Bishops love attacking along open lines, like Black does in this game:
[Event "Triberg 1415"]
[Site "Triberg"]
[Date "1914.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Flamberg, Alexander Dawidowic"]
[Black "Bogoljubow, Efim"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C80"]
[Annotator "model game: attack with bishops"]
[PlyCount "56"]
[EventDate "1914.??.??"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "20"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1998.11.10"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. d4 Nxe4 6. O-O b5 7. Nxe5 Nxe5 8.
dxe5 {Regis,Dave: '[#] a trappy opening; ...bxa4 is met by Qd5'} d5 9. exd6
Bxd6 10. Bb3 Bb7 11. a4 O-O 12. axb5 {Regis,Dave: '[#] the Black Bishops are
giving the White King a Hard Stare'} Qh4 13. h3 (13. g3 Nxg3 14. fxg3 Bc5+ 15.
Rf2 Bxf2+ 16. Kxf2 Qxh2+ 17. Ke3 Qxg3+ 18. Kd4 Rfd8+ 19. Kc5 Rxd1) 13... Nxf2
14. Rxf2 Bc5 (14... Qg3) 15. Qf1 Rae8 16. Bd2 {Regis,Dave: '(else ...Bxf2+ and
...Re1+)'} Re5 {Regis,Dave: 'still no need to take the b-pawn. Black must
press on, having sacrificed the piece'} 17. Ra4 {Regis,Dave: '[#]'} Qe7 18.
bxa6 Bxa6 19. Qxa6 (19. Rxa6 Re2 20. Bg5 Qe5) 19... Re1+ 20. Kh2 (20. Bxe1
Qxe1+ 21. Qf1 Bxf2+) 20... Bxf2 21. Nc3 Qe5+ 22. Rf4 g5 23. Qb5 {Regis,Dave: '
[#]'} gxf4 {Regis,Dave: '(threat ...Bg3+)'} 24. Bxe1 {Regis,Dave: '[#]'} Bg3+
25. Bxg3 (25. Kg1 Qe3+ 26. Bf2 Qxf2+ 27. Kh1 Qe1+ 28. Qf1 Qxf1#) 25... fxg3+
26. Kg1 Qe3+ 27. Kh1 Qe1+ 28. Qf1 Qxf1# {0-1 (28) Flamberg-Bogoljubow,E Model
game 1.3: attack with b 1995 [Regis,Dave]} 0-1
That was also an example of Black getting ahead in development.
Bishops are usually very strong if the opponent doesn't have a Bishop of the same colour to oppose it.
[Event "bishops: opposite coloured bis"]
[Site "bishops: opposite coloured bi"]
[Date "1986.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Renet"]
[Black "Taimanov, Mark"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B47"]
[PlyCount "60"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 Qc7 7. O-O Nf6 8.
Kh1 Bb4 9. Nxc6 bxc6 10. f4 O-O (10... Bxc3 11. bxc3 Nxe4 12. Qd4 Nf6 13. Ba3)
11. e5 Bxc3 12. bxc3 Nd5 13. Rf3 (13. Bf3) 13... c5 14. c4 Ne7 15. Rb1 Nf5 16.
Bd3 Bb7 17. Rh3 g6 18. Bd2 Rab8 19. Rb3 d5 {[#]} 20. Bxf5 {? Many players
believe that opposite-coloured bishops are a drawing factor. This is true in
many endings and some blocked middle-games, but often the side with the
initiative can get a middle-game attack. Who has the initiative here?} exf5 21.
Rbg3 {Without the participation of his bad bishop, White's attack soon founders.
} f6 22. exf6 (22. Qh5 Qg7) 22... d4 23. Rb3 Rxf6 24. Qb1 Re6 25. Rhg3 Re2 26.
