defence · recognise → explain → apply

Use a bishop as an active blockader

A bishop can sit in front of a pawn while controlling useful diagonals.

Explanation styleChoose any style. Age is not playing strength; no birth date is needed.

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Notes and replay positions are saved. Practice games are temporary; export their PGN to keep them.

Choose an example

Kamsky, Gata – Karpov, Anatoly

FIDE-Wch · 1996.??.?? · 0-1

21... Bd5 · White to move

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What to notice at 21... Bd5

Karpov restrains the isolated d-pawn with the bishop, later expands on the queenside and wins.

A legally replayed historical example, not a claim that every move is best. A game’s result does not prove every defensive position was lost or drawn.

Game source ↗

Your thinking first

Name the signal, choose a plan, and test the opponent’s most challenging response.

What do you notice?What is your plan, and why?How could the opponent resist?

Recall and explain

1. What does ...Bd5 do to White’s d4-pawn?

Explain it in your own words before revealing.

Make it memorable

Stop the pawn while watching both wings.

Teach this to a friend in one minute. Then return to a different example and look for the same signal without being told its name.

Reflect and revisit

This is your self-assessment, not an engine grade or a promise of mastery.

Connect the ideas

Practise pawn transformations →

Sources and further reading

Original LumaChess teaching and game analysis. Topic references are credited below; no affiliation or endorsement is implied.

Exeter Chess Club — Weak pawns ↗