1.a4
Okay, thus far we've look at pawns, which pretty much just move forward one square at a time (except on their first move they can move 2 squares, remember?) ...
1...Kd8
...we've looked at the king, which can move one square at a time in any direction (and we've learned about the king's importance in the game).....
2.Kf2
Qg6
...and we've looked at the queen....
3.Ke2
Qg1
...which can pretty much move all over the board. Now lets look at bishops.
4.Bf4
Bishops move diagonally across the board.
4...Bd7
They can move forward.....
5.Bg3
...or backwards....
5...Bc5
...but they alway move diagonally. And as you can see....
6.Ba8
...They can go screaming across the board until they either run into something or hit the edge of the board, just like the queen.
6...a5
7.Be4
Be6
8.Bxh7
Bxb3
....like that.
9.Bg6
Qg2+
...check, the king has to move or do something to get out of check.
10.Kd3
Bg1
...moving diagonally.....
11.Bh5
...and the bishop can move diagonally backwards to capture something behind it.
11...Bxh2
12.Bxh2
Qxh2
Black just won a pawn there, by the way. He
took the pawn with his bishop, which captured back with his bishop, and then black's queen picked up white's bishop. The end result was both sides traded each other a bishop, but black also got a free pawn out of the deal. Good for black, lousy for white.
13.Bg4
Now, here's the thing about bishops. You start with two of them. One starts on a white square, one starts on a black square....
13...Ke7
14.Bc8
Bg8
15.Ba6
Because of the way they move, whatever color square the bishop started on is the color of square it will ALWAYS be on.
15...Be6
This means that (in this position, at least), black's 2 pawns, his queen, and his king can NEVER be threatened by white's bishop, so long as they remain on their dark colored squares.
16.Bb5
Qb8
17.Bc6
The white-squared bishop can move among black's material all it wants....
17...Kd6
18.Bb5
...but it can't touch any of it.
18...Bd7
On the other hand, if black brings HIS white-squared bishop into the path of white's white-squared bishop...
19.Bxd7
Then they can capture each other....
19...Kxd7
Well, so much for the bishops. By the way, here white has a king and pawn; black has a king, 2 pawns, and a queen. Black has what we call a 'material advantage' which in this case gives him a won game. *