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First published in 2004 by Gloucester Publishers pIc (formerly Everyman Publishers pIc), Northburgh House, 10 Northburgh Street, London EC1V OAT Copyright © 2004 John Emms The right of John Emms to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyrights, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the publisher. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 1 85744 359 4 Distributed in North America by The Globe Pequot Press, P.O Box 480, 246 Goose Lane, Guilford, CT 06437-0480. All other sales enquiries should be directed to Everyman Chess, Northburgh House, 10 Northburgh Street, London EC1V OAT tel: 020 7253 7887; fax: 020 7490 3708 email:
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EVERYMAN CHESS SERIES
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Contents Bibliography Introduction
1 2
Bishop (and Pawns) versus Pawns
3
Bishops of Opposite Colour
4 5
Knight (and Pawns) versus Pawns
6
Bishop versus Knight Endings
7
Solutions to Exercises
Bishops of Same Colour
Knight Endings
4 5
7 53 89 118 153 174 199
Bibliography Books Bishop Endings, Yuri Averbakh (Batsford 1977) Bishop v. Knight Endings, Yuri Averbakh (Batsford 1976) Knight Endings, Yuri Averbakh and Vitaly Chekhover (Batsford 1977) Improve Your Endgame Play, Glenn Flear (Everyman 2000) Mastering the Endgame, Glenn Flear (Everyman 2001) Fundamental Chess Endings, Karsten Muller and Frank Lamprecht (Gambit 2001) Batsford Chess Endings, Jon Speelman et al (Batsford 1993) Secrets of Minor Piece Endings, John Nunn (Batsford 1995) Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual DVD, Mark Dvoretsky (ChessBase 2003) Encyclopaedia of Chess Endings (minor pieces) (Chess Informant 1993)
Periodicals Chess Informant ChessBase Magazine New In Chess Magazine Chess Today
Databases and Programs Fritz 7 ChessBase 8 ChessBase Nalimov Tablebases The Week in Chess 1-495 Mega Database 2004 Mega Corr 3
Websites Endgame Corner (ChessCafe.com), Karsten Muller
Introduction The book in front of you is primarily aimed at players who don't have that much experience in endgames. That said, occasionally I have found myself drifting into more complex endings, ones that would stretch more experienced players, but I have tried to keep this to a minimum. This book is part of the Everyman Chess Starting Out series on endgames, which also includes Starting Out: Pawn Endgames and Starting Out: Rook Endgames. Having had much experience in pawn endings and also having written an earlier book on rook endings (The Survival Guide to Rook Endings), I'm now in a much better position to compare the different types. In my opinion minor piece endgames are the most difficult both to explain and to master, if only because there are so many positions that contain paradoxical moves (just look at Example 61 as one of many cases of this). When I began gathering material for the book I came across a huge number of endgame positions that were worthy of consideration. Given the space restrictions, however, I realised I had to be quite ruthless with this material. In the end I plumped for a structured view plus practicality over aesthetics. I've also concentrated more on fundamental positions, the building blocks for all other types of endgames. Indeed, there are very few studies included. The material comprises mainly of basic positions and examples from real games, ones that are much more likely to crop up in practice (that said, many of the 'real games', like studies, contain beautiful ideas). So if you want to know how to win with bishop and pawn against three pawns, with all four pawns blocked on the a-file (I saw this in one book!), then there are better places to look. However, if you want to clarify how to win the basic ending of king, knight and pawn against king, you are at the right place! While studying all the different types of endings, I've found it entertaining and instructive to compare statistics on the different material imbalances. The databases I've used for these purposes include Mega Database 2004, The Week in Chess, Chess Informant and Mega Corr 3. These statistics can be a handy guide but they shouldn't be taken as the gospel truth. You have to remember that the statistics can be skewed by a number of reasons: rating differences, resignation or draw agreement before the actual position arises and the incorrect result being inputted into the database are just three. I should also clarify the main terms used in this book. In general I've labelled the side
5
Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames
trying to exploit an advantage to win as the attacker (or the attacking side), whereas the side trying to draw the position is labelled as the defender (or the defending side). So the defender's bishop is the bishop that belongs to the defender (even if the bishop itself may be active and attacking pawns). As with my earlier book The Survival Guide to Rook Endings, the practical examples included contain mistakes by even the strongest of grandmasters (and I've made sure that I don't escape from this net!). In the defence of all the players involved, many of these positions are extremely difficult to play over the board, especially after a long, tough game and (in some cases) with ludicrously fast time limits. Studying endgames is a very rewarding task (and can be great fun!), even though some of the benefits are not as obviously apparent as with studying opening theory. Understanding the important principles can give you knowledge and confidence in not just endgames, but middle game positions too. It can also improve calculation powers and increase perception of how the pieces cooperate together. Finally, I've tried to keep mistakes in analysis to an absolute minimum, but inevitably a few will arise. Any corrections or suggestions from readers will be warmly appreciated.
John Emms Kent June 2004
6
Chapter One
Bishop (and Pawns) versus Pawns ~
The Lone Bishop vs Pawns
~
King, Bishop and Pawn vs King
~
Bishop and Pawn vs Pawn
~
Rook's Pawn and 'wrong' Bishop
~
Fortresses
~
Bishop and Pawn vs Two Pawns ~
~ Endings with More Pawns
~
Try it Yourself
,
~
,~'
~
_
~
Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames
The Lone Bishop versus Pawns We'll begin by looking at bishop endings (I certainly believe that they are less complex than knight endings) and, in particular, the lone bishop against pawns.
Bishop versus pawn
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It goes without saying that 99% of the time a lone bishop against a lone pawn ends in a draw. The side with the bishop simply either wins the pawn or gives up his bishop for it, at which point the game is immediately declared drawn. NOTE: When no checkmating position can occur by any possible series of legal moves, even with most unskilled moves, a game is immediately declared drawn. Three examples of this are king against king, king and bishop against king, and king and knight against king. In these situations, there's actually no need to offer or claim a draw - the game has actually already finished.
Example 1 The only bishop versus pawn positions of interest are those where the bishop has trouble preventing the pawn from queening.
Diagram 1 (W)
Diagram 2 (W)
White's pawn promotes
The bishop prevails
(Diagrant 1) Black's bishop is unfortunately placed and, even though the pawn is three squares from queening, Black cannot do anything to prevent this happening. 1 a6 Ba2 Intending ... Bd5. 2 Kd4! and there is no way to prevent the pawn from promoting. In Diagram 2 the seemingly minor improvement in the bishop's placing makes all the difference.
8
Bishop (and Pawns) versus Pawns
1 as Ba4! 1 ... Bdl! does a similar job. 2Kd5 Or 2 Kc5 Bdl! and White has no way to prevent ... Bf3. 2 ... Bd1! It should be pointed out that here 2 ... Bd7 3 a7 Bh3! also draws, although this wouldn't work if Black's king were on, say, the g8-square: a8Q would then come with check. WARNING: Promotion with check is a typical idea in endgames but is also very easy to overlook!
3 Ke4 The only way to prevent ... Bf3, but now ... 3 ... Ba4! 4 Kd5 Bd1! and the bishop cannot be contained.
Bishop versus two split pawns With a second pawn entering the equation, the winning chances of the player with the pawns obviously increases a great deal (on my database the win ratio is 37%). We'll begin by looking at cases where the pawns are split.
Containing pawns on one diagonal If we forget about king placing for the moment and concentrate solely on the bishop and two pawns, we can understand more easily which positions are favourable for the bishop and which are not.
Example 2
Diagram 3 Patrolling on one diagonal
Diagram 4 The bishop is stretched
Diagram 3 perfectly illustrates an ideal situation for the bishop, which is able to contain both black pawns on the one diagonal (h1-a8). It's easy to see that the pawns cannot make any further progress without being captured.
9
Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames
Containing pawns on two diagonals The task of the bishop becomes more difficult if the pawns cannot be contained on one diagonal. The bishop's resources are stretched as it becomes overloaded with burdens. One obvious technique for the side with pawns is to deflect the bishop by advancing (usually sacrificing) one pawn in order for the other pawn to progress.
Example 3 In Diagram 4 the white bishop covers both the a3- and the e3-squares. However, Black can ensure that one pawn can make progress by sacrificing the other: 1...e3 2 Bxe3 and now the a-pawn can safely advance with 2 ... a3. The question in these cases is whether one of the pawns can advance all the way to the queening square. In this example White's bishop can rush back to the d4square to prevent the a-pawn from queening (or, more strictly speaking, not physically preventing the pawn from queening but being in a position to capture when it happens!). '
The 'last stop' What happens if the pawns are further advanced?
Example 4
Diagram 5 the 'last stop'
Diagram 6 (8) An invader will land!
In Diagram 5 Black's a-pawn is further advanced (in fact it's only one square away from queening) and this makes all the difference. It's true that the bishop on d 4 prevents Black from doing this, but the mere possibility of promotion renders the bishop useless in its functions on other diagonals. More specifically, the pawn on e4 can merrily advance to e3 (and, for that matter, all the way to e1) in the knowledge that it can't be touched by the bishop without allowing the a2-pawn to promote. So, one way or the other, Black will be able to promote a pawn. This theme of the bishop being so committed to preventing one pawn from queening that it loses all power on other diagonals was referred to by Karsten
10
Bishop (and Pawns) versus Pawns Miiller and Frank Lamprecht in Fundamental Chess Endings as the 'last stop', which I think sums up the situation rather well.
Example 5 Toth-Adla, Internet 2000 Diagram 6 illustrates this decisive deflection theme from real play. 67 ... g3! 68 Bfl e3! and White resigned as there is no defence against the sequence ... e2, Bxe2, ... g2 and ... glQ.
Harassing the bishop Unfortunately, things are usually not quite as simple as the examples we've seen so far. The presence of kings complicate matters and introduces further themes. One of these is the harassment of the defending bishop.
Example 6 Maki Uuro-Grischuk, New York 2000
Diagram 7 (8) Harassing the bishop
Diagram 8 (W) A trickier example
In Diagram 7 the black h-pawn can reach the 'last stop' by moving to h2. Without the presence of kings the pawns would prevail. Here, though, White's king is ready to snaffle the pawn on b4. Thus after 53 ... h2? 54 Kxb4 the game is drawn. Also, the deflecting 53 ... b3? doesn't work yet due to 54 Bxb3 Ke5 55 Ba4! Kd5 56 Bdl! Ke4 57 Ba4! etc. Instead Grischuk utilised his own king with 53 ...Ke5!, which forced an immediate resignation. The bishop has to move from its ideal post and this is enough for Black to force a pawn home. For example, 54 Bc6 b3 55 Ka4 b2.
Shouldering off the opposing king The next example illustrates a more complicated case that includes the theme of one king shouldering off the other as well as harassing the defending bishop.
11
Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames
Example 7 Ye Jiangchuan-Wang Rui, HeiBei 2001 (Diagram 8) 65 a4! As is usual in difficult endgame positions, move order is crucial. TIP: In endgame play, if you find that one particular variation doesn't work, try switching move orders. This often leads to the correct solution.
o
65 d5? allows Black to draw after 65 ... Kf8!, when Black's king is in the promotion 'square' of White's a-pawn, whilst the bishop can deal with the d-pawn: 66 a4 Ke7! 67 a5 Kd7! (or 67 ... Bxd5!) 68 a6 Kc8 69 d6 Be6 70 Kb6 Kb8 with a draw. NOTE: If a king can enter the 'square' of an enemy pawn, then it is able to prevent the pawn from promoting (or at least capture it on promotion). The 'square' for a pawn on a4 is simply the square a4-a8-e8-e4-a4. 65 ... Bh5 Trying to contain the pawns from either f3 or e2. 65 ... Be6 loses after 66 d5 Bc8 67 d6 Kf7 68 Kc6 Ke6 69 Kc7 Bd7 70 a5 Bb5 71 a6, when the d-pawn has reached the 'last stop' and the a-pawn acts as a deflector.
66 Kd6! White's king acts both to support the pawn's path and to 'shoulder off' the opposing king, leaving it on the sidelines of the battle. It's even worth temporarily blocking the path ofthe d-pawn to achieve this. NOTE: Shouldering off an opponent's king is an important theme in endgame play.
Instead the more direct 66 a5 Bf3 67 d5 Kf6 68 a6? (68 Kd6! still wins) allows Black's king to influence events and permits a draw after 68 ... Ke5! 69 d6 Ke6! 70 a7 Ba8. 66 ...Kf8 67 a5 Be2 68 d5! Now White plans Kc7 and d5-d6, reaching the 'last stop', so Black's reply is forced. 68 ... Bc4 (Diagram 9)
Diagram 9 (W) What now?
12
Diagram 10 (8) e5 is the intersection square
Bishop (and Pawns) versus Pawns Now White has only one move that wins ... 69 Ke5!! Harassing the bishop and thus forcing it off its ideal square. 69 Kc6? permits a draw following 69 ... Ke7! 70 d6+ Kd8!. 69 ... Be2 70 Ke6 Ke7 71 Ke7 1-0 Now that d5 is no longer under attack, White can safely play this move. Black resigned on account of 71 Kc7 Bb5 72 d6+ Ke6 73 a6! etc.
King and bishop in each other's way The following example illustrates yet another theme in the lone bishop versus pawns endings: the defending king and bishop getting in each other's way.
Example 8 Czebe-Dumpor, Budapest 1998 (Diagram 10) Mter the obvious 55 ...h4! White was forced to resign due to the line 56 Kf6 h3 57 Bd6 a5. The pawn on h3 has reached the 'last stop' and it's just a case of whether White's king can enter the square (a5-a1-e1-e5-a5) ofthe a5-pawn. However, this can only be achieved with 58 Ke5, but this blocks the bishop's defence along the h1-b8 diagonal and allows the simple 58 ... h2. The e5square is the point of intersection, the white pieces getting in each other's way.
Bishop versus two connected pawns When the two pawns are connected rather than split, other elements come into play. The advantage the pawns now have is that one can protect the other as they advance up the board. The advantage the bishop has is that it is able to contain the two pawns on one diagonal rather than two.
Example 9
Diagram 11 Bishop stops pawns
Diagram 12 Black has a different method.
Let's begin by looking at an example without kings (Diagram 11). Here the bishop can contain the pawns in an instructive way. 1. ..Bd3!
13
Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames First of all the pawns are forced onto different coloured squares to the bishop (the bishop is light-squared, so the pawns are forced onto dark squares). 2 b6 After 2 c6 Bxb5 3 c7 Bd7 the bishop is back in time. 2... Be4! and the pawns can advance no further. However, this plan for the bishop doesn't guarantee success. In Diagram 12 the white pawn is on c6 instead of c5 and this makes a big difference. Now trying to force the pawns onto a different colour to the bishop doesn't work because they are already too far advanced. L.Bd3? allows 2 b6 Be4 3 b7!, while the 'defensive' L.Bc8? fails to 2 b6! followed by b7. Instead Black can contain the pawns by attacking the frontal one. 1...Be4! Now the b-pawn cannot move without White losing the c-pawn. That leaves 2 c7 as the only way to progress, but after 2 ... Bb7! the pawns are again contained.
Example 10 Leko-Akopian, Groningen 1996
Diagram 13 (W) One king active; one a spectator
Diagram 14 (8) Black can draw
Now let's look at a practical example involving kings. In Diagram 13 White's king supports the pawns while Black's king is too far away to help the bishop. The result is predictable. 81 Kf5 Kb5 82 g6 Bb2 83 h5 Bg7 84 Kg5 and Black resigned - White will win with h5-h6.
A defensive idea: attacking the rear pawn with the bishop One defensive idea for the king and bishop team that often leads to success is to attack the rear pawn with the bishop. The main idea of this is to either tie down the opposing king and thus slow down the promotion charge, or else force the front pawn forward which allows a blockade.
14
Bishop (and Pawns) versus Pawns
Example 11
o
(Diagram. 14) Using the king to support the pawns' promotion, White has an automatic plan of Kc7 followed by d5-d6-d 7-dS. If White is allowed to play Kc7 then it's already too late for Black to do anything (Mark Dvoretsky labels this situation ofthe king's securing the passage of a pawn to promotion as 'automatic pilot'). 1...Bf3! The only move to draw. Now White has to find a different plan to Kc7. 2Ke5 A backward step that allows Black's king in front of the pawns, but this is the price of having to stay protecting the d5-pawn. The only other option for White was to advance the front pawn, which certainly looks like a logical idea, but now the depth of Black's idea is seen: 2 c7 Bg4 3 Kc6 BcS! (3 ... Ke7? 4 d6+ KeS 5 Kb7 is winning for White) 4 d6 Ke6 and Black has a blockade - White can make no further progress. NOTE: The blockade is a typical drawing method for the king and bishop and king and pawns.
