35.Qe7+ Kg8 36.Bg6! wins for White) 35.Bxf7, Black has 35...Qxe4+ 36.Kg1 Qe3+ 37.Kg2 Qe2+ 38.Kh3 g4+ 39.Kh4 Qxh2+ 40.Kxg4 h5! 41.Kf3 (41.Bxh5 Qe2+ is an immediate draw) 41...e4+ 42.Ke3 Qxg3+ 43.Kd4 (43.Ke2 Qg4+, =) 43...Qe5+ 44.Kc4 b5+ 45.Kb4 Kxf7 46.Rd5 b2 when it's White who has to scramble for a draw (which he achieves with 47.Rxe5 b1=Q+ 48.Kxc5 fxe5 49.Qg5.

33 Qxc4 34.Qa5 Qc2!?

After the obvious 34 Nxe4 35.Qe1! Nc3 36.Rc1 Rc7 37.h3, Black would have a lot of work to do. Now Nxe4 is a strong threat, so White offers a trade of Queens.

35.Qd2 Qxa4 36.Rc1 Rd7

Now White is facing multiple problems: he must defend an important pawn on e4, while his back rank is being threatened as well.

37.Qe2 Qa3 38.Rb1 Qc3

Slowly but surely, Black penetrates his opponent's position.

39.Rd1 Nd3 40.Rf1 Nc5

The position is being repeated shortly before the time control in order to save time. White decides to try something else, hoping to get some counterplay with h2-h4.

41.Qg4 Rd3! 42.Qh5 Qd4 43.Qe8 Qd6

Black has restricted his opponent's play and is now prepared to attack with ...Rd3-d1. White is able to stop that, but his position is still hopeless due to a complete lack of counterplay.

44.Bf3 Rd2 45.a4 b6 46.Rb1 Nd3

This move begins the final storm. White's pieces are completely disorganized and he is helpless.

47.Bg2 Nf2+ 48.Kg1 Ng4

A clean winner, but 48...Nh3+ is mate in twelve according to Fritz 9.

49.h4 Rxg2+ 50.Kxg2 Qd2+, 0-1.

Tukmakov-Velimirovic
Odessa, 1975
1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.e4 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Nc3 0-0 8.Be2 d6 9.0-0 Bd7 10.Rc1 Nxd4 11.Bxd4 Bc6 12.f3 Nd7 13.Kh1 Bxd4 14.Qxd4 Qb6 15.Qd2 Nc5 16.Rfe1 Rad8 17.Nd5 Bxd5 18.exd5

Just as in the previous game, White has a Bishop without good diagonals, while his opponent has a great Knight on c5. White s play is against the e7-pawn, while Black has yet to find a definite plan. Firstly, he secures the position of his Knight.

18...a5!

This move stops b2-b4 and takes some space on the queenside as well.

19.Bf1 Rfe8 20.Re3 e5!

Black makes a very good positional move. He moves the target away from attack, forcing White to exchange on e6.

21.dxe6 Rxe6 22.Rce1 Qb4!

Black offers an exchange of Queens and attacks c4 at the same time. This position is similar to that in our previous game, since in both cases Black attacks the queenside pawns with his Queen, ultimately forcing White's b-pawn to come within range of his Knight and a-pawn. In case of 23.Qxb4 axb4, White will have problems with his a2-pawn.

23.Qf2 Rde8 24.Rxe6 Rxe6

25.Rd1?

White avoids the exchange of Queens, thinking that he will have counterplay against d6, but Black controls a very important file. The next step for Black is to create a target on the queenside.

25 Qa4! 26.b3 Qb4

Now Black has a target to attack (b3), and White can do nothing about it.

27.Kg1 a4 28.bxa4 Qxa4 29.Rd2 Qb4 30.Rb2 Qc3 31.Qd2 Qf6!

Another great move. White has plenty of weaknesses on the queenside, but after 31 Qxd2 32.Rxd2 followed by Kg1-f2 and Rd2-b2, White would be able to hold on, since Black also has some weak pawns. Black keeps Queens on the board, intending to use the attacking potential of his position, since his opponent's Bishop is completely out of play.

32.Rb1 h5 33.Re1 Rxe1 34.Qxe1 Qe5!

White tried to lessen the pressure by exchanging Rooks, and now he can exchange Queens as well. After that, however, Black would have four pawns against three on the kingside, while the Knight on c5 safely blocks White s a- and c-pawns.

35.Qf2 Kf8 36.g3 h4!

A common pawn sacrifice that strives to obtain control of additional squares on the kingside.

37.gxh4?

After this mistake the position suddenly becomes very difficult. Perhaps White was hoping he could keep the h-pawn, but after he loses it there are too many weaknesses without a hint of counterplay.

37...Ne6 38.Qd2 Nd4

39.Kg2 Nf5 40.Qf2 Qf4 41.Kh3

It looks like White is able to defend his extra pawn, but Black employs a simple tactic to break the defense.

41...Nxh4!

While the material is even, White has too many weaknesses. He collapses fast.

42.Qg3 Qf6 43.f4 Nf5 44.Qe1

Another way, 44.Qf2 Qc3+ 45.Kg2 Ne3+ 46.Kg1 Qc1, is also hopeless.

44...Qd4 45.Kg2, 0-1.