In open positions the Bishop is generally the better piece, but its one disadvantage is that it is confined to squares of one color. This often allowes the opponent to freely maneuver on squares not covered by the Bishop. When there are two Bishops, this disadvantage all but disappears in an unblocked position.
In the following game Pachman skillfully uses his two Bishops to attack various points in Barcza’s position and eventually he exchanged one of them for an actively placed enemy piece which was sufficient to win.
Barcza resigned in a hopelessly lost K+P ending, but as I began to play around with it I discovered that it has a few instructive points that make it worthwhile examining.
[Event "Zonal Tournament, Prague"]
[Site ""]
[Date "1954.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Gideon Barcza"]
[Black "Ludek Pachman"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A04"]
[Annotator "Stockfiah 18.1"]
[PlyCount "100"]
[EventDate "1954.??.??"]
{Sicilian Dragon} 1. Nf3 {What do you call this opening? The Barcza System is
characterized by Nf3, g3, Bg2 and O-O regardless of what blavk plays which is
not the case here. Fritz analysis classifies it as the Sicilian Dragon because
that's the formation black sets up.} c5 2. g3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. Bg2
Bg7 6. Nb3 d6 7. Nc3 Nf6 8. O-O O-O 9. e4 {With this move the position now
resembles a Sicilian Dragon in which white has chosen a quiet, unassuming line
of play.} Bd7 {Black has a wide choice here, but 9...Bg4 is probably the best
as it pretty much compels white to play the passive 10.f3} 10. Nd5 Nxd5 11.
exd5 Ne5 12. Nd4 {White had conceded the two Bs, but in return has gained a
strong outpost for his N. Pachman now begins the process of using his Bs to
undermine the N.} Qb6 (12... Qc8 13. Re1 Bg4 14. f3 Bh3 15. Bxh3 Qxh3 16. Re4
Rac8 {Black is better. Mrva,M (2485)-Romanov,E (2600) Rijeka CRO 2010}) 13. c3
Rac8 14. h3 Qc5 15. Qe2 Rfe8 16. Rd1 Nc4 17. Be3 {White is pretty much forced
to give up the two Bs, but his N on d4 is compensation.} (17. Bg5 e5 18. dxe6
Bxe6 19. Nxe6 Rxe6 20. Qg4 Nxb2 {Black is better.}) 17... Nxe3 18. Qxe3 Qb6 {
Attacking the b-Pawn and forcing white to make a defensive move.} 19. Qd2 Rc4 {
Now the threat is 20...Bxd4 weakening white's Pawns and allowing black to
control the c-file.} 20. b3 {This is just an Infinitesimal slip that weakens
the c-Pawn which will soon be forced to advance to c4 which deprives the N of
support. 20.Nf3 is not an ideal solution, but in the long run it was probably
best.} Rc7 21. Rac1 a5 {Long rage strategy! Because white will eventually have
to play c4, Pacj,an prepares the opening of a file on the Q-side. It's
insteresting to note that engines consider this position completely equal, but
GMs prefer black. Five Shootouts from this position were drawn so the equals
evaluation is technically correct, but practically speaking black has all the
winning chances.} 22. c4 a4 {Part of his strategy of opening a file oin the
Q-side.} 23. Rb1 Ra8 {There is no reason to fear 24.bxa4} 24. Bf1 (24. bxa4
Qxd4 25. Qxd4 Bxd4 26. Rxd4 Rxa4 {White has to lose a P plus the remaining Ps
are weak.}) 24... axb3 25. axb3 Rcc8 26. Qe3 {Pachman's plan was to play ...
Ra3 and ...Rc8-a12 while Barcza's plan is to prepare to exchange Qs with the
hope that the penetration of the black Rs will not be dangerous to his only
weakness, the b-Pawn, which can easily be protected.} Ra2 27. Nf5 Qxe3 28. Nxe3
h5 29. Rd3 b5 {Sticking with his plan of doubling Rs on the a-file would have
been better.} 30. cxb5 Bxb5 {White has two weak Ps (on b3 and d5) amd a bad B.
A couple of small things, nut they will gain in significance.} 31. Rdd1 Rb8 {
Pachman erroneously offers to trade white's bad B believeing that he would
have no difficulty in exploiting the weak Ps on b3 and d5, but that does not
seems to be the case. Five Shootouts were drawn; doeble R endings are always
difficult and white placed his pieces on white squares rendering black's dark
squared B rather useless.} 32. Nc4 {This is a bad decision. Exchanging Bs was
correct. Now white really is in difficulty.} Bc3 {Pachman sets about inproving
the position of his BS. The B heads for c5 from where it attacks the f-Pawn.}
33. Rbc1 Bb4 34. Ra1 {From the practical point of view keeping both Rs on
mught have been a better idea. So, 34.Bd3} Rba8 35. Rxa2 Rxa2 36. Rb1 Ba6 {
This B heads for b7 from where it puts pressure on the d-Pawn. At this point
it's safe to say that white is lost.} 37. Rb2 Ra1 38. Rc2 {This is a bad
square for the R. Somewhat better would have been 38.Kg2} (38. Kg2 Bb7 39. Ne3
Ra5 40. Bc4 e6 41. Kf1 exd5 {But even here white's position is pretty bad.})
38... Bb7 39. Ne3 Bc5 {The exchange of the N, and with it the loss of at least
a P, can no longer be avoided.} 40. Rd2 Bxe3 {This fine move eliminates
white's one well placed piece and greatly simplifies the win.} 41. fxe3 {
[%mdl 4096]} Ba6 42. Rf2 Kg7 43. Kg2 (43. b4 {is a better defense.} Bc4 44. Rf4
Bxd5 45. b5 Rb1 {and black has to take time to deal with this P. He does that
by} 46. Kf2 Be6 47. Re4 d5 48. Rd4 Kf6 49. h4 Ke5 50. Be2 Rb2 51. Ke1 Bd7 52.
Kd1 Bxb5 53. Bf3 Bc4) 43... Rxf1 {In this case white's outside passed P is no
threat.} 44. Rxf1 Bxf1+ 45. Kxf1 {Black's K can easily stop the dangerous
looking b-Pawn} Kf6 46. Ke2 (46. b4 {is met by} Ke5 47. b5 Kxd5 48. b6 Kc6)
46... Ke5 47. Kd3 Kxd5 48. b4 Kc6 49. Kc4 d5+ 50. Kd4 Kd6 {White resigned} (
50... Kd6 51. b5 e5+ 52. Kd3 Kc5) (50... Kd6 51. e4 e5+ 52. Kd3 d4 53. Kc4 Kc6)
(50... Kd6 51. Kc3 {This is the best defense. It is a good ending to play
around with to see if you can win it! The strongest line is} e5 52. Kb3 Kc6 53.
Ka4 Kb6 54. Kb3 Kb5 55. Kc3 f5 56. Kb3 g5 57. Kc3 Ka4 58. b5 Kxb5 59. Kd3 g4
60. hxg4 hxg4 61. Kc3 Kc5 62. Kd3 Kb4 63. Kd2 Kc4 64. Ke2 d4 65. Kd2 dxe3+ 66.
Kxe3 Kc3 67. Ke2 Kd4 68. Kd2 e4 69. Kc1 Kd3 70. Kb2 e3 {mates in 7 moves.}) 0-1
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