2... Ke7 3 d6+ KdS 4 Kb6 KeS 5 d7+ KdS and White can make no further progress (Kc5 allows ... Kc7 while Kb7 carries no threat - the c-pawn is pinned!).
Another defensive idea: attacking from the rear with the king When the defending king is unable to get in front of the pawns, a further option is to attack them from the back. The idea is that the bishop can take care of the front pawn while the king tracks the one at the rear. The following example is a good illustration of this defensive resource.
Example 12 Vuekovie-Pavlovie, Belgrade 2001
Diagram 15 (W) The white king walks
Diagram 16 (W) A choice of draws
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames (Diagram 15) 66 Kd4! 66 Kd2?! is pointless as the white king doesn't have time to get in front of the pawns: 66 ... g5 67 Ke1? (White can still save the day by admitting his mistake: 67 Kd3! Kg2 68 Ke4 f3 69 Kf5! with a draw) 67 ... Kg2 and Black goes onto 'autopilot'. TIP: If you see that a strategy you have begun is faulty, don't be afraid to admit your mistake. There may still be time to adopt a different and successful plan.
66 ... g5 Or 66 ... Kg2 67 Ke4 f3 68 Kf5 with an easy draw. 67 Ke5 g4 68 Kf5! Now White's king is very well placed. 68 ... g3 (Diagram 16) 69 Kg5!? Another way to draw is 69 Bb6 g2 70 Bg1! (so that the bishop isn't blocked by its own king; 70 Bc5? Kg3 71 Ke4 f3 is winning for Black) 70 ... Kg3 71 Ke4 f3 72 Ke3. This drawing method is particularly important as the one chosen in the game wouldn't work if the pieces were moved one file to the right. 69 ... g2 70 Kh4! The only move to draw. 70 ...Ke2 71 Kh3 f3 72 Kg3 ';1,.,-';1,.,
Example 13 Sebe-Batsanin, Mureck 1998 (Diagram 17) Here White produces an unusual but effective way of containing the pawns.
Diagram 17 (W) An unusual defence
Diagram 18 (8) An effective bishop!
Black's pawns are threatening to promote by themselves and White doesn't have enough time to simply rush back with the king (60 Ke6? f3! 61 Ke5 e3 and ... e2). Normally in this type of situation White would try to blockade the pawns by forcing them onto different coloured squares to the bishop (with Bc4-d5 etc.) but it's easy to see that 60 Bc4? Kc5 is not what White wants. With this method
16
Bishop (and Pawns) versus Pawns obviously not working, White has to fall back on the second option for the bishop: attacking the frontal pawn (compare with Example 11). The most obvious way to do this is via 60 Bh3? f3 61 Bg4 but this loses after 61...Kc5 62 Ke6 Kd4 63 Kf5 Kd3! (but not 63 .. '£2? 64 Bh3 e3 65 Bfl Kc3 66 Kf4 Kd2 67 Kf3) 64 Kf4 f2 65 Bh3 e3 66 Kf3 e2! 67 Kxf2 Kd2. The correct way to defend looks bizarre at first sight. 60 Bg2! f3 61 Bhl! (Diagram 18) The bishop looks ridiculous stuck in the corner and without a move, but paradoxically it's the best place for it! 61...Kc5 Now the kings race into action. After 61...£2 White draws with 62 Bg2 e3 63 Bfl Kc5 64 Ke6 Kd4 65 Kf5 Kc3 66 Ke4 Kd2 67 Kf3 Kel 68 Bb5. 62 Ke6 Kd4 63 Kf5 Ke3 64 Ke5! It's tempting to play 64 Kg4? but this loses after 64 ... Ke2 65 Kf4 f2 66 Bg2 e3 67 Ke4 Kd2! and ... e2. Instead White correctly keeps an eye on the e4-pawn. 64 ... Kd3 Actually Black can make no further progress. White can even draw with 65 Kd5 or 65 Kf5. 65 Kf4 f2 66 Bxe4+ 'h-'h Displaying a major plus of having the bishop on hI. Crucially, this capture comes with check and thus White has time to play Bg2 next.
Example 14 Maes-Dasaolu, Elista Olympiad 1998
Diagram 19 (8) Black has a trick
Diagram 20 (W) Two ways to win
(Diagram 19) Here the defending team draws by sacrificing the bishop. 50 ... Kc5! Again the correct way is for the king to attack the pawns from the rear. 51 b6 Kb5 52 a6 Now White threatens Ka7 and b7, but Black has a trick that draws. 52 ...Bc8+! 53 Kc7
17
Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames
53 Kxc8 Kxb6 draws. 53 ... BxaS 54 b7 Bxb7 55 Kxb7 'h-'h
Example 15 Matias-Babo, Lisbon 1999 (Diagram 20) Our final example with bishop versus two pawns involves the theme of the reciprocal zugzwang. NOTE: Zugzwangs and reciprocal zugzwangs are surprisingly common in endgame play. In a normal zugzwang one side (if it is their move) must weaken their position. In reciprocal zugzwang, whoever has the move must weaken their position.
In the game White erred with 72 Kc7?, allowing Black to escape with a draw after 72 ... Ke7 73 Kb6 Kd6 74 c7 Be6 75 b5 (or 75 Kb7 Bd5+ 76 Kb8 Be6) 75 ... Bc8!. The textbook way to win is 72 Kc5! (gaining a crucial tempo on the bishop) 72 ... Be2 73 Kb6 Ke7 (or 73 ... Kd8 74 Kb7 Bf3 75 b5 Be4 76 Kb8 Bf5 77 b6) 74 c7 Bg4 75 Kb7 Kd6 76 b5 Kc5 77 b6 Kb5 78 Ka7 and b7. However, there is also another way to win. 72 e7! BaS 73 b5 Bb7 Or 73 ... Bc8 74 Kc6 Ke7 75 b6 Bd7+ 76 Kb7. 74 bS (Diagram 21)
Diagram 21 (8) zugzwangs all around!
Diagram 22 (W) Pawns beat bishop
and we have reached a reciprocal zugzwang. If it were White to move, it would be a draw, but with Black to move it's a win for White. 74 ... BaS 74 ... Kf7 allows 75 Kd7. 75 KeS followed by b6-b7.
Bishop versus three connected pawns The addition of a third pawn substantially increases the winning chances. On my database I found that 56% of the games (including split and connected pawns) ended decisively.
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Bishop (and Pawns) versus Pawns This time let's start by looking at the case of connected pawns. The three connected pawns normally win if they can safely reach the fifth rank, even if the defending king is in front of them.
Example 16 Brynell-Hodgson, London 1990 (Diagram 22) This example shows a typical victory for the pawns. White has no chance of stopping Black's powerful trio. 54 Bc5 g3+ 54 ... e3+ is also good enough, as 55 Bxe3!? is answered not by 55 ... fxe3+? 56 Kxe3 which draws, but by 55 ... g3+! 56 Kf3 fxe3 57 Kxe3 Kg4 winning: 58 Ke2 Kh3 59 Kf1 Kh2 and the pawn promotes. 55 Kg2 Kg4 55 ... e3? would carelessly allow White to blockade with 56 Kf3!. 56Bb6 White can only wait for the execution. 56 ... e3 57 Ba5 57 Kf1 forces Black to be more accurate: 57 ... Kh3! (note that Black doesn't have this option with f-, g- and h-pawns - see Example 17) 58 Kg1 (or else ... Kh2) 58 ... e2 59 Ba5 f3 60 Bel Kg4! and White is in zugzwang. 57 ...£3+ 58 Kf1 f2 0-1
Example 17 (Diagram 23) If we move everything a file to the right then White draws due to a combination of ideas: stalemate tricks, the presence of an h -pawn, the presence of a light-squared bishop as opposed to a dark-squared one and a lack of entry squares for the black king on the right (as opposed to left!) side.
Diagram 23 (W) White draws
Diagram 24 (8) Draw!
1Bd7 In fact in this position White could induce Black into variations very similar to note 'b' to Black's first move with 1 Bb7 h3+ (1...f3+ 2 Bxf3!) 2 Kg1 f3 3 Bc8 (this actually transposes to that note). However, the drawing method in the
19
Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames main line is still crucial because in many variations White cannot prevent .. .f3 (if the White king started on gl, for example). 1 ...£3+
o
L.g3? is obviously undesirable because it allows White to set up an easy blockade on the light squares: 2 Bc6 Kf5 3 Kh3 etc. NOTE: The player with the pawns should try to keep them on the same colour of square as the bishop to avoid the chance of a blockade.
The main alternative is L.h3+ 2 Kgl f3 3 Bc8! (White should just stay on this diagonal for the moment) 3 ... Kh4 4 Bd7 and now: a) 4 ... Kg3 5 Bc8 (but not 5 Bc6? f2+ 6 Kfl Kh2! 7 Kxf2 g3+ and ... g2) 5 ... h2+ (or 5.. .f2+ 6 Kf1 Kf3 7 Bxg4+!) 6 Khl Kh3 7 Bb7! (threatening Bxf3! - note the continued use of stalemate tricks) 7 .. .f2 8 Bg2+ Kg3 9 Bfl and Black loses his h2pawn, resulting in an easy draw. b) 4 ... g3 (threatening simply ... g2; now White must switch diagonals) 5 Bc6! h2+ (5 ...f2+ 6 Kfl Kg5 7 Bd7! h2 8 Bc6 sets up a light-squared blockade which cannot be broken) 6 Khl f2 (or 6 ... Kg4 7 Bxf3+!) 7 Bg2 Kg4 8 Bfl Kf3 9 Bg2+ Ke2 10 Bf1+! Kel11 Bg2 and Black can make no further progress as a promotion on fl simply leads to stalemate. 2 Kg1 g3 2 ... Kf4 3 Bc8 Kg3 4 Bd7 f2+ 5 Kf1 Kf3 6 Bxg4+! Kxg4 7 Kxf2 is a good illustration of how having an h-pawn severely reduces Black's chances of winning. 3 Bh3! This defence was found by Streltsov. In this instance the h3-square is an ideal place for the white bishop. 3 ...Kf4 4 Kf1 Ke3 5 Kg1 Ke2 6 Bfl + Ke1 7 Bh3 f2+ 8 Kh1 (Diagram 24) Once again Black can make no progress due to stalemate ideas: 8 ... flQ+ 9 Bxf1 Kxfl is immediately stalemate, while 8 ... Ke2 can be answered by 9 Bfl+! Kf3 10 Bg2+ Kg4 11 Bh3+! etc.
Example 18 Tiller-Bjarnason, Gausdal1987
Diagram 25 (W) Black draws
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Diagram 26 (W) Black draws
Bishop (and Pawns) versus Pawns
(Diagram 25) If the defending side can get his king in front of the pawns and prevent the three pawns reaching the fifth rank, then he should draw. Here Black's defence is exemplary. 60Kh5 The trickiest move. Mter 60 K£5 Black's simplest plan is to keep an eye on the f4-pawn and induce White to advance one of the other pawns, thus making it easier to set up a blockade: 60 ... Bd2! 61 g6+ (or 61 Ke4 Bc1) 61...Kg7 62 e6 (62 Kg5 Bxf4+! 63 Kxf4 Kxg6 is an immediate draw: 64 Ke4 K£7 65 Kd5 Ke7 etc.) 62 ... Bb4 and Black has managed to set up a blockade on the dark squares; for example, 63 Kg5 Be7+ 64 Kh5 BdS 65 f5 Bf6 66 Kg4 (White's king goes to the other side so Black does the same) 66 ... K£S! 67 K£4 KeS 6S Ke4 Ke7 69 Kd5 Bg7! (69 ... KeS? 70 Kd6! breaks the blockade: 70 ... KdS 71 e7+ Bxe7+ 72 Ke6 Bf8 73 f6 etc.) 70 Kc6 B£6 and White can make no further progress. 60 ... Kg7! Crucially preventing White from playing Kh6. Now with White's king on h5, Black simply keeps his bishop on the long diagonal attacking the e5-pawn so White isn't able to advance the f-pawn without advancing the e-pawn first. 60 ... Bd2? loses to 61 f5!, while 60 ... Bb2? loses to 61 Kh6! (threatening Kh7!) 61 ... KgS 62 Kg6 Bc3 63 e6 K£S 64 f5 etc. 61 e6 61 g6 makes it easier for Black to draw: 61...Bb2 62 Kg5 (62 e6 Bf6 63 f5 Be7 64 Kg4 Bf6 sets up a blockade like the one considered in the note to White's 60th move) 62 ... Bc3 63 K£5 Bb2 64 e6 (what else?) 64 ... Bf6 and White loses a pawn. 61...Bb4! A crucial move - now is the time to relocate the bishop. Staying on the long diagonal loses: 61...Bb2? 62 f5 Bc3 63 e7 K£7 64 f6 KeS 65 Kg4 Bb2 66 K£5 followed by g6. 62Kg4 The most consistent continuation is 62 f5 but then Black holds a draw with 62 ... Be7!. (Diagram 26). The bishop is perfectly placed on e7: it blocks the e-pawn, prevents £6+ (this is answered by ... Bxf6!) and ties White's king down to the defence ofthe g-pawn. If White does nothing, Black will simply oscillate his bishop between e7 and dS. White's only attempt to progress is to play g6, but then Black sets up the usual blockade; for example, 63 Kg4 BdS 64 K£4 Be7 65 g6 B£6 66 Ke4 K£S 67 Kd5 Ke7! etc. 62 ... Be7! Averbakh gave the long and interesting drawing line 62 ... Bd6 63 K£5 Be7 64 Ke4 Kg6 65 Ke5 BfS 66 f5+ Kxg5 67 f6 Kg6! 6S e7 Bxe7! 69 fxe7 K£7 70 Kd6 KeS but there's no need to delve into these complexities; the text is much simpler. 63 Kf5 Bd6! 64 Ke4 Kg6 '1.-'1. White must lose one of his pawns: 65 Kd5 Bxf4 66 e7 K£7 etc.
Bishop versus three split pawns Despite the fact that the bishop is a long-range piece, practice has shown that winning chances with three split pawns are even greater than those with three
21
Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames connected pawns. Naturally the further up the board the pawns are, the greater the winning chances are.
Example 19 Hertneck-Nikolic, Munich 1994
Diagram 27 (8) Pawns beat bishop
Diagram 28 (8) Black to play and win
(Diagram 27) This first example illustrates a typical victory for the three pawns. Black's pawns are too far advanced and too far apart for there to be any hope of a successful defence. White's resources in containing the pawns become too stretched. 63 ...Kg4 64 Kf2 In fact, Hertneck saw no reason to continue and resigned at this moment. Let's see how the game could have concluded. 64 ...h4 65 Bd2 Or 65 Kg2 h3+ 66 Kh2 f4 67 Bb4 f3 68 Bc5 b4!. 65 ...h3 66 Bb4 f4 67 Bc5 f3 68 Kg1 White must prevent the h- and f- pawns from advancing further with his king. 68 Bd6 is met by the deflecting 68 ... b4!. 68 ... Kf4 Black's king is on its way to e2 to support the f3-pawn through its 'last stop'. In many lines the h-pawn acts to deflect away White's king. 69 Kh2 Ke4 70 Kg3 (Diagram 28) Or 70 Kxh3 Kd3 71 Kg3 Ke2 72 Kf4 b4! 73 Ke4 b3 etc. 70 ...h2! The final piece ofthe jigsaw. The h-pawn is sacrificed so that the black king can reach e2. The finish could be 71 Kxh2 Kd3 72 Kg3 Ke2 73 Kf4 b4! 74 Ke4 b3 and ... b2 (including analysis from Ftacnik). NOTE: In bishop versus three pawn endings, deflections involving giving up pawns are very common weapons.
22
Bishop (and Pawns) versus Pawns
Example 20 Hjartarson-Ftacnik, Thessaloniki Olympiad 1984
Diagram 29 (W) Blockade on the dark squares
Diagram 30 (W) White should draw
In this second example (Diagram 29), Black's pawns are nearer to each other and are all on light squares. Here White is able to set up a dark-squared blockade and Black's pawns are too far back to allow an effective deflection. 44 Kg3 Kg5 45 Bd2+ Kh5 46 Bc3 f5 This move must be played in order to make any kind of progress. 47 Bd2 Kg6 48 Kf4 Kf6 49 Bc3+ Ke6 50 Bel 'h-'h To make any progress, Black must run with his king, but it's easy to see that 50 ... Kd5 51 Kxf5 c3 52 Bxc3 g3 53 Bel g2 54 Bf2 is a draw.