Qd1 Rbe8 {[#] the difference in the power of the two bishops is enormous, and
White will never be able to play a light-squared bishop to f3 to exchange off
the Bb7} 27. h3 Qc6 28. Rbf3 Qe6 29. Rb3 Bc6 30. Kh2 Qxc4 0-1
It's not easy to make use of a Bishop if the position is blocked. Here's an expert at work (Taimanov again!):
[Event "bishops: munching on long diag"]
[Site "bishops: munching on long dia"]
[Date "1953.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Taimanov, Mark"]
[Black "Averbakh, Yuri"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E52"]
[PlyCount "67"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5 6. Nf3 b6 7. O-O Bb7 8. a3
Bxc3 9. bxc3 dxc4 10. Bxc4 c5 11. Bd3 Nbd7 12. Re1 Ne4 {[#]} 13. Bb2 {Would you believe me if I told you this Bishop wins the game for White? the Bishop has only moved one square from its original post, where it has
two moves available, to this one, where it can only go backwards!} Rc8 14. c4 {
A glint of daylight. Both sides now try to find a way of contesting squares
across the whole front.} Ndf6 15. Ne5 Rc7 16. a4 Nd6 17. a5 Nd7 18. axb6 axb6
19. Qh5 {[#] Clearly, things are not going well for Black. He now faces a
difficult choice: his chosen move has an obvious defect, but the others were
not any easier and he has a plan to create a roadblock.} g6 (19... Nf6
20. Qh3) (19... h6 20. Ng4) (19... Be4 20. Red1) 20. Qh6 Nxe5 21. dxe5 Ne4 22.
Bxe4 Bxe4 {[#]} 23. Red1 Rd7 {Averbach offered a draw here...} 24. Rd6 $1 Bb7
25. Rad1 Rxd6 26. exd6 f6 {[#] Black hurries to construct a new barrier.} 27.
d7 Bc6 28. h4 Bxd7 29. h5 gxh5 (29... g5 30. Bxf6 Rxf6 31. Qxg5+ Kf7 32. h6 e5
(32... Qe7 33. Rxd7 Qxd7 34. Qg7+ Ke8 35. Qxf6) 33. Rd6) 30. e4 e5 {[#]} 31. f4
exf4 {Black is three Pawns up but lots of squares down.} (31... Qe7 32. fxe5
fxe5 33. Rd5) 32. Rd6 Qe8 33. Bxf6 Rf7 34. Rd5 1-0
Bishops are stronger than Knights in the endgame, if there is play on both wings.
[Event "minor piece ending: Bishop vs."]
[Site "minor piece ending: Bishop vs"]
[Date "1901.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Capablanca, Jose Raul"]
[Black "Corzo y Principe, Juan (Havana m"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A83"]
[PlyCount "117"]
1. d4 {This is the ninth game of the match for the Cuban Championship, which
Capa played at the age of 12. He took 24 minutes over this game.} f5 2. e4 fxe4
3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 c6 5. Bxf6 exf6 6. Nxe4 d5 7. Ng3 Qe7+ 8. Qe2 Qxe2+ 9. Bxe2
Bd6 10. Nf3 O-O 11. O-O Bg4 12. h3 {Black could try to play for a win with the
two Bishops, but instead exchanges apparently seeking a draw, and gives away both Bishops.} Bxf3 13. Bxf3
Bxg3 14. fxg3 Nd7 15. Rfe1 Rae8 16. Kf1 f5 17. Rxe8 Rxe8 18. Re1 Rxe1+ 19. Kxe1
Nf6 {[#]} 20. Kd2 Ne4+ 21. Ke3 Nd6 (21... Nxg3 22. Kf4 Ne4 (22... Nf1 23. Be2
Nd2 24. Kxf5) 23. Kxf5) 22. Be2 Kf7 23. Kf4 Kf6 {Chernev comments "The
position may look drawish, but it is to Capablanca's liking; he often manages
to squeeze a win out of a theoretical draw". Without wishing to enter the
possibly fruitless debate about whether this position is in fact drawn, White
does have the advantage of Bishop over Knight, with play on both sides of the
board. If White can create tension in more than one area of the board, Black's
Knight will find itself over-committed.} 24. h4 g6 (24... h6 25. h5) 25. g4 h6
26. g5+ hxg5+ 27. hxg5+ Ke7 28. g4 fxg4 29. Bd3 {[#]} Nf5 {concedes a passed
Pawn} (29... Kf7 {(Hooper)} 30. Kxg4 Nb5 31. c3 Nc7 {"with good drawing
chances"; neither Bishop nor King have an obvious entry point.}) 30. Kxg4 Nxd4
(30... Ke6 31. Bxf5+ gxf5+ 32. Kf4 {and who has the most tempi to lose on the
Queen's-side? Chernev assumes Black will run out of moves, but it's worth
being sure! Perhaps..} a5 (32... b6 33. b4 a6 (33... a5 34. bxa5 bxa5 35. a4)
34. a4 a5 35. bxa5 bxa5 36. c3) 33. a4 b6 34. b3 b5 35. c3 b4 36. cxb4 axb4 37.
