ChessRanger
Basics

Minor piece

A bishop or a knight — the light pieces, each worth roughly three pawns.

The minor pieces are the bishops and knights, as opposed to the 'major' pieces (rooks and queen). Each is worth about three pawns, but their strengths differ: bishops love open, long-range positions, while knights thrive in closed positions and on strong central outposts.

Much of chess strategy is the tug-of-war between the two — steering toward open lines for your bishops or locked pawns and outposts for your knights, and choosing which minor piece to keep when a trade is offered.

Why it matters

Knowing which minor piece suits a position is one of the most practical strategic skills — the right trade or the right outpost decides countless games.

The mistake everyone makes

Treating bishops and knights as interchangeable three-pointers and trading without regard for whether the position is open or closed.

Related terms

Good bishop
A bishop whose diagonals are open because your own pawns sit on the other colour.
Bad bishop
A bishop hemmed in by its own pawns, which sit on its colour and block its diagonals.
Outpost
A square in or near enemy territory, protected by a pawn, where a piece can sit untouchable.
Bishop pair
Owning both bishops while the opponent has a bishop and knight, or two knights.

See Minor piece in your own games

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