Example 21 Onischuk-Novikov, Washington 2002 (Diagram 30) With apologies to the players involved, this next example illustrates how difficult some of these endings can be in practice, even for strong grandmasters. Of course it's very possible that this game was influenced heavily by time pressure. I believe that White can just about hold the position with precise play. Let's see what happened. 62 Ba4 Kc4 Planning ... Kb4, but allowing White an immediate draw. Nevertheless, it seems that there is no way to make progress otherwise. For example, 62 ... Ke3 63 Bc6! (this position is a reciprocal zugzwang) 63 ... Ke2 64 Bb5+! Kd2! (64 ... Kf2 65 Kxg5! f3 66 Kf4 Kg2 67 Bc6 etc. draws) 65 Ba4! (65 Bc6? Ke3! and White is in zugzwang - one ofthe pawns must be allowed to advance) 65 ... Kc3 66 Bc6 Kb4 67 Kxg5 a4 68 Kxf4 a3 69 Bd5 with a draw. 63 Bd1! The only move to draw. 63 Bc6? also covers f3 and a4, but here the bishop can be harassed: 63 ... Kc5! 64 Be8 Kb4 65 Kxg5 f3 66 Bc6 f2 67 Bg2 a4 68 Kf4 a3 and Black wins.
23
Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames 63 ...Kc3! 63 ... Kd3 64 Kxg5 Ke3 65 Kg4 Ke4 66 Bf3+ Ke5 67 Bc6 is an easy draw. 64 Kxg5! So far White has played this endgame perfectly, but now things become more interesting. 64 ...Kd2 65 Bh5? The wrong bishop move. White can draw only with 65 Bf3! Ke3 66 Kg4 a4 67 Bd5! a3 (after 67 ... Kd4 White can stay on the a2-g8 diagonal with, say, 68 Bg8 - compare this to the note to White's 63rd move) 68 Bc4 f3 69 Kg3 f2 (there's nothing else) 70 Kg2 and White draws as the black king doesn't have access to e2: 70 ... a2 71 Bxa2 Ke2 72 Bc4+ etc. 65 ...Ke3 66 Kg4 66 Kf5 a4! wins for Black. 66 ... a4 67 Bf7 (Diagram 31)
Diagram 31 (8) Which pawn to push?
Diagram 32 (W) Black can draw
67 ... a3? Black returns the favour. 67 .. .f3! forces through the pawn to the 'last stop' and also the king supporting its promotion after 68 Kg3 f2 69 Kg2 (69 Bc4 Kd4! and crucially the bishop must leave the a2-g8 diagonal: 70 Ba6 a3 71 Kxf2 a2 and Black promotes) 69 ... Ke2 70 Bc4+ Kel followed by the deflecting ... a3-a2 etc. 68 Bc4! Now we are back to positions discussed in the note to White's 65th move. A draw is inevitable. 68 ...Ke4 Or 68 .. .f3 69 Kg3 f2 70 Kg2. 69 Ba2 Ke3 70 Bc4 Kd4 71 Ba2 Ke4 72 Bb3 f3 73 Kg3 Ke3 74 Bc4! "h-"h
Bishop versus four or more pawns As you would expect, four pawns normally overpower a lone bishop in an ending. The defending side does, however, have chances to draw if the majority of the pawns can be blockaded.
24
Bishop (and Pawns) versus Pawns
Example 22 Sziva-Peptan, Pula 1997 (Diagram. 32) In this example, White's main pawn phalanx (cS, d4, e5) is blockaded on the light squares and Black can deal easily enough with the extra pawn. 58Kg3 Or 58 g5 Be6! and White must lose one of her pawns immediately. 58 ...Kg5 59 Kf3 Bd5+ 60 Ke3 Kxg4 and the players agreed a draw. After 61 KdS Kf4! 62 c4 Bg8 6S KcS Ke4 White is losing her pawns. Once we get past four pawns the bishop usually has no chance. The next example, a Sam Loyd study, is very much an exception, but it does show the power of the blockade.
Example 23 Sam. Loyd
Diagram 33 (W)
Diagram 34 (W)
Draw!
White wins
(Diagram 33) Despite fighting against 8 (eight!) pawns, the lone bishop manages to draw. 1 Bd7+! Immediately setting up a light-squared blockade with 1 Bg2? allows 1...Kb5! followed by ... c6, ... d5, ... e4 etc. 1...Ka3 2 Be6! and Black can make no progress. His king is trapped (... Ka2 is always met by Kc2!), while pawn advances make no difference; for example 2 .. .fS!? S BxfS c5 4 Ba8 c4 5 Bb7! (but not 5 Kxc4? Kb2! and Black's king is back in play) 5... Ka2 6 Kc2 etc.
King, Bishop and Pawn versus King King, bishop and pawn win against the lone king in nearly every case bar a few
25
Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames exceptions and obviously also when the pawn can be captured immediately. The winning process in a typical case is fairly straightforward: the attacker uses zugzwang to force the lone pawn through to promotion.
Example 24 (Diagram 34) Funnily enough, if Black could simply pass instead of moving, White would never be able to make progress, as Black's king would be immovable on e4 - the bishop can never control this square. NOTE: A weakness of the lone bishop is that it can only ever control half the squares on the board.
Luckily for White, Black is forced to make moves. It's quite instructive how White can simply treat the position as a king and pawn ending, only using the bishop to force zugzwang at the very end. 1 Kd2 Ke5 2 Kd3 Kd5 3 e4+ Ke5 4 Ke3 KeS 5 Kd4 KdS S e5+ KeS 7 Ke4 Ke7 8 Kd5 Kd7 9 e6+ Ke7 10 Ke5 Ke8 11 Kd6 Kd8 12 e7+ Re8 13 Bb2! A simple waiting move. Now Black's king must give way. 13 ... Kf7 14 Kd7 and promotion is forced.
Bishop and Pawn versus Pawn Bishop and pawn against pawn is usually a win for the side with the bishop. When both pawns are passed, the defender has chances to draw if the attacker's king is out of the action, neither protecting its pawn nor preventing the opponent's pawn from progressing. In these cases the result usually depends on whether the bishop is able to both protect its own pawn and restrain the oppo· nent's pawn on one diagonal.
Example 25
Diagram 35 (W) The bishop rules on one diagonal
Diagram 36 (W) e1-a5 is the diagonal
(Diagram 35) White wins regardless of the position of his king. The bishop is perfectly placed on b2, where it both protects the e5·pawn and contains the a2-
26
Bishop (and Pawns) versus Pawns
pawn. Any attempt by Black's king to approach the a2-pawn is met by a triumphant march with the e-pawn. If the worst comes to the worst, the bishop can always sacrifice itself when the a-pawn promotes (although here Black won't even get that far). 1 Kg2 Kd5 2 Kf3 Ke6 Or 2 ... Kc4 3 e6! Kb3 4 Bg7 Kc2 5 e7 Kbl 6 e8Q and White wins easily. 3 Ke4 Ke7 4 Kd5 Kd7 5 e6+ Ke7 6 Ke5 Ke8 7 Kd6 KdS S e7+ KeS 9 Bc3! Again White simply plays a waiting move, leaving Black in zugzwang. 9 ... alQ 10 Bxal Kf7 11 Kd7
and White wins. NOTE: As we've already seen, a bishop that can perform several functions on one diagonal is a very powerful piece. It cannot be deflected and is usually able to play 'waiting moves'. This second attribute is very useful for zugzwang purposes.
Here are a couple of practical examples where the attacker uses this 'principle of one diagonal' as Muller and Lamprecht called it.
Example 26 Istratescu-Belkhodja, Nantes 2002 (Diagram 36) the natural-looking 53 Ke6? allows Black to draw after 53 ... Kb5! 54 Bd6 (the bishop doesn't want to be on this diagonal) 54 ... d4! (this pawn acts as a deflector) 55 Kd5 d3 56 Bf4 Kxb4. Instead White played the clever 53 Bf4! (53 Be5! and 53 Bg3! are similar) and Black resigned. One possible continuation would be 53 Bf4 Kb5 54 Bd2! (defending b4 and containing Black's pawn) 54 ... Kc4 55 Ke6 d4 56 Ke5 d3 57 Ke4 and it's clear that White is winning.
Example 27 Leko-Piket, Monaco (rapid) 2001
Diagram 37 (W) White incarcerates his bishop!
Diagram 38 (W) White draws
(Diagram 37) The winning method shown here by Leko is both paradoxical
27
Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames and very instructive. 55 Bh1! Other moves apart from the similar 55 Bg2! only draw. 55 ... g3 Black's only chance is to offer an exchange. 56 f31 Of course this is the only move, but it still makes quite an impression. White incarcerates his own bishop so that it both protects the f3-pawn and also contains the black pawn. Black would now be lost even if White's king were as far away as a8. 56 ... Ke3 Waiting around is no better: 56 ... Kf5 57 Kd4 Kf4 58 Kd3 Kf5 59 Ke3 Ke5 60 f4+ Kf5 61 Kf3 and White wins easily as we have seen before. 57 Kd5 1-0 Piket resigned on account of 57 ... Kf2 58 f4! Kg1 59 Be4 etc.
Example 28 Markowski-Van Wely, Polanica Zdroj 2000 (Diagram 38) Here the defender draws because as the bishop is forced to play on two diagonals; the e-pawn acts as a deflector. 60 e4! If it were Black's move, then ... Kg3! would contain the white pawn and win the game. 60 ... Kf3 61 e5 Ke4 62 e6 Kd5 63 e7 Bxe7 64 Kxa5 YO-YO
The Rook's Pawn with wrong ..coloured Bishop It's just one of life's little injustices that the team of king, bishop and pawn doesn't always win against a lone king. The defender is able to draw if all of the following criteria are met: 1) The pawn is on the rook's file (a- or h-file)
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2) The defending king controls the promoting square. 3) The bishop controls different coloured squares to that of the promoting square (i.e. it can never control the promoting square). NOTE: The promoting square is the square on which a pawn promotes.
Example 29 (Diagram 39) White cannot win despite the material advantage. Black's king will simply keep moving in and out of the h8-square and White can do nothing to prevent this. Any real attempts at progress from White only lead to stalemate. 1 Kf6 KgS 2 Bf5 KhS! 3 Kg5 3 h 7 is stalemate. 3... KgS 4 h7+ What else? 4 ... KhS
28
Bishop (and Pawns) versus Pawns
Diagram 39 (W) Draw!
Diagram 40 (B) Black wins
and Black will continue to oscillate with ... Kg7-h8 until White prevents ... Kg7 with Kf6, thus giving stalemate. NOTE: If Black had an extra pawn on, say, the d4-square, this would make no difference to the result. With his king stalemated, Black couid simply push this d-pawn until it is captured.
The attacker can win if he prevents the defending king from reaching the crucial corner.
Example 30 (Diagralll 40) Black's task is complicated by the fact that he still has to pick up White's pawn on h3, but despite this he can win with precise play. 82 ...Bd4! The only move, as White was threatening Kf2-g2. 83 Kfl Again threatening Kg2. Black's reply is forced. 83 h4 is met be 83 ... h5! with a probable transposition to the game after 84 Kfl Kf3. 83 ... Kf3! 84 h4! White's last chance lies with diverting Black's king with this pawn. 84 Kel Kg3 85 Kfl Kxh3 86 Ke2 Kg2 is easily winning for Black. 84 ...h5! The only move to win. White was threatening h4-h5, after which it would have been impossible to capture White's h-pawn without allowing the defending king into the corner. This particular type of ending (with blocked pawns on h5 and h6) has been analysed at great depth by endgame theoreticians (I believe Rauzer was the first) and I'm not going to reproduce the extensive theory of something with limited practical value. It's enough to know that the defending king tries to keep as close to the corner as possible and the attacker tries to push the defending king away using the king and bishop. Usually the defender is successful. 85 Kel Kg3
29
Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames
The crucial difference with the pawn on h4 is that Black can capture the pawn without allowing White's king back into the corner. 86 Kfl Bc5!
A decisive waiting move, after which White must give way. 86 ... Kxh4?? would be a blunder due to 87 Kg2!. 87 Ke2 Kxh4 88 Kf3 Or 88 Kfl Kg3! 89 Ke2 Kg2 and the pawn promotes. 88 ... Kh30-1 White resigned on account of 89 Kf4 (or 89 Ke2 Kh2) 89 ... h4 90 Kf3 Kh2 91 Kg4 h3 92 Kf3 Kgl etc.
Example 31 Nakamura-Aronian, Dos Hermanas (blitz) 2003
Diagram 41 (8) Extra pawn: no difference
Diagram 42 (8) 2 extra pawns: a big difference!
(Diagram 41) White's king is safely in the corner and a draw is assured. White's extra pawn on b4 makes no difference. It's true that Black can force White to advance this pawn to b5 by 'stalemating' White's king in the corner, but this is of no help to Black as capturing on b5 with the pawn results in an immediate stalemate. 61...Kc3 62 Kbl Of course the immediate 62 b5?? would be a terrible blunder: after 62 ... axb5 Black no longer has a rook's pawn and is easily winning, as in Example 24. 62 ... Bg6+ 63 Kal White must always go back the corner: 63 Kcl?? loses after 63 ... Kb3 64 Kd2 Kxb4 65 Kcl Kb3 etc. 63 ... Bd3 63 ... Kb3 (the only winning try) traps the white king and forces 64 b5, but then 64 ... axb5 is stalemate. 64 Ka2 Bc2 65 Ka1 v.-v. Black can make no progress. There are, however, occasions where 'stalemating' the king leads to success for the attacker.
30
Bishop (and Pawns) versus Pawns
Example 32 Short-Kasparov, Belgrade 1989 (Diagram. 42) White has an extra b-pawn and Kasparov expertly shows how this makes all the difference. 93 ... Kg2 94 Kd1 Kf3 95 Kd2 Ke4 Gradually White's king is forced into the corner, although of course in general this is where it wants to be. 96 Kc3 Ke3 97 Kc2 Ke2 98 Kc1 98 Kc3 Kd1! 99 Kb3 Kd2 100 Ka2 Kc2 101 Ka1 Bc4 102 b3 Bd3 is very similar to the game. 98 ...Bd3! 99 b3 Ke1 100 Kb2 Kd2 101 Ka1 Kc2 102 Ka2 Kc1 103 Ka1 The alternative is 103 Ka3, but then White's king is smoked out: 103 ... Kb1! 104 Ka4 Kb2 105 Ka5 Kxb3 106 Kb6 Kxb4 and Black wins. 103 ... Bb1! (Diagram. 43) 0-1
Diagram 43 (W) White must play b5
Diagram 44 (W) White draws easily
Here Short resigned. White is forced to play 104 b5 and following 104... axb5 we can see how White's extra b-pawn turns the game into a win for Black instead of a dr.aw by stalemate. White has the move 105 b4, giving Black time to release the stalemate with, say, 105 ... Be4, after which the win is easy: 106 Ka2 Kc2 107 Ka3 Kc3 108 Ka2 Kxb4 etc. The drawing nature ofthe rook's pawn and the wrong-coloured bishop is deceptively important in endgame play because of the many simplification options available for the defender. We will meet a few more examples throughout this book, but for the time being here's a reasonably straightforward case where the defender makes use of this ending.
Example 33 Kholmogordva-Obukhov, Perm 1997 (Diagram. 44) Despite being two pawns down White can draw comfortably by sacrificing his bishop for a pawn. 62 Rxf6+! Rxf6 63 Bxf6 Kxf6 64 Kf2!
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames The king gets back to the corner just in time. 64 ... a5 65 Ke3 a4 66 Kd2 a3 Here White has to be a little careful. 67 Ke2! v"-v,, 67 Kcl? loses to 67 ... Bd3, while 67 Kc3? Ba4! also wins for Black. After 67 Kc2 Bd3+!?, White draws with 6S Kb3!.
