Why Knights Before Bishops
If only learning chess could be broken down into short, catchy sayings that you could learn in order to master the game, then everyone would be a grandmaster after hearing phrases like “knights before bishops,” or “knights on the rim are dim,” or “a knight on f8, there is no mate!” What is it about knights and these pithy sayings that people use when teaching the game? And is there any validity to them? Let’s take the phrase “knights before bishops,” and dig into it. Is that a valid strategy? Why should you follow it?
Chess Opening Principles
Chess is a game governed by numerous rules that beginners must learn, but there are also fundamental principles at play that we can follow. When I teach the opening of a chess game, I always start with three steps.
- Control the middle of the board, usually with a pawn: By putting your pieces in the middle of the board, you control more squares. A knight on the side of the board, for instance, controls half as many squares as it does in the center.
- Develop your pieces, especially your knights and bishops: By bringing your knights and bishops into the game early is the best way to control squares quickly.
- Get castled: Castling the king is a vital part of chess. Getting your king safe is the number one priority out of the opening, and castling is the easiest way to do just that.
How does the phrase “knights before bishops” fit into our opening principles? Well, it is a fine way to think about step number two. Knights control the board, especially when they are towards the middle of the board. When teaching, I want students and new players to focus on bringing their pieces into the game, towards the middle of the board, and onto safe spaces. And choosing your knights, before your bishops, can be a valid strategy. Let's look at why.
Keeping Your Options Open
One major reason that a player should develop their knights before their bishops is simply that there are fewer good squares for your knights. We know we want those knights toward the middle of the board, so it becomes obvious which squares make the most sense for the knights. Let’s look at a position you have all played hundreds of times out of the opening.
The Bishop
After e4 and e5, the bishops now have some options to enter the game, but so do the knights. The bishop could come out to a few squares here that make some sense. There are four squares for the bishop that do not blunder the piece, and two of them that would be more logical moves. Here, Be2 is a bit passive, meaning the bishop is barely entering the game and isn’t helping the position much. And Bd3 actually blocks White's future development, making it more difficult to develop their other pieces by inhibiting the d pawn from moving forward. That leaves Bc4 and Bb5 as solid moves to choose from. Which square you choose later will change which opening you are playing.
The Knight
Now, let's take a look at the knight in the same position. Each knight has the option of going either to the side of the board, like Nh3, or towards the center, Nf3. As I mentioned in the section on opening principles, we aim to develop our pieces towards the middle of the board, which means Nh3 and Na3 are out. The g knight could go to e2, but it would block in the bishop, so that leaves our knights with one square that makes the most reasonable sense.
How Does That Help Us?
If the bishop has more reasonable options than the knights, then it stands to reason that we should move the piece that we already know has fewer reasonable options. The knight wants to go to f3. Therefore, we don’t need to move a piece that has other options that may show themselves to be wiser at a later time on the board. For instance, the Bishop makes more sense going to b5 when a knight has already landed on that square. If we play it now, a pawn might attack our piece.
Schrödinger's Bishop
I like to think of our pieces in these scenarios as unscratched lottery tickets, unused NFL draft picks, or unopened packs of Pokémon cards (that should cover most demographics). There is a value in the unknown. The potential energy and value of a piece that has not yet been used to move to a square are significant in chess. Time is so important, and wasting time by moving a piece when you could have had a more efficient move later can be game-changing. There is value in the unfulfilled move, just as there could be something great waiting behind a door. If you choose not to open that door, you lose that potential value. But, don’t let that stop you from developing pieces; just be wise in which pieces you create first, because a knight has less potential energy. It is likely to go to the same square no matter what, so bringing it in early has less negative effect on your tempo.
Using Tempo
The reason it is essential to develop our pieces correctly is to avoid wasting time. Tempo is a measure of time in chess, and it takes time to execute attacks and win in chess games. If we waste time by putting our knights on the edge of the board, for instance, it can take time to reroute our pieces to more useful squares. Most effective opening principles and moves generally focus on playing efficient moves that utilize tempo effectively.
Developing with Tempo
One key moment to use tempo is when developing your pieces. By moving your pieces into the game while making a threat, your opponent doesn't have the time to do something that they want to, so instead, they have to deal with the threat. That is tempo. By ensuring we develop our pieces correctly, we can sometimes give ourselves the tempo we might otherwise lack.
A Different Type of Piece
Another reason that Bishops should come out after knights is that bishops thrive in open positions, and their effectiveness can change based on the pawn structure. In a more open position, Bishops can be more effective. Waiting to see if the position will change, and leaving the long-range bishops to develop later, can be an effective strategy.
The bishops are longer-range pieces, but they are inherently less mobile than knights. Bishops can only stay on their own color, and they cannot jump over pieces like knights can. That means that being properly placed, in the correct pawn structure, becomes even more critical.
Value of the Knight
The knight can jump over pieces, cover many squares in your opponent's territory, especially when on an outpost. Getting a knight to a square where it is defended by a pawn, but cannot be scared away by a pawn, can be very powerful. In a closed position, a knight can jump around and be very useful.
Value of a Bishop
Some consider the Bishop to be worth more than a knight, and that mostly has to do with its ability to cover a long distance across the board. A bishop is very powerful on open diagonals, especially when they are pointed toward the king.
Don’t Stop Developing
Don’t let your worry about developing a bishop to the best square stop you from developing. A piece left undeveloped can be as bad as losing that piece. If we have more material than our opponent, we want to ensure that we use it effectively. The key to all of these ideas is calculation. There are no absolutes in chess; you always need to calculate what will happen in that specific scenario. Take the position below, for example, Karpov played a normal bishop move. Bringing it into the game and getting ready to castle. But he missed something. He blundered a tactic that ended the game early. Can you spot the move that white played here?
