French bishop

proper noun

The black light-squared bishop in main line of the French Defence, whose movement is restricted due to the pawns on e6 and d5.

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Meanings

proper noun
  1. board gamesThe black light-squared bishop in main line of the French Defence, whose movement is restricted due to the pawns on e6 and d5.

    As long as Black has the bad French bishop, White will be better in almost all endings.

    2012, Karsten Mueller, Alex Markgraf, The Chess Puzzle Book 4, Russell Enterprises, →ISBN, page 48
    2 more examples

    So Gary decides to open the French. Hmmm. Now that "bad French bishop" comes into the game.

    1995 February 10, BradleeJ, rec.games.chess (Usenet)

    First, there will be simple game fragments, where the bishop is not completely blocked – it can move, but White blithely "ignores" the French bishop.

    2018, Sergey Kasparov, chapter 8, in The Bishop: Danger on the Diagonal, Russell Enterprises, →ISBN

Origin

From the French Defence.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

French bishop. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/French%20bishop

MLA

“French bishop.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/French%20bishop. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “French bishop,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/French%20bishop.

Source: French bishop on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.