Fortresses The rook's pawn and the wrong· coloured bishop allows the defender to set up a special type offortress, highlighting the main problem ofthe lone bishop: it can only ever control half the squares on the chessboard. However, this is not the only fortress that exists in bishop endings. The diagrams in Example 34 illus· trate the main fortresses that are available to the defender:
Example 34 Different Fortresses
Diagram 45 (W)
Diagram 46 (W)
Draw
Draw
(Diagram. 45) White can make no progress, despite having the right coloured bishop; for example, 1 Ke6 (1 Kd7 is an immediate stalemate) 1...Ke8! (but certainly not 1...KaS?? 2 Kc7 mate!) 2 Be4 KbS 3 Bf5 Ka8 etc. Note that if White's pawn were on a5 instead of a6 then White would win easily by putting the bishop on the long hI-aS diagonal and playing Kb5-a6. White would use zugzwang to force the black king offbS and win the pawn. (Diagram. 46) Black's king will oscillate between bS and as and any attempt by White to progress leads to a draw. For example, 1 Kd7 KaS 2 Be6!? (a transparent trick; 2 Kc7 is stalemate) 2... KbS! (Not 2 ... bxc6??, losing to 3 Kc7!) 3 Be4 Ka8 4 Kd6 KbS 5 Bxb7 Kxb7 6 Ke5 Kb8 and Black draws. Note that Diagram 46 would also be a draw if a black pawn were added to a6 and a white pawn added to a5. For example, 1 Kd7 KaS 2 Bc6 KbS! 3 Bxb7 Kxb7 4 Kd6 KbS (even 4 ... KcS draws: 5 Kc6 KbS 6 b7 Ka7 7 Kc7 stalemate!) 5 Kc6 KcS 6 b7+ KbS etc.
32
Bishop (and Pawns) versus Pawns
Diagram 47 (W) Draw
Diagram 48 (W) Draw
(Diagralll 47) Black cannot be driven out of the squares c8, b8 or a8: 1 Bd6 Kd8 2 Be7+ Ke8! (2 ... Ke8?? loses to 3 Bg5!) 3 Kd6 Kb8 4 Kd7 Ka8 etc. (Diagralll 48) Again there is no way through: 1 Ke6 (1 Kd6 is stalemate) 1...Ke7 2 b8Q+ Kxb8 and we have reached the ending in Diagram 45. In the starting position, White would again win if his pawn were on a5 instead of a6 by moving his king to a6.
Diagram 49 (W) Draw
Diagram 50 (8) Black draws
(Diagra1ll49) This final example is a special case of king, bishop and pawn only drawing against the lone king despite the fact that it's a knight's pawn and not a rook's pawn. Black draws here due to the very unfortunate placing of White's bishop: 1 Ke5 Ka8! 2 Kb5 Kb7 3 Ke5 (advancing to a6 or c6 gives stalemate) 3 ... Ka8 4 Bb8!? (what else?) 4 ...Kxb8! with a drawn king and pawn ending: 5 Ke6 Ke8 6 b7+ Kb8 7 Kb6 stalemate. Now let's examine one or two cases from practical play.
33
Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames
Example 35 Short-Lputian, Batumi 1999 (Diagram 50) Black draws by forcing a fortress pawn structure before racing back to the corner with his king. 59 ... Ke4! Forcing White to think about the defence of his h-pawn. Immediately running back to the corner doesn't work as White's king has access to the all-important h6-square: 59 ... Ke6 60 Kd3 Kf7? (60 ... Kf5! still draws) 61 Ke4 Kg8 62 Kf5 Kf7 63 Kg5 Kg8 64 Kh6! Kh8 65 Be5+ Kg8 66 Bd4! and White wins. 60 h6 Forced, as after 60 Kd2 Kf5! White loses the h-pawn. 60 ...Kf5! Now the king rushes back and we reach a fortress like the one in Diagram 45. 61 Ba7 Kg6 62 Be3 Kf7 63 Kd3 Kg8 64 Ke4 Kf8 65 Kf5 Kf7 66 Bd4 Kg8 67 Kf6 KfS But not 67 ... Kh8?? 68 Kf7 mate! 68 Be5+ Kg8 69 Ke7 Kh8 70 Kf8 stalemate ('12-'12)
Example 36 Kilgus-Watzka, Fuerstenfeld 2003
Diagram 51 (8) Black can draw
Diagram 52 (W) One move to win
(Diagram 51) If Black's king could reach the a8-square then he would have no trouble drawing, as White has a rook's pawn and a wrong-coloured bishop. At the moment White's bishop prevents this, but Black has another resource based on the fortress seen in Diagram 49. 53 ... Ke7?! The quickest way to draw is with the initially surprising 53 ... b5! (threatening ... Kb7) 54 a6 (54 axb6 Kb7 is the fortress seen in Diagram 49) 54 ... b4! (deflecting the bishop) 55 Kf5 b3! 56 Bd4 Kb8 and the king reaches the corner. 54 Kf6 Ke8?
34
Bishop (and Pawns) versus Pawns This loses. Black can draw with 54 ... b5! 55 a6 b4! 56 Ke5 b3! 57 Bd4 Kb8 etc. 55 Ke6? White returns the favour and by doing so misses out on a winning chance: 55 Ke5! (now the king can take care of a running b-pawn) 55 ... Kd7 (55 ...b5 56 a6! b4 57 Kd4! is winning for White: 57 ... Kc7 58 Kc4 Kc6 59 Kxb4 Kc7 60 Kc5 Kc8 61 Kc6 etc.) 56 Kd5 Kc7 (Diagram 52) 57 Kd4!! (a very precise move; 57 Kc5 b6+! and 57 Kc4 b5+! both lead to draws) 57 ... Kc8 58 Kc5 Kc7 59 Kb5 Kd7 60 Bb8! Kc8 61 Bf4 Kd7 62 Kb6 Kc8 63 Be5 and Black is in zugzwang. 55 ...Ke7? Again 55 ... b5! draws. 56 Ke7? 56 Kd5! wins after 56 ... b5 57 a6! etc. 56 ...Ke8 57 Kd6 b5! Finally Black makes the right move. 58 axb6 Or 58 a6 b4! 59 Kc6 b3 60 Bd4 Kb8 etc. 58 ...Kb7 v"-v,,
Example 37 Degraeve-A.Sokolov, Bethune 2000
Diagram 53 (W) White wins
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Diagram 54 (B) Black edges in
(Diagram 53) White has a choice to make: to grab the pawn on h5 or activate the king. In the game he made the incorrect decision and following 41 Bxh5? Kh4! 42 Bd1 Kg5 43 Bc2 Kf6 44 Kb5 Ke7 45 Ka6 Kf8 46 Bb3 Ke7 Black had set up a fortress and the players agreed a draw. NOTE: An extra pawn for the defender not connected to the fortress (in this case Black's pawn on a7) makes no difference to the result. Instead of capturing on h5, White could have won with an active king march. 41 Kd5! h4
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames Black cannot get back in time: 41...Kh4 42 Ke6 Kg5 43 Kf7 Kh6 44 Bxh5! a5 45 Bd1 and Black is in zugzwang. 42 Ke6Kg3 White is winning the race. The problem for Black is that White queens on g8 with check. 43 Kf7 h3 44 Bc4 h2 45 Bd5 a5 46 Kxg7 a4 47 Kf7 a3 48 g7 a2 49 g8Q+ and White wins.
Bishop and Pawn versus Two Pawns Here we'll look at a variety of different endings with bishop and one pawn versus two pawns.
No passed pawns When both kings are in play and the defender cannot immediately exchange pawns, the attacker has very good winning chances. My database revealed a win:draw:loss ratio for connected pawns of 58%:42%:0%.
Example 38 Kupreichik-Chekhov, Koszalin 1999 (Diagram 54) Black wins by slowly edging his king in, using waiting moves with his bishop to force zugzwang, while avoiding White's attempts at simplification. 47 ...Bc2 48 Kg3 Or 48 h4 (threatening to simplify with g5+!) 48 ... Ke6! 49 g5 (49 h5 Kf6 and Black's king will reach g5) 49 ... h5! 50 Kf3 Kf5 51 Kg3 Ke4 52 g6 Ke3 53 g7 Bb3 with a typical winning position: the bishop takes care of the g-pawn while the king rounds up the h4-pawn. 48 ...Ke5 49 Kf3 After 49 g5!? Black plays 49 ... h5! (not 49 ... hxg5? 50 h4!) 50 Kh4 Bg6 51 Kg3 Ke4 52 h4 Ke3 53 Kg2 Kf4 54 Kh3 Kf3 55 Kh2 Kg4 etc. 49 ...Be4+ Moving onto another diagonal in order to take the f3-square away from White's king. 50Kg3 Or 50 Ke3 Bc6 51 h4 (otherwise White's king would have to give way) 51...Be4 52 g5 h5! etc. 50 ... Bd5 51 Kh4 Again 51 g5 is met by 51...h5!. 51...Bf7! Kh5 must be prevented. 52 Kg3 Ke4 53 h4 Bb3 Black must still be careful: 53 ... Ke3? allows White to draw after 54 h5! (threatening g5) 54 ... Be6 55 g5! hxg5 56 h6! Bf5 57 h7 Bxh7 58 Kg4. 54 h5 (Diagram 55) 54 g5 h5 55 g6 Ke3 wins in typical fashion.
36
Bishop (and Pawns) versus Pawns
Diagram 55 (8) One move to win
Diagram 56 (W) White draws
54 ...Ke5! The only move to win - Black's king is heading for g5 via f6. Conversely, 54 ... Be6?? allows a draw after 55 g5! bxg5 56 h6 Bf5 57 h7 Bxh7 58 Kg4. 55 g5 Or 55 Kh4 Kf6 56 Kg3 Kg5 57 Kf3 Be6 etc. 55 ...hxg5 56 h6 Be2 0-1 57 Kg4 is met by 57 ... Kf6.
Example 39 Rodriguez Cespedes-Day, Thessaloniki Olympiad 1984 In Diagram 56 the pawns are further advanced and this allows White to draw. 44 f5 BfS Mter 44 ... Ke5 White draws with 45 f6! Bf8 (or 45 ... Bxf6 46 gxf6 Kxf6 47 Kf4!) 46 g6! fxg6 47 Kg5. 45Kh5 Threatening f6 followed by g6. Black has one king move that prevents this. 45 ... Ke5 46 Kg4 Kd5 Or 46 ... Ke4 47 f6! Ke5 48 g6! fxg6 49 Kg5. 46 ... Bb4 47 g6! draws immediately. 47 Kf4 1),-1), Black can make no progress. Note that if the start position is moved down a rank, then Black wins; for example, 1 f4 Bf7 2 Kh4 Ke4 3 Kg3 Bb3! 4 g5 f5! etc.
Example 40 V.Milov-Lorseheid, Amsterdam 2000 (Diagram 57) Sometimes the winning process involves a bishop sacrifice. 55 ...Ka5 Planning ... a6. The immediate 55 ... a6 loses to 56 Kxb6! axb5 57 axb5. 56 Kb7! a6 57 Ke6! 1-0 57 ... axb5 58 axb5 is a winning king and pawn ending.
37
Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames
Diagram 57 (8) White wins
Diagram 58 (8) Black wins
Example 41 G.Horvath-Triehkov, Balatonbereny 1995 (Diagram 58) In this example the black bishop acts as a 'super pawn', nestling on the h4-square, where it protects the g5-pawn, is protected itself and prevents h4. The game then resembles a king and pawn ending, with Black of course having the option of waiting moves. At the moment White threatens h4. 57 ... Bf2! 58 Kf5 Other attempts to keep .out Black's king also fail; for example, 58 Kd5 Kb6! 59 Kc4 Kc6 60 Kd3 Kd5 61 Ke2 Bg3! 62 Kd3 Ke5 63 Ke3 Bh4 64 Kf3 Kd4 etc. 58 ...Bh4 59 Ke5 Ke6 60 Ke6 Ke5 61 Ke5 Ke4 62 Ke4 Continuing to block the king's path. 62 ...Ke3 63 Ke3 Ke2 64 Ke2 Ke1! 0-1 Finally White is no longer able to keep the opposition. White resigned due to 65 Ke3 Kd1 66 Kf3 Ke1 67 Kg2 Ke2 68 Kg1 Kf3 69 Kh2 Kf2 70 Kh1 Kg3 etc.
Diagram 59 (8) Black wins
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Diagram 60 (W) Forcing a concession
Bishop (and Pawns) versus Pawns
Example 42 Sveshnikov-Palatnik, Cheliabinsk 1974 (Diagram 59) Black's task is difficult because he has to deal with the threat of g4-g5 followed by h5!, lumbering Black with a rook's pawn with a wrongcoloured bishop. 59 ...Be1 Preventing g4 for the time being. 60 Kf4 Threatening h5. The immediate 60 h5 is met by 60 ... g5!. 60 ... Kh6! This is a better square for the king than f6, as now g4-g5 can be met by ... Kh5!, obviously preventing h5. 61 Kg4 Ba5 62 Kh3 White must stay protecting the h4-pawn with his king. 62 Kf4?! allows Black to win quickly by sacrificing his bishop for two pawns: 62 ... Kh5 63 Kf3 Bd8! 64 Kf4 Bxh4! 65 gxh4 Kxh4 etc. 62 ... Bh4 63 Kg4 Bel So that the bishop is in the ideal position after White plays g4. 64 Kh3 Kh5! (Diagram 60) Finally forcing a concession from White. 65 g4+ Kh6 66 h5 g5 Now the bishop takes care of the h-pawn while Black's king hones in on White's g-pawn. 67 Kg2 Kg7 68 Kf3 Kf6 69 Ke4 Ke6 70 Kd4 Bg3 0-1 White resigned because his king will gradually be forced back: 71 Ke4 Be5 72 Kd3 Kd5 73 Ke3 Bd4+ 74 Kf3 Ke5 75 h6 Kd5 76 h7 Bg7 77 Ke3 Ke5 etc.
Example 43 Miguel Lago-Hernandez Estevez, Mondariz 1995 When the pawns are split, this makes it even more difficult for the defender.
Diagram 61 (8) Black wins
Diagram 62 (8) Black wins easily
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames In Diagram 61 Black just has to be aware of one stalemate trick. However, he can again win by sacrificing his bishop for two pawns. 69 ...Kf7 70 Kh5 Kf6 71 Kg4 Bd2! 72 Kh5 Bel! 0-1 But not 72 ... Kxf5?, which gives stalemate. After 72 ... Be1! White resigned on account of 73 Kg4 Bxh4! 74 Kxh4 Kxf5 with a winning king and pawn ending: 75 Kg3 Kg5 76 Kf3 Kh4 77 Kg2 Kg4 78 Kf2 Kh3 79 Kg1 Kg3 80 Kh1 g5 81 Kg1 g4 82 Kf1 Kh2 83 Kf2 g3+ etc.
All pawns are passed Naturally with passed pawns the results are much more decisive. Against connected pawns the win:draw:loss ratio was 56%:33%: 11 %, while for split pawns it was 53%:33%:14%.
Example 44 Larsen-G.Kuzmin, BledIPortoroz 1979 (Diagram 62) We'll begin with a typical winning technique for the player with the bishop. The idea is that the bishop contains the enemy pawns while the king supports its own pawn. 79 ... Kg3! 80 b4 Bd4 Of course not 80 ... Bxb4?? 81 Ke3 and Black loses his pawn. 81 b5 Kf4 82 a5 Bc3 Forcing the pawns onto light squares. 83 a6 Bd4 0-1 The game could conclude 84 Kd2 Bb6 85 Ke2 e3 86 Ke1 Kf3 87 Kf1 e2+ 88 Ke1 Ba5 mate!
Example 45 King-Rogers, British League 1997
Diagram 63 (W) White draws
Diagram 64 (W) A race is on
In Diagram 63 White's pawns are already far advanced and this certainly helps him. Black eventually arranges to support the d5-pawn with his king, but then
40
Bishop (and Pawns) versus Pawns
o
White's pawns act as suitable deflectors. 69 Ke3! White is careful not to move forward with a pawn too quickly, as this would allow Black's king in: 69 f6+? Ke6 70 Ke3 Bb5! 71 Kd4 Be8! and White loses. NOTE: Two pawns abreast act as a very good barrier against an opposing king.
69 ...Bfl 70 Kd4 Bg2 71 Kc5 The onus is on Black to make progress - White will simply oscillate his king between d4 and c5. 71...Bf3 72 Kd4 Be4 73 Kc5 Kd7 Black's king eyes the c6-square in order to protect d5. 74 Kd4! It's still too early to push the passed pawns: 74 e6+? Ke7 75 Kd4 Kd6! and White loses everything. 74 ... Kc6 75 f6! Finally a pawn moves, but only after Black's king has moved away to c6. 75 ... Kd7 76 f7! Ke7 and here the players agreed a draw. After 77 e6! it's easy to see that Black cannot capture White's pawns without dropping his own pawn.
