[Event "The Middlegame: 1. The Active Bishop"] [Site "https://lichess.org/study/NHuVIwhg/dE2lhweO"] [Date "????.??.??"] [White "The Bishop"] [Result "*"] [Variant "From Position"] [ECO "?"] [Opening "?"] [Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/UncleDragunte"] [FEN "2nr1rk1/2q2ppp/2pn4/1p2p3/4P3/1BP2QNP/1P3PP1/R2R2K1 w - - 0 1"] [SetUp "1"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/NHuVIwhg/dE2lhweO"] [Orientation "white"] { THE ACTIVE BISHOP An active Bishop is essentially a tactical, and therefore temporary, feature of a position, since there will not generally be permanently fixed pawns on the board. (This characteristic is not to be confused with the strategic property of the so-called "good" Bishop, which depends on the presence of pawns fixed on squares of opposite color from those on which it moves). The active Bishop occurs frequently in practice, and its owner can for a number of moves dictate the course of the game. He should usually utilize this time to get an attack going. The Bishop is very strongly placed on the diagonal a2-g8, from which it cannot easily be dislodged. Black's advance ...c5-c4 would always allow the Bishop to take up a still stronger post at d5. Yet White must hurry, for his opponent threatens to intercept the Bishop's line of action by ..Nb6-c4. } { [%cal Ga2g8] } 1. Nf5! { After l...Nxf5 2.exf5! White would be threatening to split open Black's Kingside by f6, a threat which Black could not parry, as the Bishop pins his f-pawn. } 1... Nb6 2. Qe3 { Threatening not only 3.Qg5 Nxf5 4.exf5 Nd7 5.Rxd7 Rxd7 6.f6 g6 7.Qh6 with mate to follow, but also simply 3.Nxd6 Rxd6 4.Rxd6 Qxd6 5.Qxb6. } { [%cal Ge3g5] } 2... Nxf5 { Better chance is Nc4, after which the Bishop would have been shut out of the attack, at least for the time being. } 3. exf5 c5 { Intending to shut out the Bishop by ...c4. If 3...Nd5 4.Qf3 Nf6, then 5.g4! is very strong, and the White attack continues unchecked. } { [%cal Gf5f6] } 4. f6! gxf6 { Forced, because of the threat 5.Qg5. } 5. Qh6 f5 { Otherwise the Bishop decides the issue from c2. } { [%cal Gg5g8,Gg5d8,Gd1d8,Ga2g8] } 6. Bxf7+!! Qxf7 { Not 6...Kxf7 7.Qxh7+ and not 6...Rxf7 because of 7.Qg5+ and 8.Rxd8+. } 7. Rxd8 Na4 8. b3! { Now if 8...Nxc3 9.Raa8, if 8...Rxd8 9.Qg5+, and if 8...Qxb3 9.Rxf8#. Black resigned. } *