a5) 31. Bxg6 c5 32. Kh5 Ne6 33. Kh6 Kf8 34. Bf5 Ng7 (34... Nd4 35. Bd7 Nxc2 36.
g6 Kg8 37. Be6+ Kh8 38. g7#) 35. Bc8 b6 36. g6 d4 {[#] Black's only hope is
to do something with the Queen's-side Pawns, but they lack support.} 37. b3 Kg8
38. a4 Kf8 39. Bg4 Ne8 40. Kh7 Ng7 41. Kh6 Ne8 42. Be2 Ng7 43. Bc4 Ne8 {[#]
White begins a long King-march} 44. Kg5 Ke7 (44... Kg7 45. Bb5 Nd6 46. Bd3 Ne8
47. Kf5) 45. Kf5 Ng7+ 46. Ke5 Nh5 (46... Kd7 47. Kf6 Ne8+ 48. Kf7 Nd6+ 49. Kf8)
47. Be2 Ng7 48. Kd5 Ne8 (48... Kd7 49. Bg4+) 49. Kc6 Ng7 50. Kb7 Kd6 {[#]
White attacks the Pawn chain at the base!} 51. Kxa7 Kc7 52. Ka6 Ne8 53. Bf3 Ng7
54. Bd5 Ne8 (54... Nf5 55. Be4 Ng7 56. Kb5 Ne8 57. a5 Nd6+ 58. Ka6 Nxe4 59.
axb6+ Kb8 60. g7 Nf6 61. Kb5 Kb7 62. Kxc5 Ng8 63. Kxd4) 55. Bf7 Ng7 56. Kb5 {
Now the White King covers the break at a5, and the Pawns at b6 and d5.} Nf5 {
[#]} 57. a5 Nd6+ (57... bxa5 58. Kxc5) 58. Ka6 bxa5 (58... Nf5 59. axb6+ Kb8
60. Kb5) 59. g7 1-0
But if you get Bishops of opposite colour as the only pieces left, it can be very drawish
[Event "bishop ending: OCB as draw"]
[Site "bishop ending: OCB as draw"]
[Date "1960.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Walther"]
[Black "Fischer, Robert"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B99"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/6k1/3b4/7p/8/5B1P/PPKr4/8 w - - 0 50"]
[PlyCount "28"]
50. Kxd2 {[#] Really, White is winning here, but it doesn't end that way!} h4 51. Kd3 Kf6 52. Kc4 Ke7 53. Kb5 Kd7 54. a4 (54. b4) 54... Kc7
55. b4 Kb8 56. a5 Ka7 57. Kc4 Bg3 58. b5 Bf2 59. Be2 Be3 60. Kb3 Bd2 61. b6+
Kb7 62. Ka4 Kc6 63. Bb5+ Kc5 {[#]} 1/2-1/2