Example 46 Epishin-Buchal, Groningen 1998 In some cases, as in Diagram 64, where the kings support their pawns but don't block the opposing pawns, the outcome can simply depend on how fast these pawns are running down the board. 62 Kf6 In fact White can just about get back in time with his king to stop the black pawns, but the result is still a draw: 62 Kd4 h4! (one false move and Black loses: 62 ... Kf4? 63 e5 Kf5 64 Bh3+ etc.) 63 Ke3 h3 64 Be2+ Kg5 65 Bd1 g2! (not 65 ... h2? 66 Bf3! Kh4 67 Bg2 Kg4 68 e5 Kf5 69 Kd4 Ke6 70 Ke4 and Black loses) 66 Kf2 Kf4 67 Bc2 Ke5! and White can make no progress. 62 ... h4 Now it is simply a race and on this occasion the players promote at the same time, leading to an obvious draw. 63 e5 h3 64 e6 g2 65 Bxg2 hxg2 66 e7 glQ 67 e8Q Qd4+ 68 Kf7 Qf4+ 69 Kg7 Qg5+ 70 Qg6 Qxg6+ 71 Kxg6 'i.2-'i.2
Example 47 Ibragimov-Rublevsky, Elista 1998 In Diagram 65 Black has a rook's pawn with a wrong-coloured bishop, but with his next move he can prevent White's king from reaching the corner. One would think that White's two connected passed pawns would give him drawing chances on this occasion, but this is simply not the case. It's just another example of the king and bishop combining very well, with the bishop being able to influence both the containment of White's passed pawns and the shepherding home of its own pawn.
41
Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames
Diagram 65 (8) Black wins
Diagram 66 (8) White wins
55 ... Kh2! Otherwise White would play Kg1 with an easy draw. 56 e5 h5 57 f4 h4! Black doesn't even have to rush to contain the pawns. 58 f5 Bb2 Black could even afford to allow the pawns to move further up the board: 58 ... h3 59 f6 Bb2! 60 f7 Ba3 61 Kf2 Bc5+ 62 Kf1 Kh1 63 e6 Kh2 and White is in a typical zugzwang - his king must give way. 64 e7 Bxe7 65 Kf2 Bc5+ 66 Kf1 Kh1 only prolongs the agony. 59 e6 Or 59 f6 Bxe5 60 f7 Bd6 61 Kf2 h3 62 Kf1 Bc5 etc. 59 ... Bf6 60 Kf2 h3 61 Kf1 Bh4! 0-1 White's king must give way. When the pawns are split they are more difficult to defend but on the other hand the bishop may not be able to contain them on one diagonal. In practice the side with the split pawns has feared slightly better than when they are connected.
Example 48 Malaniuk-Palatnik, Kherson 1989 In Diagram 66 the bishop does a very effective job on one diagonal (b1-h7): it contains Black's b-pawn and prevents Black's king reaching key squares such as g6 (defending the h6-pawn) and e4 (attacking the e3-pawn). White has a plan of rounding up the h7-pawn with his king, using a typical zugzwang idea.
o 42
59 ... Kf6 60 Kf4 b3 61 Bd3 h5 It makes no difference if Black keeps his pawn on h6: 61...b2 62 Bb1 Kg7 63 Kg4 Kf7 64 Kh5 Kg7 65 Bc2 and Black is in zugzwang. NOTE: The king and bishop team very often uses zugzwang against the lone king.
Bishop (and Pawns) versus Pawns 62 Bc4 Forcing ... b2 before going back onto its ideal diagonal. 62 ... b2 63 Bd3 1-0 The h-pawn is lost and Black has no hope; for example, 63 Bd3 h4 64 Kg4 Ke5 65 Kxh4 Kd5 66 Kg4 etc.
Example 49 Epishin-Torre, Leuven 2003
Diagram 67 (W) White should win
Diagram 68 (W) Should be drawn
At first sight Diagram 67 looks like an easy win for White: Black's pawns look easy to restrain. However, White has to be a bit careful, and in practice anything can happen ... 54 Ke3! The only move to win. White's king must get into the promotion square of the hpawn. 54 ...h3 The best chance. After 54 ... Ke7 55 Kf4 Kf6 56 Bd5 h3 57 Kg3 White wins easily. 55 Kf2 55 Kf3 is just as good. 55 ...f4 Forced, as White was simply threatening Kg3. 56 Kf3 56 Kg1?, intending Kh2, is a mistake, after which Black can escape with a draw with 56 .. .f3!. The pawns on f3 and h3 take care ofthemselves: Kh2 is met by ...f2-flQ, deflecting the bishop. 56 ...Ke7 Black has to stay attacking the e6-pawn. 56 ... Kc6 allows White's bishop to relocate onto a better diagonal: 57 Bd3! Kd6 58 Bf5! h2 59 Kg2 with an easy win. 57 Bd5?! This move doesn't yet throwaway the win, but it is an indication that White
43
Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames hasn't found the winning plan. White needs to 'lose a move' with his bishop in order to put Black into zugzwang. This can be achieved by 57 Ba2 Kd6 (57 ... Kf6 58 Bd5 is similar) 58 Bd5! (zugzwang) 58 ... Ke7 59 Kxf4 and White wins after 59 ... Kf6 (or 59 ... h2 60 Ke5) 60 Kg3. 57 ...Kf6 58 Kxf4?? Blowing the win. White can still revert back to the plan discussed in the previ0us note with 58 Ba2! Ke7 59 Bb3 Kd6 60 Bd5!. 58 ...h2 Of course! The bishop will be deflected by ...h1Q. 59 Kg3 "h-"h
Endings with more Pawns In this section we'll look at a variety bishop and pawns versus pawns endings. We'll begin with bishop and pawn against three pawns, which produced a win:draw:loss ratio of 35%:46%:19% - the draw being the favourite result. If the pawns are all on the same side of the board and the kings are supporting them then a draw is a very likely outcome.
Example 50
o 44
Stefanov-Manolov, Pamporovo 2001 Black should have no problems drawing the position shown in Diagram 68: White cannot make any progress without allowing a pawn exchange. 54Bd8 g4 It's perfectly natural to seek a pawn exchange, but it's not essential. Bllj.ck can also oscillate his king between f5 and g6, waiting for White to commit his king before lunging with his pawns: 54 ... Kf5 55 Ke2 Kg6 56 Kd3 (White's king tries to edge in; 56 Kf3 g4+! draws immediately) 56 ... Kf5 57 Be7 and now 57 ... h4! followed by ... g4 draws instantly. 55h4 Of course this is the only chance to play for the win. 55 ... g3+? A mistake which throws away an easy half-point. There's no need to move a pawn forward when the two pawns abreast provide such an effective barrier against White's king. It's true that White can eventually force Black to move a pawn forward, but only after committing his king to an inferior square. Before White does this, Black should be content to simply oscillate his king between e4 and f5: 55 ... Kf5 56 Ke2 Ke4 57 Bc7 Kf5 58 Kd3 (now Black must move a pawn, otherwise he would have to give way with his king) 58 ... g3! 59 Ke2 Kg4 and now it's actually White who must play accurately to draw. Keeping hold of the h-pawn with 60 Bd8?? loses after 60 ...f3+ 61 Kf1 Kh3! 62 Kg1 f2+ 63 Kf1 g2+ 64 Kxf2 Kh2 65 Bc7+ KhI. NOTE: Patience is an important quality in the endgame.
56 Kg2Ke3 Black's position looks threatening, but ... 57 Bb6+! Ke4 Or 57 ... Ke2 58 Ba7 Kd3 59 Kf3 and White's sudden access to the f3-square
Bishop (and Pawns) versus Pawns
proves to be decisive. 58 Ba7! A simple waiting move that secures the f3-square for the king. 58 ... Kf5 After 58 ... Ke5 59 Kf3 Kf5 60 Bb6 Black is in zugzwang, 60 ... Ke5 being met by 61 Bc7+ and Bxf4. 59 Kf3 How Black wished he still had that pawn on g4! 59 ... g2 60 Bf2 60 Kxg2 Kg4 61 Bf2 is also winning: 61...£3+ 62 Kh2 Kf4 63 Kh3 Kf5 64 Kg3 Ke4 65 Bb6 etc. 60 ... Ke51-0 Black resigned without waiting for 61 Kxg2 Ke4 62 Bb6 f3+ 63 Kg3, for example.
Example 51 Arkell-Michalet, Uzes 1989
Diagram 69 (8) White wins
Diagram 70 (W) White wins
In Diagram 69 White wins due to both the dominant position of his king and the possibility of a bishop sacrifice. 70 ... f5 Guaranteeing simplification, but ... Other moves also lose: a) 70 ... e5 cripples Black's pawn structure: 71 Be4 f6 72 Bf5 and Black is in zugzwang. b) 70 ... Kg8 71 Kf6 Kf8 72 Ba4! (72 Kxg5?? throws away the win by allowing 72 .. .£5!, after which 73 Bxf5 exf5 74 Kxf5 Kf7 keeps the opposition and draws: 75 g5 Kg7 76 g6 Kg8 77 Kf6 Kf8 78 g7+ Kg8 etc.) 72 ... Kg8 73 Be8! and Black loses all his pawns. 71 Bxf5! WARNING: This type of bishop sacrifice is easy to miss.
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames 71 ... exf5 72 gxf5 g4 73 f6+ Kh7 74 f7 1-0 Another common ending is bishop and two pawns versus three pawns. When the pawns are all on the same side ofthe board and the kings are in fairly 'normal' positions (i.e. supporting the pawns), the side with the bishop normally wins. Here I want to look at a couple of examples where the winning process is problematic due to the presence of a rook's pawn with a wrong-coloured bishop.
Example 52 Hracek-Lutz, Bad Homburg 1997 (Diagram 70) White has to realise that it's his g-pawn which wins the game for him and under no circumstances must this be exchanged (although see White's final move of the game!). I found Hracek's refusal to move any pawns very instructive here - it's more difficult for an opponent to exchange pawns when they are held back. TIP: In general, if you want to avoid pawn exchanges, hold your pawns back. The further up the board they are, the easier it is for an opponent to force exchanges. 49 Bf7 Kf4 50 Kf2 g6 51 Be8 g5 Black's pawns move up the board in search of exchanges. If Black waits with 51...Ke4 then White replies 52 Bc6+ Kf4 5S BfS!, after which Black must make a pawn move or give up some ground with his king. The point is that at some stage Black will run out of pawn moves. 52 Bf7 Note the unhurried approach to White's play. 52 ... Ke4 53 Bh5 Kf4 54 Bf3! Ke5 A concession, for sure, but alternatives also lose: a) 54 ... g4 (the most logical attempt; Black offers an exchange) 55 gS+! Kg5 56 h4+! (avoiding simplification; 56 hxg4?? fxg4 57 Be4 h5 and ... h4 draws) 56 ... Kf6 57 Bb7 Ke5 58 KeS! and Black will eventually run into the old enemy 'zugzwang': 58 ... h6 59 Ba8 h5 60 Bb7 Kf6 61 Kf4 Ke6 62 Bc8+ etc. b) 54 ... h6 (the most resilient, but White has a number of ways to win, one being ... ) 55 Bd1 Ke4 (55 ... g4 56 gS+ Kg5 57 h4+ is similar to note 'a') 56 Bh5! Kf4 57 Bg6! g4 (now 57 ... Ke4 is met by the obvious 58 g4!) 58 h4! gS+ (or 58 ... Ke5 59 KeS f4+ 60 KdS f3 61 gS! Kf6 62 Be8 Ke5 6S KeS Kf5 64 Kd4 etc.) 59 Ke2 Kg4 60 h5 f4 61 Be4! (61 Be8? f3+! 62 gxf3+?? KhS would end in an embarrassing loss for White) 61...Kxh5 (Black has won a pawn but at a cost of crippling his own pawns) 62 KfS Kg5 6S Bb7 Kf5 64 Bc8+ Kg5 65 BhS and Black will lose all his pawns via zugzwang. 55 Ke3 Ke6 56 Kd4 Kd6 57 Bd1 White continues to prevent Black from playing the plan of ... h5-h4 followed by ... g4. 57 Bd5 also wins but White has to be careful: 57 ...h5 58 Bf7 h4 59 Bd5 g4 60 hxg4 fxg4 (threatening ... gS followed by ... hS, lumbering White with a rook's pawn) 61 Bb7! Kc7 (61...gS 62 Bc8!) 62 Be4 Kd6 6S Bf5 hS 64 gS h2 65 Be4 Ke6 66 Bh1 Kf5 67 Kd5 and White eventually wins the g-pawn: 67 ... Kf6 68 Ke4 Kg5 69 Ke5 Kg6 70 Kf4 Kh5 71 Kf5 etc. 57 ... Ke6 58 Bh5 Kd6 59 Bf7! h6 Or 59 ... Ke7 60 Bg8! followed by Ke5.
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Bishop (and Pawns) versus Pawns 60 Bg6 Ke6 61 g4! (Diagram. 71) 1-0
Diagram 71 (8) An ironic exchange offer
Diagram 72 (W) Draw!
A paradoxical conclusion to the game: it's White who offers a pawn exchange! However, after 61...fxg4 62 hxg4 Kf6 63 Bh5 Ke6 64 Ke4 it's an easy win for White, as we saw in Example 41.
Example 53 Shamkovich-Helmers, Reykjavik 1982 (Diagram. 72) White's king is more actively placed than in Example 52, but despite this White is only able to draw. The advanced positions of White's pawns allow Black too many exchange possibilities. 55 Kf3 It seems strange to retreat, but White is already forced to deal with concrete simplification threats; for example, 55 Ke5 f6+! 56 Ke6 g5! 57 hxg5 fxg5 58 Kf5 Kh6 59 Kf6 g4! 60 Be8 h4 61 gxh4 Kh7, or 55 Bc6 Kh6 (preparing .. .f6 and ... g5) 56 Ke5 g5 57 hxg5+ Kxg5 58 Bd7 h4 59 g4 h3. 55 ...Kh6 56 Kg2!? Now White is prepared to meet 56 ... g5? with 57 Kh3 (so that the king can recapture on h4, leaving White with a g-pawn) 57 ... Kg6 58 Be8! Kf6 59 hxg5+ Kxg5 60 Bxf7 h4 61 g4 and White wins. Unfortunately, with White's king on the passive h3-square, there are no threats so Black can just sit and wait. 56 ...Kg7 57 Kf2 Kh6 58 Kg2 Kg7 59 Be8 Kf8 60 Bc6 Kg7 61 Kf3 Kh6 62 Be8 Finally White tries something different, but now Black can simplify. 62 ... £663 Kf4 Or 63 Kg2 g5 and now: a) 64 Kh3 f5! followed by .. .f4!. b) 64 hxg5+ Kxg5! (64 ...fxg5? loses to 65 Kh3 - see Example 42) 65 Kh3 f5 followed by ...h4. 63 ... g5+ 64 hxg5+ fxg5+ 65 Kf5 g4 Threatening ... h4.
47
Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames 66 Bxh5 Reaching a pawn-up, but drawn, king and pawn ending. 66 ... Kxh5 67 Kf4 Kh6! '1.-'1. After 68 Kxg4 Kg6! Black keeps the opposition and draws.
Pawns on both sides Finally in this chapter we'll take a brief look at endings containing more pawns on both sides of the board. The first case sees a typical exploitation of the extra pIece.
