Bishop Pair

The bishop pair refers to possessing both bishops while the opponent has none (or just one), typically after the opponent trades a bishop for a knight. The two bishops are considered a small but durable advantage because they complement each other by controlling squares of both colors, whereas a single bishop is confined to one color complex. This advantage grows in open positions with pawns on both wings, where the bishops' long-range mobility outclasses knights, but diminishes in closed, locked-pawn structures favoring knights' maneuverability. A common strategic theme is one side voluntarily trading a knight for a bishop early on to inflict this long-term structural edge, planning to open the position later to exploit it; conversely, the side with two knights often seeks to keep pawns fixed and the position closed to neutralize the bishops' scope.