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.
[Event "Vienna"]
[Site "Vienna AUH"]
[Date "1898.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Wilhelm Steinitz"]
[Black "Mikhail Chigorin"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D07"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 15.1"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "1898.??.??"]
{QGD: Chigorin Defense} 1. d4 {[%mdl 32]} d5 2. c4 Nc6 {This move was a
favorite of Chigorin and while it has neve been very popular, it is quite
playable.} 3. cxd5 Qxd5 4. Nf3 e5 {The exchange of Qs that follows should
enable black to develop his pieces easily.} 5. Nc3 Bb4 6. dxe5 Qxd1+ 7. Kxd1
Bg4 {Another Chigorin quirk. He is perfectly willing to exchange a B for a N
in order to regain the P} 8. h3 Bxf3 9. exf3 O-O-O+ 10. Kc2 Nxe5 11. Be3 a6 (
11... Ne7 12. f4 N5c6 13. Bc4 Nd4+ 14. Kb1 Ndf5 15. Kc2 Nxe3+ 16. fxe3 Nf5 {
Black is just a bit better. Lozhnikov,V (2310)-Gurkin,A (2262) Kostanay KAZ
2013}) 12. f4 Nc6 13. Bc4 {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.} Nd4+ 14. Kc1 (14. Bxd4 Rxd4 15. Bxf7 Rxf4 16. Be6+ Kb8 17. f3 {
is completely equal.}) 14... Nh6 {Hardly a mistake, nut developing the N on e7
was more natural.} 15. g4 {[%mdl 32]} 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. Rd1 {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... Bxc3 {is
correct as after} 17. bxc3 (17. Bf1 {is equally playable.} Ndf5 18. bxc3 (18.
gxf5 {loses...} Rxd1+ 19. Kxd1 Bxb2 20. Rb1 Rd8+ 21. Kc2 Bf6 {Black is much
better.}) 18... Nxe3 19. fxe3 f5 {is equal.}) 17... bxc4 18. Bxd4 f6 {chances
are equal.}) 17. Bf1 Rhe8 18. Bg2 {The B is very well placed on the long
diagonal.} f5 19. g5 Ng8 20. Nd5 Ne6 21. a4 {This attack on the Q-side Ps
leaves black with a very difficult position.} bxa4 (21... Ne7 {was better.
After} 22. Nxb4 cxb4 23. axb5 Rxd1+ 24. Kxd1 axb5 25. Kc2 {But white is
clearly better here, too.}) 22. Rxa4 a5 23. Nxb4 axb4 24. Ra8+ Kc7 25. Raxd8
Rxd8 26. Rxd8 Nxd8 {An interesting situation. Black has a Q-side P majority,
but the two Ns a re helpless against the two Bs.} 27. Bxc5 {[%mdl 4096] The
threat is 28.Bd5 trapping the N} Ne6 28. Bxb4 Nxf4 {There can be little doubt
about the outcome.} 29. Bf1 h6 30. h4 {[%mdl 32]} hxg5 31. hxg5 Nd5 32. Bf8 g6
33. Bc4 Nge7 34. Kd2 Kd7 35. Bxe7 {Black's position is hopeless because he
cannot deal with the Ps on both flankls.} Nxe7 {KB-KN} 36. Bf7 Kd6 37. Ke3 Kc5
38. Kf4 Kd6 39. b3 Kc5 40. Bxg6 {[%mdl 512] An elegant finish. The two Ps win
easily against the N.} Nxg6+ 41. Kxf5 {Black resigned.} (41. Kxf5 Ne7+ 42. Ke6
Nd5 43. g6 Kd4 44. g7 Nf4+ 45. Kf6 Kd3 46. g8=Q) 1-0
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