Example 54 Hrese-Farago, Linz 1988
Diagram 73 (8) Black wins
Diagram 74 (W) White should win
(Diagram 73) Black shouldn't fall into the temptation of running after the bpawn with his king, abandoning his pawns on the kingside; for example, 49 ... Ke6?! 50 f3 Kd6? 51 Kxf5 Bf7 (to prevent Kg6) 52 g4 Kc6 53 Ke5 Kxb6 54 Kd6! and with Ke7-f8 in the air, White is not going to lose this position. The point is that Black can ignore the pawn on b7 (the bishop takes care of this) and play this position rather like a king an pawn ending on the kingside with two massive bonuses: 1) There always the option of a waiting move with the bishop when required. 2) Even stuck on the long diagonal, the bishop covers crucial squares such as e4 andf3. These two advantages alone are enough to promise Black victory 49 ... Bb7! Black waits for White to run out of moves. 49 ... Bxg2?? loses to 50 f31 and b7. 50 f3 BeS 51 g3 Bb7 52 g4 fxg4 53 fxg4 Or 53 Kxg4 Ke5 54 f4+ Kf6 55 Kg3 Kf5 and White loses his kingside pawns. 53 ... Bc6 Again Black passes. Now White is in zugzwang and must give way. 54 Kg3 Kg5 55 Kh3 Bb7
48
Bishop (and Pawns) versus Pawns
Okay, so here Black actually uses his bishop to win the g4-pawn - on this occasion it can temporarily leave the long diagonal. But Black can also win by treating the kingside as a king and pawn ending: 55 ... Kf4 56 Kh4 Kf3 57 Kh3 Bb7! (waiting) 58 Kh4 Kg2! 59 g5 Kf3 60 gxh6 gxh6 61 Kh3 Kf4 62 Kh4 Bc6 (waiting) 63 Kh3 Kg5 and Black wins. This method is important as it would be Black's only way to win if the bishop were not able to leave the long diagonal (if White had a pawn on a7 as opposed to b6, for example). 56 Kg3 Be8 0-1
Example 55 Misanovie-Pihajlie, Split 1989 (Diagram 74) With White's bishop ready to round up Black's h7-pawn, and Black's queenside pawns storming down the board, time is ofthe essence. In situations like this, it's simply calculation that's the most important thing. 44 Bxg6? White wins with 44 Bg8!, which not only attacks h7, but crucially prevents ... a3 for a move: 44 ... c4 (or 44 ... Kb4 45 Bxh7 a3 46 Bg8 Kc3 47 h7 and 47 ... a2 48 h8Q+ is check) 45 Bxh7 a3 46 Bg8 a2 47 Bxc4+! (perhaps White had missed this resource; 47 Kb2?? loses to 47 ... c3+!) 47 ... Kxc4 48 Kb2 Kd3 49 h7 a1Q+ 50 Kxa1 Kc2 51 h8Q and everything has worked out perfectly for White - the queen prevents ... b2+. 44 ... a3! Of course! 45 Bxf5 Now 45 Bxh7loses after 45 ... a2! 46 Kb2 c4 47 Bg8 c3+!. 45 ... a2 46 Bd3+ Or 46 Kb2 c4! and ... c3+. 46 ... e4 47 Bxe4+ Kxe4 48 Kb2 Kd3 0-1 Black's next move is ... a1Q+ followed by ... Kc2.
Example 56 Venegas Ocampo-Reprintsev, Internet (blitz) 2003
Diagram 75 (W) An armada of pawns
Diagram 76 How should White break through?
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames (Diagram 75) We'll finish this chapter with a slightly humorous example in which White has managed to keep all eight (!) of his pawns into a bishop ending (all the more impressive considering it's a blitz game). Initial impressions suggest that the eight pawns should outweigh the bishop and four pawns. And this argument is correct, although the game continuation (which I hasten to add must have been heavily influenced by the stringent time restrictions) takes some interesting turns. Once again calculation is the key. 38 f5 Ka5 The best chance. 39 e6 fxe6 Or 39 ... Be7 40 g4! and now: a) 40 ... Bxh4 41 f4 Be7 42 g5 Kxa4 43 £6 and White wins. b) 40 .. .£6 41 f4 h6 42 g5! fxg5 (42 ... hxg5 43 h5!) 43 fxg5 hxg5 44 h5 Kxa4 45 h6 Kxb5 46 h7 B£6 47 e7 and White queens. 40 dxe6 Be7 White was threatening £6. 41 f4?! This loses a tempo, although at the moment this doesn't change the result. White can win more directly with 41 g4! Bxh4 42 f4 Be7 43 g5 and f6. 41...Kxa4 42 g4 Kxb5 43 g5 Ke6 (Diagram 76) 44 g6?? After this move Black miraculously achieves a blockade of the white pawns. 44 f6! still wins; for example, 44 ... Kd6 45 fxe7 Kxe7 46 f5 a5 47 h5 a4 48 g6 hxg6 49 h6! Kf6 50 h7 Kg7 51 e7, or 44 ... Bd8 45 f7! Be7 46 h5 Kd6 47 g6 hxg6 48h6!. 44 ...hxg6 45 fxg6 Bf6 46 h5 Kd6 47 f5 a5?? He who blunders last ... After 47 ... Bg7 it's Black who wins: 48 Kf3 Ke7 49 Ke4 (49 Kg4 Bh6!) 49 ... a5 50 Kd3 a4 51 Kc2 c5 52 Kbl c4 etc. 48h6 Now the pawns cannot be stopped. 48 ... a4 49 g7 a3 50 g8Q a2 51 Qf8+ Ke5 52 Qe5+ 1-0
50
Bishop (and Pawns) versus Pawns
Try it Yourself
Exercise 1
Exercise 2
Exercise 1 (Black to play) Can Black prevent White's a-pawn from promoting? Exercise 2 (Black to play) Which move wins for Black: (a) 50 ... f4, (b) 50 ... b3 or (c) either move.
Exercise 3
Exercise 4
Exercise 3 (Black to play) Only one move wins for Black. Can you spot it? Exercise 4 (Black to play) A tricky one, this. Black has one move that secures the draw. Can you spot it?
51
Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames
Exercise 5
Exercise 6
Exercise 5 (White to play) How can White exploit his two-pawn advantage in this opposite-coloured bishops ending? Exercise 6 (Black to play) Here Black tried the desperate-looking 63 ... Nxg3. Should White capture this knight?
Exercise 7
Exercise 8
Exercise 7 (Black to play) Black has only one move that wins here. Can you spot it? (clue: a queen ending is reached) Exercise 8 (Black to play) In this position Black played the deflecting 58 .. .f3+, the idea being to meet 59 Kxf3 with 59 ... Kh3 and the simplification plan of ... h5-h4 and ... g4-g3. Was this a good idea?
52
Chapter Two
Bishops of Same Colour
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Bishop and Pawn vs Bishop
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Bishop and Two Pawns vs Bishop
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Bishop and Pawn vs Bishop and Pawn
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Bishop and Two vs Bishop and Pawn
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Endings with More Pawns
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Try it Yourself
Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames
Bishop and Pawn versus Bishop As usual, everything in this ending depends upon the positioning of the pieces and the pawn. For example, in general the further up the board the pawn is, the greater the winning chances. In my database bishop and pawn versus bishop produced a 46% win ratio.
Exchanging bishops to promote Let's begin by looking at the standard winning procedure when the defending king is far away from the action.
Example 57
Diagram 1 (W) White wins
Diagram 2 (8) Black should win
(Diagram 1) At the moment Black's bishop on f3 is preventing White from advancing his pawn to b7. To make progress White needs to challenge the bishop on that diagonal with his own bishop. In this case White's idea is easy to see: 1 Bb5! followed by Bc6. Regardless of whether Black exchanges bishops or not, the b-pawn can move unhindered to promotion.
Example 58
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T.Ernst-Stohl, Manila Olympiad 1992 From Diagram 2, the Slovakian GM Igor Stohl erred with 66 ... Kd5?, which allows White to get his king back in time to draw after 67 Ke3 Kc4 68 Bf8 Bc3 69 Be7 Bb4 70 Bxb4! Kxb4 71 Kd2 Kb3 72 Kc1 etc. After the game Stohl pointed out how Black could have won in a straightforward manner with 66 ... Be7!. Now White cannot allow the exchange of bishops because his king cannot reach the square of the a-pawn: 67 Bc3 a3 68 Ke2 a2 69 Kd3 Bf6!, again offering the exchange, and winning after 70 Bxf6 Kxf6 or 70 Kc2 Bxc3. NOTE: The attacker's king is usually the one supporting the exchange offer, but it does not necessarily have to be near the pawn to do this.
Bishops of Same Colour
Drawing techniques If the defender's king is in the vicinity ofthe passed pawn, then naturally the drawing chances increase. The most straightforward drawing position occurs if both the following criteria are met:
1) The defender's king stands in front of the pawn (i.e. on the same fIle). 2) The defender's king stands on a different colour of square to the bishops. Let's look at a typical example
Example 59 Tong Yuanming-Wang Zili, Beijing 1997
Diagram 3 (W)
Diagram 4 (W)
An easy draw
Black draws
In Diagram 3 the players immediately agreed a draw as they realised that White could make no useful progress. The best that White can do is to advance his pawn to b6, but after that there is no possible way to budge the black king from the b7-square - it's on a different colour of square to the white bishop. Black will simply keep playing waiting moves with his bishop so he will never be forced into zugzwang. Let's just playa few possible moves to make sure: 47 b5 Bb2 48 Ke4 Bel 49 b6 Bb2 50 Kb5 Bel and if Black gets bored of waiting around he can always play ... Bc1-g5-d8xb6!
If the defending king is in front of the pawn but on the same colour of square as the bishops, then the outcome is not so clear-cut.
Example 60 In Diagram 4 Black draws because White's pawn has only reached the fifth rank. However, the drawing process is not trivially easy. 1 Bd6+! Ke8! After 1...Kg8? 2 Be7! Bel 3 f6! Black can do nothing to prevent promotion.
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames 2 Be5 Bg5 Sensibly Black's bishop stays on the h4-dS diagonal as long as possible. The dangers in this position are illustrated by the fact that the plausible 2 ... KfS? (what could be more natural than moving in front ofthe pawn again?) actually loses after 3 Bf6! Bel (3 ... Bxf6 4 Kxf6 is a lost king and pawn ending) 4 Be7+ (gaining a crucial tempo - a big drawback to 2 ... KfS) 4 ... KgS 5 f6 and the pawn promotes. 3 Bf6Bd2 Having been forced offh4-dS, Black's bishop prepares to move onto a second diagonal to restrain the white pawn (again exchanging on f6 leads to a lost king and pawn ending). 4 Bh4 Bc3 5 Bg3 Now White plans to offer the exchange on e5. The advantage over offering the trade on f6 is that if Black refuses, White's passed pawn is ready to roll immediately. However, there is also a disadvantage ... 5 ... Bb2 6 Be5 Bxe5! Now the exchange leads to a drawn king and pawn ending. 7 Kxe5 Ke7 8 f6+ Kf7 9 Kf5 Kf8 and Black draws.
Attacking from the rear Now let's look at a more complex case in which White's pawn has already broken through the barrier to reach the sixth rank
Example 61 Averbakh 1954
Diagram 5 (8) Black draws ... with difficulty!
Diagram 6 (W) A typical drawing position
(Diagram 5) 1. ..Kf8! A very surprising first move, Black's king seemingly moving away from the real action. However, this is actually the only move that secures a draw, and Black's idea will become more apparent in a few moves.
56
Bishops of Same Colour
Moving in front of the pawn is fruitless as the king is simply chased away: 1...KdS? 2 d7 (threatening Bb6 mate) 2 ... Kc7 3 Bc5! and there is no good answer to the threat of Be7 (3 ... BdS 4 Be7 is zugzwang). 2 d7 BdS Again an only move, as White was threatening to offer an exchange with Bf6. 3 Bf6 Ba5 Now White's winning plan is to move the king to cS (preventing ... BdS) before offering an exchange with Be5-c7. Black cannot sit back and wait for this to happen. 4Bh4 Useful prophylaxis. Black cannot improve his position so White takes time out to move his bishop to a less vulnerable square (now a later ... Kf7 will not gain time by attacking the bishop). NOTE: In chess, prophylaxis is the process of dealing with a threat before it actually arises.
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4 ...Bb6 For the moment, Black sits and waits. 5 Kd6Kf7 Now Black begins his plan of relocating his king. 6 Ke6Ba5 6 ... Ke6!? is a typical defensive trick (the bishop cannot be captured due to ... Kxd 7). At fIrst sight this move seems to foil White's plan of moving the king to cS, but in fact White can still force this through zugzwang: 7 Bg3 (threatening Bc7, so Black's bishop changes diagonals) 7 ... BdS S Bf4! and now Black must give way: king moves (apart from S... Ke7? 9 Bg5+!) allow Kb7-cS, while bishop moves along the h4-dS diagonal allow Kc7-cS. However, this is not a disaster for Black - it simply transposes to the main line. 7Kb7 The threat is looming large: KcS followed by Bg3-c7. 7 ...Ke6 S KeS Kd5! Where does the king think its going? 9 Bg3 Ke6! (Diagram 6) Now we see what Black was up to! The king on c6 covers the c7-square and thus crucially prevents White from playing Bc7. The king is ideally placed on c6 because it also attacks the d7-pawn. White can make no further progress because Black has just enough space along the a5-dS diagonal to play waiting moves with his bishop. White's only plan is to play BdS, but then the black bishop relocates to the longer h4-dS diagonal; for example, 10 Bh4 Bb6 11 BdS Bf2 12 Ba5 Bh4. Note that earlier S... Kd5! was the only move to draw: S... Kd6? allows White to gain: a crucial tempo and win with 9 BdS! Bel 10 Bc7+!. NOTE: This set up with the king's opposing each other (here it's c8 and c6) is known as 'vertical opposition'. When the kings are in vertical opposition as in the previous example, the result of the game depends on how much space the defending bishop has on the shorter of the two diagonals. In the previous example, the short diagonal (a5-
57
Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames
dS) consists of four squares, and this was just long enough for the defender to prevail. If the diagonal is any shorter, then the result is a win.
Example 62
Diagram 7 (W) White wins
Diagram 8 Centurini's rule
In Diagram 7 the shorter diagonal (h6-fS) consists only ofthree squares and this allows White to win via zugzwang. 1 Bh6! The first step is to oust the black bishop from the long diagonal. 1...Bb2 2 Bg7 Bel Black plans to move onto the shorter diagonal via h6. 3 Be3 Bh6 4 BM! An excellent move, preventing ... BfS and putting Black in zugzwang. It's clear that the black bishop cannot move on the diagonal, while king moves are also fatal: 4 ... Kg5 runs into 5 Bd2+, while any other king move releases the attack on the g6-pawn, allowing White to win with 5 BfS!.
Centurini's Rule
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Based on examples like the ones above, Centurini was able to establish a winning and drawing zone for the passed pawn when the kings are in vertical opposition. Looking at Diagram S, when the pawn is on a square occupied by a star, or behind this, then the black bishop has enough space along the shorter diagonal and the game is drawn. However, if the pawn is advanced further, the diagonal becomes too short and the game is won. NOTE: if Black has a light-squared bishop then the zone is the mirror image of the one shown in Diagram 8.
Let's look at a practical example that illustrates this rule.
Example 63 Klenburg-Golod, Novy Bydzov 2002
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Bishops of Same Colour
Diagram 9 (8) Black wins
Diagram 10 (8) Black wins
(Diagram 9) If White's king were on d5, establishing vertical opposition, then the game would be drawn as, according to Centurini's rule, Black's c-pawn isn't advanced enough (the white bishop has five spaces on the a5-e1 diagonal). However, White is still a long way from establishing vertical opposition, and by the time White achieves this, Black's pawn will be far enough advanced (c2) to secure the win. 120 ...Ke2! Black's plan to advance the pawn through the c3 barrier consists of the following stages: 1) The black king goes to the b3-square. 2) The black bishop forces the white bishop off the e1-a5 diagonal by playing the move ... Bc3. After the black bishop moves away from the c3-square to allow the pawn to progress further, the white bishop relocates onto the long a1-h8 diagonal. 3) Black moves his bishop to the b2-square, again opposing bishops. On this occasion if White moves off the diagonal then Black can play ... c3. Note that 120 ... Be3, with the intention of continuing with ... Bd2, is met by 121 Ke1!' 121 Ke2 Kb3 The first stage is complete. 122 Ba5 Be3 123 Bd8 Bb4 124 Bf6 End of stage two. 124...Ba3! 125 Be5 Bb2! 126 Bf4 e3 Now the pawn can reach c2. The next step is to place the king on b1 in order to play ... Bcl. This is achieved via zugzwang. 127 Kd3 e2 128 Bg5 Be5 129 Bel Bg7! Placing White in zugzwang and thus forcing the king to bl. 130 Be3 130 Ke4 is met by ... Ka2-bl. 130 ...Kb2 131 Ke4 Kb1 132 Kb3 (Diagram 10)
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames Finally we have a fundamental position. Centurini's rule states that Black wins because the short diagonal (a3-c!) is just too short for a successful defence. 132 ... Bb2! Planning ... Bcl. 133 Bf4 Bcl134 Bd6 Bg5 135 Ba3 Bf6! 0-1 White resigned as he is in zugzwang. There are no good bishop moves, while any king move is met by ... Bb2.
Example 64 Exceptions to Centurini's rule There are two exceptions to Centurini's rule that should be noted.
Diagram 11 Exception to rule
Diagram 12 (8) Exception to rule
(Diagram 11) White's pawn is certainly advanced further than the zone, but the result is still a draw because Black's bishop cannot be driven off the long a1-h8 diagonal. To achieve this, White's bishop would need to obtain access to the h8-square, but of course he cannot do this (at least not without moving his bishop off the board!). (Diagram 12) As we have already seen in Example 63, with the kings vertically opposed on b8 and b6, the result is a win due to zugzwang. However, with the kings on d8 and d6 the result is a draw as there is no zugzwang. It's true that Black's bishop has no good moves, but here White cannot exploit Black's king releasing the attack on c7. Black can draw with I. ..Re6! as White has no way to make progress (2 Bf1 is met by 2 ... Bb7).
