Answers.Body: <p>Trading dark squared bishops (DSBs) does weaken the kingside dark squares. It is also true that without a DSB, white has a slightly harder time attacking the dark squares. But the queen is an important attacker that CAN hit the dark squares, and the two knights (+ two rooks on the open h file) mean that there is still serious attacking power against black's weakened king.</p>
  <p>One famous, representative example of how you can build a kingside attack on the dark squares after a DSB trade is <a href="https://lichess.org/cvyBEAmd" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Karpov - Korchnoi, 1974</a>. Notice how the open h file (and therefore h7) and ultimately the g7 square were the eventual targets in this vicious attack.</p>
  <p>Here's a similar, <a href="https://lichess.org/tebrXJW1/white" rel="nofollow noreferrer">extremely unfamous example by me</a> where I target g7 more directly than Karpov. Notice how the idea of Nf5 only comes up once you see how hard it is to defend g7 - the knight has to be taken.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2023-01-05T17:31:21.320Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2023-01-05T17:31:21.320Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: NoseKnowsAll
Answers.Body: <p>When the fianchettoed bishop is gone, the opponent can do this and it's not easy to dislodge the queen:</p>
  <pre><code>[FEN &quot;6k1/4pp1p/3p2pQ/8/8/8/8/8 w - - 0 1&quot;]
  </code></pre>
  <p>When the fianchettoed bishop is still around, ...Bg7 ejects the queen. White's DSB is not a factor, because it's not needed to put the queen on h6.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2023-01-05T14:18:23.747Z
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Answers.UserDisplayName: Allure
Body: <p>I read many times in books that when the bishop on a fianchetto is removed, like in some variants of the Sicilian Dragon, the squares of its color around are weaker, which is obvious.</p>
  <p>What I don't understand is why this is said even when that bishop is exchanged by the opponent's one.</p>
  <p>From my point of view, those squares are weaker, but the chances of converting that into something concrete are smaller, since we now have one less piece to attack them.</p>
  
Tags: <fianchetto><sicilian-dragon>
Title: Dark squares weakness in the Sicilian Dragon
ThreadText: # Dark squares weakness in the Sicilian Dragon
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2023-01-05)
  
  I read many times in books that when the bishop on a fianchetto is removed, like in some variants of the Sicilian Dragon, the squares of its color around are weaker, which is obvious.
  
  What I don't understand is why this is said even when that bishop is exchanged by the opponent's one.
  
  From my point of view, those squares are weaker, but the chances of converting that into something concrete are smaller, since we now have one less piece to attack them.
  
  **Tags:** fianchetto, sicilian-dragon
  
  
  ---
  
  ## 2 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_1 on 2023-01-05. Score: 1 | Accepted answer
  
  Trading dark squared bishops (DSBs) does weaken the kingside dark squares. It is also true that without a DSB, white has a slightly harder time attacking the dark squares. But the queen is an important attacker that CAN hit the dark squares, and the two knights (+ two rooks on the open h file) mean that there is still serious attacking power against black's weakened king.
  
  One famous, representative example of how you can build a kingside attack on the dark squares after a DSB trade is [Karpov - Korchnoi, 1974](https://lichess.org/cvyBEAmd). Notice how the open h file (and therefore h7) and ultimately the g7 square were the eventual targets in this vicious attack.
  
  Here's a similar, [extremely unfamous example by me](https://lichess.org/tebrXJW1/white) where I target g7 more directly than Karpov. Notice how the idea of Nf5 only comes up once you see how hard it is to defend g7 - the knight has to be taken.
  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_2 on 2023-01-05. Score: 1
  
  When the fianchettoed bishop is gone, the opponent can do this and it's not easy to dislodge the queen:
  
  ```
  [FEN "6k1/4pp1p/3p2pQ/8/8/8/8/8 w - - 0 1"]
  
  ```
  
  When the fianchettoed bishop is still around, ...Bg7 ejects the queen. White's DSB is not a factor, because it's not needed to put the queen on h6.
  
  
  ---
  
  