Excalibur Mirage, Руководство пользователя

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WHEN TO EXCHANGE BISHOPS
There will be many instances in your games when you are unsure about whether to exchange off a particular bishop.
A useful rule is to first decide whether the bishop is “good” or ‘bad”. In general you should be happy about
exchanging a bad bishop for a good one or for an enemy knight.
“OPPOSITE COLORED” BISHOPS
The above position provides an excellent example of what are called opposite colored bishops. This does not mean
that White has one bishop and Black has one bishop. It means that each player has only one bishop and they stand
on squares of opposite colors. Here, for example, white has a bishop on a dark square whereas Black has a bishop on a
light square. What then is the significance of opposite colored bishops?
If you think about this position you will soon realize that half of the squares on the board are completely safe for each
player. Black’s king, for example, cannot be dislodged from the e6 square because it can NEVER be checked by the
white bishop, and by leaving his own bishop occupying or controlling the d5 square Black prevents his opponent
from advancing the pawn from d4 to d5.
To put it very simply, Black can simply move his bishop back and forth between the squares (for example) a8, d5 and
hl, and refuse to move his king. There is absolutely no way that White can then make progress. So although White is
two pawns ahead, and they are both passed pawns, White can do no more than draw.
Since the presence of opposite colored bishops very often heralds a draw in the endgame, if you find yourself behind
in material you should always try to trade off the bishops and knights in such a way as to leave opposite colored
bishops on the board, preferably without any knights, rooks or queens on the board. On the other hand, the presence
of opposite colored bishops can sometimes help a player who is attacking his opponent’s king with the assistance of his
q u e e n .