Bishop and Two Pawns versus Bishop The situation of bishop and two pawns against a lone bishop is nearly always a win for the attacker (there was an 86% win ratio on my database). Let's first of all look at a typical winning technique when the pawns are connected and there are no complications.
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Bishops of Same Colour
Example 65 Saralegui-Carvalho, Montevideo 2003
Diagram 13 (W) White wins
Diagram 14 (W) A crucial decision
(DiagraJll 13) With a bit of care, the win should be quite straightforward. 58 Kg3! It's vitally important that White's king supports the pawns and prevents Black from setting up an effective blockade. In particular, Black should be prevented from playing ... Kf4, after which White has problems both with the defence of the f3-pawn and a possible ... Bxg4, giving up the bishop for the two pawns. a) 58 Be4?? allows Black to draw immediately with 58 ... Bxe4! 59 fxe4 Kf4! and we have another uncommon position (although at least the second in this book!) where a lone king manages to draw against a king and two pawns. Actually, this position is a reciprocal zugzwang: 60 Ke2 is met by 60 ... Kxe4! while 60 Kg2 is met by 60 ... Kxg4!. b) 58 Bc2? allows Black to set up an effective blockade. 58 ... Kf4! 59 Bdl (the only way to defend; 59 Be4 allows 59 ... Bc8! followed by ... Bxg4, drawing) 59 ... Bc6 (now Black just sits and waits) 60 Kg2 (trying to sneak round the edge; 60 Kel is met by 60 ... Ke3! 61 g5 Be8! followed by ... Kf4, rounding up the g5pawn) 60 ... Bd5 61 Kh3 Bc6 62 Kh4 Be8! (crucially preventing Kh5; 62 ... Bd5? loses to 63 Kh5 and g4-g5) 63 g5 Bf7 and White can make no further progress. 58._.Bd5 59 £4+ Kf6 60 Bd3 Bb3 (DiagraJll 14) 61 g5+! TIP: In general, when advancing connected passed pawns supported by a bishop, you should aim to keep the pawns abreast (on the same rank) or on a different colour of square to the bishop. This prevents any blockading ideas.
61 f5?? is wrong on principle and allows Black to blockade: 61...Kg5! (threatening ... Bdl) 62 Be2 Bc2! followed by ... Bxf5. 6l...Kg7 62 £5 Bf7 63 Kf4 Again the white king is brought forward to support the pawns. 63 ... Ba2 64 Ke5
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames Another logical winning sequence would be 64 f6+ Kf7 65 Ke5 (with the idea of £6+) 65 ... KfS 66 g6 Bb3 67 g7+ KgS 6S Be4 followed by Bd5 with an easily winning king and pawn endgame. 64 ... Bb3 65 g6 After what I said earlier, I guess that 65 f6+, keeping the pawns on dark squares, is more consistent, but with the white king protecting £6, Black is not able to set up a blockade and so this is just as good. In fact, Black cannot prevent White from playing £6 next move. 65 ... KfS 66 £6 Ba2 67 Bf5 The final step: White will offer the exchange of bishops with Be6. 67 ...BgS Or 67 ... Bb3 then 6S Be6, and if Black moves his bishop, then g7+ wins instantly. 6S Be6 Bf7(!) A final trick (or joke!). Either capture on f7 allows stalemate. 69 g7+ 1-0 White wins after 69 ... KgS 70 Bxf7+ Kxf7 71 Kd6 KgS 72 Ke7 and f7. There are more technical problems converting the advantage into victory if one ofthe pawns is a rook's pawn and the bishop is the 'wrong colour'. On these occasions the attacker must be careful not to allow the defender to sacrifice his bishop to eliminate the knight's pawn.
Example 66 Hrzica-B.Kovacevic, Nova Gorica 2001
Diagram 15 (8) Black wins
Diagram 16 (VII) Black closes in
(Diagram 15) 58 ... a6! A vital move in preparing the advance of the b-pawn. The immediate 5S ... b5?? allows White to escape with an immediate draw with 59 Bxb5! (this idea should be second nature to you by now). 59 Ka3 b5 60 Bc2 Now of course 60 Bxb5 is met by 60 ... axb5!, keeping a knight's pawn.
62
Bishops of Same Colour
60 ... Bd5 61 Bdl Kb6 Planning to relocate the king to the c5-square. Just as good was 61...b4+ 62 Kb2 Kb6 63 Ba4 Kc5 64 Bd1 a5 65 Ba4 Bc6 66 Bd1 a4 etc. with a similar position to the one reached in the game. 62 Ba4!? A very cheeky move. Of course the bishop cannot be captured and for the moment White prevents ... a5 (this is met by Bxb5!). A more typical defensive try is 62 Be2, after which Black progresses with 62 ... Kc5 (62 ... Bc4?? 63 Bxc4 bxc4 64 Kb4! is drawn) 63 Bfl Bc4! (not 63 ... a5?? 64 Bxb5!) 64 Bh3 a5 65 Bd7 (threatening Bxb5) 65 ... b4+! 66 Ka4 (66 Kb2 Bb5 followed by ... a4) 66 ... Kb6 67 Be8 Be2 (threatening mate on d1) 68 Kb3 Bb5 69 Bg6 Kc5 followed by ... a4+ etc. 62 ... Ke5 63 Kb2 b4! The pawn doesn't even glance at the bishop! 64 Ke2 Be6 65 Bb3 a5 66 Kb2 a4 Gradually Black is making progress. 67 Bdl a3+ 68 Kal After 68 Kb3 Black can play either 68 ... Ba4+! or the less flashy 68 ... Bd5+. 68 ... Kd4 The next step is to plant the king on the c3-square. 69 Bb3 Ke3 (Diagram 16) 70 Ka2 70 Bd1 is slightly more resilient. Then 70 ... Be4 71 Bb3! is annoying, while 70 ... b3?? 71 Bxb3! is unforgivable. Instead 70 ... Bb5! is a good waiting move that places White is zugzwang: 71 Ka2 Bd3 72 Ba4 (or 72 Bb3 Bc4) 72 ... Bc2 reaches the game continuation. 70 ... Bb5 Threatening to exchange bishops with ... Bc4. 71 Bdl Bd3! Now ... Bc2 is coming. 72 Ba4 72 Bb310ses to 72 ... Bc4! (or even 72 ... Bbl+!). 72 ... Be2 73 Bxe2 Or 73 Bd7 b3+! 74 Kxa3 b2 and Black queens next move. 73 ... Kxe2 74 Kal a2 74 ... b3?? with stalemate is the last chance to go horribly wrong. 75 Kxa2 b3+ 76 Ka3 b2 77 Kb4 blQ+ and Black won. If the attacker's king is far away from its pawns, then sometimes the defender can draw with a direct attack against these pawns.
Example 67 Topalov-Gulko, Villarrobledo 2000 In Diagram 17 Black can rush in to attack White's pawns with his king, although care is still required to make a draw. 54 ... Ke4! Black must play this before White has a chance to play Bc2 or Kd3.
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames
Diagram 17 (8) Black draws
Diagram 18 (W) Black's king races back
55 Bdl Preventing ... Kf3, but there is another way in ... 55 ... Ke3! 56 Bh5 Kf2 57 g4 Bxg4! Once more making use of the fact that it's a rook's pawn with a wrong-coloured bishop. The other way to draw is to chase the g-pawn up the board: 57 ... Kf3! 58 g5+ Kf4 59 g6 Kg5 60 g7 Be6 followed by ... Kf6 and ... Kxg7. However, running after the h-pawn loses; for example, 57 ... Kg2? 58 g5! Kxh2 59 g6 Kg3 60 Kd4 (White's king is just in time so the bishop and pawn versus bishop ending is winning) 60 ... Be6 61 Ke5 Bb3 62 g7 Kh4 63 Bf3 (threatening Bd5) 63 ... Bg8 64 Kf6! (preventing ... Kg5) 64 ... Bb3 65 Be4 Bc4 66 Bg6 (threatening Bf7) 66 ... Bg8 67 Ke7 Kg5 68 Kf8! and White wins. 58 Bxg4 Ke3! (Diagram 18) Now the king doubles back and heads for the h8-corner. 58 ... Kg2?? 59 h4! would be a bit embarrassing! 59 h4 Kf4 v"-v,, After, say, 60 Bd7 Ke5! 61 h5 Kf6 the only way to prevent ... Kg7 is with 62 h6 but then 62 ... Kg6 rounds up the pawn.
Example 68 Korzubov-Tal, Moscow 1991 In Diagram 19 White is containing the pawns and can draw if he acts precisely. 57 Kf5? But not like this. If Black's king were on f7, then Kf5 would be essential in order to prevent ... Ke6 or ... Kg6, but here Black's king has already got 'round the back'. An immediate attack on the pawns secures a draw: 57 Be7! Bd4 58 Bf8! Kd3 59 Bh6! (threatening Bxg5) 59 ... Be3 60 Bg7! (but not 60 Kf5?? g4!) 60 ... Bd4 61 Bh6! with a perpetual attack on the pawns. After 61...Ke4 62 Bxg5 f5+ 63 Kg3 White draws comfortably.
64
Bishops of Same Colour
Diagram 19 (W) White should draw
Diagram 20 (W) White wins
57 ... Bd8! Indirectly giving extra support to g5. Following 57 ... Bd4? White plays 58 Bc1! (threatening Bxg5) 58 ... Be3 59 Bb2 Kf3 60 Bxf6 g4 61 Be5 and according to Centurini's rule the position is drawn. 58 Ke4 White must prevent ... Kf3 followed by ... g4. After 58 Kg4 Black plays 58 ... Ke3! (threatening ... Ke4) 59 Kf5 and now 59 ... Kf3!. 58 ... Bc7! Preventing Kf4 in preparation for ... g4. The immediate 58 ... g4? is too hasty: 59 Kf4! f5 60 Bd6! Kf2 61 Kxf5 Kf3 62 Be5 and again it's vertical opposition and a draw by Centurini's rule. 59 Kf5 Or 59 Be7 g4 60 Bxf6 g3 61 Bd4 g2 62 Bc5 Bg3 (threatening ... Bf2) 63 Bg1 Kf1 64 Bb6 Bf2 and Black wins. 59 ...Kf3! 60 Kxf6 g4 61 Bc5 g3 0-1 The game could finish 62 Kg5 g2 63 Kf5 Bg3 64 Bg1 Ke2 65 Kg4 Kf1 66 Bb6 Bf2 etc. H the pawns are split, then a win is still the usual result. In many cases one of the pawns can be used to deflect the defending king while the attacker sets up a winning bishop and pawn versus bishop ending on the other side of the board. There are occasional drawing chances if the pawns are closer together because the defending king may still be near enough to draw after dealing with the 'deflecting' pawn.
Example 69 Wojtkiewicz-Kaminski, Warsaw 1995 In Diagram 20 White wins easily as he can shepherd both pawns forward. His only concern is Black sacrificing his bishop for the e-pawn, leaving White with a rook's pawn and a wrong-coloured bishop, but this can easily be avoided. 60 Kg5!
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames Leaving the path open for the pawn to go to h6. Black can only sit and wait. 60 ...Bb3 61 h5 Bc4 62 Bg6 Bb3 63 h6+ Kh8 64 Kf6 Bc4 65 Bf7 Of course not 65 e6?? Bxe6! and Black draws. 65 ... Bb5 66 e6 Kh7 67 Kg5! Crucially White is able to keep both pawns. Sacrificing the h-pawn here would be a mistake, as Black's king is near enough to the e-pawn to secure a draw ala Centurini: 67 e7? Kxh6! 68 Be6 Be8 69 Bd5 Ba4 70 Kf7 Kg5 71 Kf8 Kf6 etc. 67 ... Bc6 68 e7 1-0 The game could finish 68 ... Ba4 69 Bg6+! Kh8 70 Kf6 Bb5 71 Kf7 Ba4 72 Kf8 Bb5 73 Be8 Be2 74 Bd7 Bh5 75 Be6 and Bf7.
Example 70 Godlidze-Kasparian, USSR 1929 (analysis by Averbakh)
Diagram 21 (W) White cannot win
Diagram 22 (W) Draw!
(Diagram 21) This example is very similar to the previous one except White's king is in front ofthe e-pawn instead of shepherding the h-pawn. This, together with the fact that the h-pawn is vulnerable to attack on h5, allows the defender to escape with an unlikely draw. 1Be8 Of course 1 e6?! would allow an immediate draw after 1.. .Bc4! and ... Bxe6. 1. .. Bg4 2 Kd8 Preparing Bd7. Black can also draw after 2 Kd6 Kh6 3 Bd7 Bxh5 4 e6 Kg7 5 e7 Kf6 6 Ba4 Bg6 7 Kd7 Ke5 8 Kd8 Kd6 (Centurini's rule). 2... Kh6 Black makes sure that his bishop keeps attacking both e6 and h5 until it is forced one way or the other. 3Bd7 The only way to progress. 3...Bxh5 4 e6 Kg7 Black's king gets back just in time.
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Bishops of Same Colour 5 e7 Kf6! (Diagram 22) It's true that the kings are not in vertical opposition, but this is one case where Black draws despite not having control of the d7-square (as initially shown by Horwitz and Kling in 1851). 6 Be8 Be2 7 Bg6 Bb5 White's bishop wants to reach d7, but fortunately for Black the king on f6 prevents Bf5. 8 Be8 Be2! The only move. 8 ... Bd3? loses to 9 Bh5! Bb5 10 Bg4 and Bd7. 9 Bf7 Bb510 Bh5 Planning Bg4-d7, but now Black is able to reach vertical opposition. 10...Ke5 11 Bg4 Kd6 and Black draws by Centurini's rule.
Bishop and Pawn versus Bishop and Pawn As you would expect, this particular endgame has a high percentage of draws (75% in my database). Winning chances are created if one or both of the following criteria are met: 1) The pawns are passed, but one is much nearer promotion and has the support of its king. 2) One of the kings is much more active than the other and it is able to capture the enemy pawn.
The pawns are passed Winning chances are slightly higher if the pawns are passed (the win ratio was 29%).
Example 71 Kamsky-Shirov, Buenos Aires 1994
Diagram 23 (8) Black wins easily
Diagram 24 (8) White should draw
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames In Diagram 23 Black's b-pawn is far advanced and it also has the support of its king. Conversely, White's h-pawn is so far back that it becomes totally irrelevant, and Black wins without difficulty. 66 ... Kd4! Preparing ... Be4 to knock white's bishop off the long diagonal. 67 h4 Be4 68 Be6 b2 69 Ba2 Now White's bishop has been forced onto a very short diagonal and Black only needs to attack it with his king. 69 ...Kc3 70 Kf4 Or 70 h5 Kh4 71 h6 Ka3 and White can resign. 70 ... Bh7 71 h5 Kb4 72 h6 Ka3 0-1
Example 72 Emms-King, British League 1996 Diagram 24 is deceptive. It would seem at first sight that Black should win, but despite White's pawn being all the way back on f2, it actually allows White to draw with precise play. Unfortunately, my clock was ticking rather quickly... 56 ...Kc3 57 Bf7? After this Black wins without much effort. Let's look at a couple of alternatives: a) 57 Bd5? isn't any better than the game continuation: 57 ... Bd3! (planning ... Bc4) 58 f4 Bc4 59 Be4 b3 60 f5 Bd3 61 Bd5 (or 61 f6 b2! 62 f7 and Black queens with check) 61...b2 62 Ba2 Bxf5 and Black wins with ... Kh4-a3. b) After the game Daniel King pointed out the correct way to draw: 57 Ba2! Bd3 (57 ... Kh2 is unnatural as it blocks the b-pawn: 58 Be6 Bbl 59 f4 Ba2 60 f5! is an easy draw) 58 f4 Bc4 59 Bbl b3 60 f5 Bd3 61 f6! and we see a big advantage of having the bishop on bl as opposed to, say, e4. By the time Black captures on bl and plays ... b2, White already has a queen. 57 ...Bd3! 58 f4 Bc4 59 Bg6 b3 60 Kf2 Now 60 f5 can be met by either 60 ... Bd3 61 Bf7 b2 62 Ba2 Bxf5 and ... Kh4-a3 or the simple 60 ... b2 61 f6 Bd3. 60 ... Bd3 61 Bf7 b2 62 Ba2 Kb4! 63 Ke3 Ka3 64 Bbl Bxbl 0-1
The pawns are not passed Naturally winning chances decrease when there are no passed pawns (there was only a 16% win ratio on my database - many cases are simply stone-cold draws). Let's look at a couple of examples where one side has chances to win due to an active king.
