Knights are short range pieces, but on the plus side they have the advantage of being able to jump over other pieces and the potential to land on all 64 squares. Also, Knights are especially good at occupying holes.
On the other hand, Bishops are long range pieces that, unlike the plodding Knights, can swoop all the way across the board. Its deficiency is that it’s confined to squares of one color. That's why two Bs are an important factor to consider.
Author Steven Mayer discussed the merits of the two pieces in his book Bishop Versus Knight. He wrote, “A pair of Bishops is usually considered to be worth six points, but common sense suggests that a pair of active Bishops (that are very involved in the formation) must be accorded a value of almost nine under some circumstances.”
Generally, two Bishops are better than two Knights or a Bishop and a Knight. And, if you can put the Bishops side by side in the center of the board they make a very powerful weapon.
Bishops are also preferable to Knights when Queens have been exchanged because, as GM Sergey Erenburg tells us, “(Bishops and Rooks) complement each other and when well-coordinated act as a Queen.”
Mayer explains that a Knight is the preferred minor piece when Queens are on the board, especially late in the middlegame and the ending. This is because, as Mayer explains, “The Queen and Knight are (able) to work together smoothly and create a greater number of threats than the Queen and Bishop.”
In the following game we see a really good example of the power of two Bishops against two Knights. Then in the end we see how useless the N is at stopping two Ps.
The game was played in 1898 in the great Vienna tournament. In the summer of that year, Albert von Rothschild organized a double round robin tournament to be held in Vienna to celebrate the jubilee of Kaiser Franz Josef.
He sent invitations to the best masters in the world, but among the notable absentees were World Champion Emanuel Lasker who declined his invitation on the grounds that there were too many players and Rudolf Charousek who declined due to poor health (he passed away at the age of 26 in 1900).
Unfortunately, Adolf Schwarz (1836-1910) had to resign during his eighth round game and leave Vienna due to health reasons. His remaining games in the first half were forfeited.
Schwarz is virtually unknown, but Chessmetrics puts him at the number three ranked player in the world on its March, April and May of 1882! On the May list he is rated 2657 behind Zukertort and Blackburne.
Tarrasch and Pillsbury finished the tied for first, so a playoff of four games, won by Tarrasch, was arranged to decide the winner.
Wilhelm Steinitz–Mikhail Chigorin1–0D07ViennaVienna AUH1898Stockfish 15.1
QGD: Chigorin Defense 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 This move was a
favorite of Chigorin and while it has neve been very popular, it is quite
playable. 3.cxd5 xd5 4.f3 e5 The exchange of Qs that follows should
enable black to develop his pieces easily. 5.c3 b4 6.dxe5 xd1+ 7.xd1 g4 Another Chigorin quirk. He is perfectly willing to exchange a B for a N
in order to regain the P 8.h3 xf3 9.exf3 0-0-0+ 10.c2 xe5 11.e3 a6 11...e7 12.f4 5c6 13.c4 d4+ 14.b1 df5 15.c2 xe3+ 16.fxe3 f5
Black is just a bit better. Lozhnikov,V (2310)-Gurkin,A (2262) Kostanay KAZ
2013 12.f4 c6 13.c4 Now the Bs begin to assert themselves and black
feels the absence of his own QB. According to Pillsbury it is evidence that 4..
.e5 has turned out to be not so favorable for black. Actually, black has full
equality. d4+ 14.c1 14.xd4 xd4 15.xf7 xf4 16.e6+ b8 17.f3
is completely equal. 14...h6 Hardly a mistake, nut developing the N on e7
was more natural. 15.g4 b5 Pillsbury started that a move like
this (moving the P in front of the K) is always risky and here white has the
potential for an attack with a4 breaking up the P-formation. Pillsbury did not
offer an alternative and, in fact, in this position ...b5 is black's best move,
so says Stockfish. 16.d1 A fine move because it develops the R and also
prepares the transfer of the B to an active diagonal where it will br aimed at
black's K. c5 This move is where Chigorin really goes astray. The move is
not so good because it weakens the Ks position too much. 16...xc3 is
correct as after 17.bxc3 17.f1 is equally playable. df5 18.bxc3 18.gxf5 loses... xd1+ 19.xd1 xb2 20.b1 d8+ 21.c2 f6 Black is much
better. 18...xe3 19.fxe3 f5 is equal. 17...bxc4 18.xd4 f6 chances
are equal. 17.f1 he8 18.g2 The B is very well placed on the long
diagonal. f5 19.g5 g8 20.d5 e6 21.a4 This attack on the Q-side Ps
leaves black with a very difficult position. bxa4 21...e7 was better.
After 22.xb4 cxb4 23.axb5 xd1+ 24.xd1 axb5 25.c2 But white is
clearly better here, too. 22.xa4 a5 23.xb4 axb4 24.a8+ c7 25.axd8 xd8 26.xd8 xd8 An interesting situation. Black has a Q-side P majority,
but the two Ns a re helpless against the two Bs. 27.xc5 The
threat is 28.Bd5 trapping the N e6 28.xb4 xf4 There can be little doubt
about the outcome. 29.f1 h6 30.h4 hxg5 31.hxg5 d5 32.f8 g6 33.c4 ge7 34.d2 d7 35.xe7 Black's position is hopeless because he
cannot deal with the Ps on both flankls. xe7 KB-KN 36.f7 d6 37.e3 c5 38.f4 d6 39.b3 c5 40.xg6 An elegant finish. The two Ps win
easily against the N. xg6+ 41.xf5 Black resigned. 41.xf5 e7+ 42.e6 d5 43.g6 d4 44.g7 f4+ 45.f6 d3 46.g8 1–0
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