The bishop moves and captures in a very straightforward fashion. Traveling diagonally, it can control many squares at a time and create powerful tactics. In this post: Chess 101: the bishop How the bishop moves Strategy tips Tactical strengths Bishop vs. knight The fianchetto The bishop pair Opposite-colored bishop endgames The bishop has a pointed top with a distinctive diagonal notch, often thought to represent the Christian religious figure’s traditional hat, called a mitre. Each player begins with two bishops, positioned on c1 and f1 for White, and c8 and f8 for Black. In earlier versions of chess, including its ancestor chaturanga , this piece began as an elephant. In fact, many languages still use a word meaning “elephant” for this piece today! But because elephants aren’t native to Europe, when chess spread there during the Middle Ages, Europeans adapted the piece into something more familiar to them: a church bishop.…