Example 73 Ljuca-Gulko, Sombor 1974 (Diagram 25) Black's king is very actively placed and White's f-pawn is in big trouble. White can draw, but only by playing very precisely. 67 Bc6? This natural-looking move is actually a losing mistake. It appears reasonable to try to hold onto the pawn as long as possible, but in fact White should have given up on the pawn immediately, concentrating on moving his king to get ready for 'vertical opposition'.
68
Bishops of Same Colour
Diagram 25 (W) White should draw
Diagram 26 (W) Preparing ... 8g2
White can draw after 67 Kd4! Kxf3 (delaying capturing the pawn doesn't help: 67 ... Bc8 68 Ke5! Bb7 69 Kf5 Bxf3 70 Kg5! and White draws by Centurini's rule: 70 ... Bg2 71 Bh5 etc.) 68 Bc6+ Kg3 69 Ke5! Bg4 (69 ... Bh3 doesn't threaten ... Bg2 so White can playa waiting move with his bishop along the hl-a8 diagonal) 70 Kf6! (the only move) 70 ... Bf3 71 Be8 Bb7 72 Bh5 Bc8 73 Kg5! and again White reaches 'vertical opposition' just in time, drawing by Centurini's rule. 67 ... Bg6! Planning the simple ... Bh5xf3. 68Kd2 Now the king march to the rear is too slow: 68 Kd4 Bh5 69 Ke5 Bxf3 70 Be8 Bb7! 71 Bh5 Bc8! and ... Bg4 cannot be prevented. The pawn can advance to f2, far enough advanced for a win according to Centurini's rule. 68 ... Kf2! Perhaps White missed this little move, preventing the king from defending f3. Of course 68 ... Bh5? 69 Ke2! would allow an easy draw. 69 Bd5 Now White can only sit and wait. 69 ... Bh5 70 Be4 Bxf3 71 Bf5 71 Bg6 is slightly more testing, but Black can win with 71...Bg4 72 Be4 Kg3 73 Kel Bh3! followed by ... Bg2. 71...Kg3 72 Bg6 Bg4 73 Be4 Bh3! (Diagram 26) Preparing ... Bg2. 74 Bd3 f3 75 Ke3 f2 The pawn has reached f2 and now Black wins in typical fashion. 76 Bc4 Kg2 77 Kf4 Kgl 78 Kg3 Bfl 79 Re6 Bd3 80 Bh3 Bf5 0-1
Bishop and Two Pawns versus Bishop and Pawn This endgame is quite common and more often than not leads to a win for the attacker, especially if one or more of the pawns is passed. Overall the statistics
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames on my database reveal 59% wins, 40% draws and 1% losses for the player with the two pawns.
One pawn is passed
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This type of bishop endgame gives the player with two pawns good winning chances. A typical winning technique is the following: 1) Use the passed pawn to tie down the defending king. 2) Attack the enemy pawn with the king and bishop. NOTE: Generally speaking, the bigger the gap between the passed pawn and the blocked pawns, the greater the winning chances. This will become more obvious after the next two examples.
Example 74 Rotstein-Lputian, Wijk aan Zee 1993
Diagram 27 (W) White wins
Diagram 28 (W) The a-pawn deflects
(Diagram 27) Here White wins in an instructive fashion. 46 Be3! One of the things that White has to be wary of is Black sacrificing his bishop for the g-pawn, thus leaving White with a rook's pawn with a wrong-coloured bishop. For this reason the natural-looking 46 Kc4? is incorrect: 46 ... g5! 47 Be3 g4! (fixing White's g-pawn on a dark square where it can be attacked by Black's bishop) 48 a5 Bd6 49 Bf2 Bxg3! 50 Bxg3 Kb7 and Black has an easy draw. 46 ... Bb4 After 46 ... Kd5 White can force Black's king back with 47 a5! Kc6 48 a6. Note that 46 ... g5 is now met by 47 g4!, both preventing ... g4 and fixing the g5pawn as a weakness. TIP: In same colour bishop endings, it is usually advisable to put your pawns on a different colour to the bishops, so that they don't become easy targets for the enemy bishop.
47Kc4
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Bishops of Same Colour
Immediately going after the g-pawn with 47 Ke4 can be met by 47 ... Bd6!, when the bishop and pawn prevent the king from infiltrating. Instead White aims to deflect the opposing king with the passed pawn. 47 ... Ba5 48 g4 Bel 49 Bd4! In order to play Bc3 and then pawn to a5. 49 ... Ba5 50 Bc3 Bc7 51 a5 Bd8 Or 51...Bg3 52 Bd4! (to prevent ... Kb6 after the pawn moves to a6) 52 ... Kb7 53 Kb5! Bf4 54 a6+ Kc7 55 Kc5 and now White is free to play Kd5-e6-f6 etc. With Black's bishop on d8, attacking a5, White cannot play Bd4, but he can push the a-pawn due to a little trick. 52 a6! Bg5 The point is that 52 ... Kb6 is met by 53 Ba5+!. 53 Bd4! Bel 54 Kd3 Bf4 54 ... g5 makes things easier for White, who simply continues with Ke4-f5 and Bf6xg5 etc. 55 Ke4 Bh6 56 Be3 Bg7 (Diagram 28) Black has done his best to stop White's king from infiltrating the kingside, but now White forces access via the d5-square by using the a-pawn as a deflector. 57 a7! Kb7 58 Kd5 Bf6 59 Ke6 Bd8 60 Kf7 g5 61 Kg6 Be7 62 Kf5! An excellent move that later gains time in the promotion race. The f5-square is a better outpost for White's king than g6 because when White captures on g5 his king will not be in the way of the g-pawn. Of course Black can only sit and wait at the moment. 62 ... Ka8 63 Bxg5 Bc5 Black wins the a-pawn, but his king will not get to the kingside in time. 64 Bf6 1-0 Following 64 ... Kxa7 White wins easily with 65 g5 Kb7 66 g6 Bf8 67 Ke6 Kc6 68 Kf7 Bh6 69 Be7 and Bf8.
Example 75 Shengelia-Jobava, Izmir 2002
Diagram 29 (8) Black draws
Dtagram 30 (8) Should be drawn
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames In Diagram 29 the gap between the passed pawn and the other pawns is smaller (three files as opposed to five in the previous example). This means that Black's king will be nearer the action once f-pawn is captured and this allows him to draw ... just! 86 Be5 Kf6 87 Bxb4 Bh4!! This move looks somewhat paradoxical because the bishop's path is temporarily blocked by its king, but in fact 87 ... Bh4 is the only move to draw. 87 ... Bg3? looks natural but it loses after 88 Bc3+ Kxf5 and now: a) 89 b4? Ke6! 90 b5 (or 90 Kb5 Bd6!) 90 ... Kd7 followed by ... Kc7-b7, blocking the pawn with an easy draw. b) 89 Kd5! (shouldering off the black king) 89 ... Bc7 (underlining a negative feature of 87 ... Bg3 over 87 ... Bh4: compared to the game continuation with 87 ... Bh4, the black bishop is unable to go to the a3-f8 diagonal as White's king covers the d6-square) 90 b4 Bd8 91 b5 Kf4 92 Kc6 Ke4 93 Bel Kd4 94 Kb7 Kc4 95 Ka6 Kb3 96 Ba5. 87 ... Bf2? is similar to 87 ... Bg3 after 88 Bc3+ Kxf5 89 Kd5! etc. 88Kd5 88 Bc3+ Kxf5 89 Kd5 transposes to the note to White's 89th move, while 89 b4 Ke6 90 b5 Kd7! draws. 88 ... Kxf5 89 Be5 Or 89 Bc3 Be7! (the point of 87 ... Bh4) 90 Kc4 (90 Bd4 Bb4!) 90 ... Ke6 91 Bd4 Kd7 92 Bc5 Bf6 93 b4 Kc7 and Black's king gets back to b7. 89 ... Bel! 90 Bd4 Bd2 91 Bf2 Ba5 92 Bd4 Bel 93 Ke4 After a bit of manoeuvring to and fro, White goes for the only winning try: Kc4 and Bc3. However White is simply too far back to have any winning chances. 93 ... Ke6 94 Be3 BM 95 b4 Be7 96 b5 Kd7 Y2-Y2 White cannot prevent Black's king from reaching b7.
Example 76 Zaja-Yermolinsky, Imperia 1989 (Diagram 30) In this example the passed pawn is connected so it has more protection. On the other hand, it doesn't stretch White's defensive resources over the whole board (White only needs to concentrate on the kingside). Despite the impressive nature of Black's pawns, I believe that White should be able to hold the draw with precise play. 49 ... Kg5 50 Be4 Bf5 51 Bd5 Kh4 52 Bg2?! Not yet losing, but making things unnecessarily difficult. It's true that White must do his best to prevent ... Kh3. For example, after 52 Bc6? Kh3! 53 Kg1 f3 54 Bd5 f2+! 55 Kxf2 Kxh2 Black has a winning position: 56 Bc6 g3+ 57 Ke2 Bh3 58 Bd5 Bg2 59 Be6 Bc6 etc. However, the easiest method looks to be 52 Kg2!, after which I can't see any way for Black to make progress (of course .. .f3+ is met by Bxf3!). 52 ... Be6 53 Bfl? After this White loses. The only way to draw is with a series of moves including quite a few 'only moves': 53 Ke2! g3 (or 53 ... Bc4+ 54 Kf2 Bb5 55 Bd5 Kh3 56 Kg1 f3 and now 57 Be6!) 54 hxg3+ Kxg3 55 Kf1! Bg4 56 Kg1! Bf3 57 Bfl Bd5 58 Bg2! (a nice stalemate trick) 58 ... Bc4 59 Bc6.
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Bishops of Same Colour 53 ... f3! Zugzwang! White has to make a concession. 54 h3 54 Kg1loses after 54 ... g3 55 Bb5 Bh3. 54 ... g3+ 55 Kxf3 Bd7!! Another zugzwang. The automatic 55 ... Bxh3? allows White to escape with a draw after 56 Bg2!. 56 Ke3 Or 56 Bc4 Bc6+ 57 Ke3 Kxh3 58 Bfl + Kh2 and Black wins as usual: 59 Kd2 Bd7 and ... Bh3. 56 ... Bxh3 57 Bc4 Bd7 58 Bfl Otherwise Black plays ... Kh3-h2. 58 ... Bc6 59 Kf4 Bb7! At first sight White seems to have a good defensive set-up but amazingly, because the white bishop is on such a short diagonal, White is in zugzwang and his king gets slowly but surely driven back. 60 Ke3 After 60 Kf5 Black wins immediately with 60 ... Bc8+! 61 Kf4 Bh3. 60 ... Kg4 61 Kd2 Of course 61 Be2+ allows Black to play 61...Kh3 and ... Kh2. 61...Kf3 62 Kel Otherwise ... Kf2 wins. 62 ... Bc8! Yet again placing White in zugzwang. Now the black king finally reaches the desired h2-square. 63 Bc4 Kg2! 64 Bd5+ Kh2 0-1 Black wins in typical fashion after, say, 65 Bc6 Bh3 66 Bd5 Bg2 67 Be6 Bc6.
All the pawns are passed This particular situation has proved the most successful of all two pawn versus one bishop endings for the attacker (the win ratio is 63%). In many cases it's very difficult for the defender to cope with both passed pawns.
Example 77 Sturua-Tzermiadianos, Panormo 1998 In Diagram 31 Black is unable to cope with the combined jobs of containing the b- and f-pawns, while Black's d-pawn is not really a useful source of counterplay. All in all, White wins without too much effort. 50 Bg5! Preparing Be3. 50 ... Bg1 Black can only sit and wait. After 50 ... d4 White simply returns with 51 Bh4!, planning Bf2; for example, 51...Bb6 52 Bf2 and now 52 ... Kf6 53 Bxd4+ wins for White.
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames
Diagram 31 (W) White wins comfortably
Diagram 32 (8) The f-pawn deflects
51 Be3 Bh2 52 Bd4! The bishop is perfectly placed here, blocking the d-pawn, supporting the advance of the b-pawn and crucially preventing Black from attacking the f5-pawn with ... Kf6. Now White has the straightforward plan of running his king to the queenside to support the push of the b-pawn. In fact, Black saw no reason to continue in this position and resigned. Let's just play on a few moves to see how White would have finished the game off. 52 ... Bg3 53 Ke3! Be1+ 54 Kb3 Ke7 55 Ka4 Kd7 56 b6! Planning Kb5-c6, which Black feels obliged to prevent. 56 ... Ke6 57 f6! (Diagram 32) At the moment Black's king and bishop prevent White's king from infiltrating, but now one of them will be deflected by the danger of White's f-pawn. 57 ... Bg3 58 Ka5 Now the king has access. 58 ... Kb7 59 Kb5 Bd6 60 f7 Bf8 61 Be5 Bg7 62 fSQ BxfS 63 Bxf8 and White wins easily.
No pawns are passed As you would expect, when there are no passed pawns the defensive task is generally easier (the winning ratio for the player with two pawns drops down to 40% on my database).
Example 78 Yusupov-Ivanehuk, Frankfurt 2000 (Diagram 33) Here is a typical position where the defence is reasonably straightforward. Here Ivanchuk played 45 ... Kf6 and the players saw no reason to continue the struggle, agreeing a draw immediately. Let's just continue a few moves to satisfy ourselves that White can make no useful progress.
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Bishops of Same Colour
Diagram 33 (B) An easy draw
Diagram 34 (B) An easy decision for Black
46 Kf3 Be6 47 Ke3 Bf5 Black doesn't have to be too precise. Any waiting bishop move will do, while there's also nothing wrong with a move such as 47 ... Ke5. However, Black must refrain from playing 47 ... g4?? here. This weakens the g-pawn and crucially gives White's king the f4-square free of charge. White now wins after 48 Kf4 (threatening Be2) 48 ... Kg6 (to answer Be2 with ... Kh5) 49 Bd3+! Kh5 (or 49 ... Kf6 50 Be2) 50 Bf5 and Black loses the g-pawn whether he exchanges on f5 or not. WARNING: Be careful when lunging pawns up the board. They can never come back!
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48 Bd3 Bd7! Black does well to keep the bishops on the board. After 48 ... Bxd3?? 49 Kxd3 the pure pawn ending is lost for Black: 49 ... Ke5 50 f3! Kd5 51 Ke3 Ke5 52 g4! Kf6 (or 52 ... Kd5 53 f4!) 53 Kd4 Ke6 54 Ke4 Kf6 55 Kd5, when the black king is outflanked and Black winds up losing the g-pawn. NOTE: A pawn advantage in a pawn ending is much easier to realise than one in a bishop or knight ending. Another point to bear in mind is that king and pawn versus king is sometimes winning; king and bishop versus king is never winning!
49 f4 There is no other way to make real progress. White's king could wander around for a while, but it doesn't achieve anything against a half-decent defence; for example, 49 Kd4 Bc8 50 Kd5 Bh3 51 Kd6 Bc8 52 Kc7 Bg4 53 Kd8 Bh5 and it's difficult to see what White is doing. 49 ... gxf4+! Naturally Black is not averse to exchanging pawns. 50 Kxf4 After 50 gxf4 Black's king simply remains firmly placed on f6 with the motto 'none shall pass!' 50 ... Kg7!
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames Not strictly necessary, but simply a declaration. With this move Black declares that White's pawn will never get any further than g6 - the king on g7 is immovable. 51 Bf5 (Diagram 34) 51...Bb5! Again exchanging bishops is not a bright idea. The pawn ending arising after 51...Bxf5?? 52 Kxf5 Kf7 53 g4 Kg7 54 Kg5! is winning for White. TIP: If you see that the bishop ending is clearly drawn, it's safer simply to keep the bishops on rather than to try and calculate a resulting pawn ending, even if you analyse it out to a draw.
52 g4 Be2 53 g5 Bc4 and it's clear that White can make no useful progress.
Example 79 Bologan-Timman, Wijk aan Zee 2004
Diagram 35 (8) Black wins
Diagram 36 (W) Black crashes through
(Diagram 35) In this rather lop-sided example, Black has two important advantages: his king is very active and White's king is tied down to the defence of the f-pawn. These two pluses add up to a decisive advantage. 57 ... Be4! Black's plan is quite simple: .. .£3 followed by ... g4-g3. When White captures on g3, then .. .£2+ will be decisive. White can put up some resistance against this plan, but with precise play Black will not be denied. Note that White's king on gl has no option but to stay protecting the f2-pawn. 58 Be6 f3 59 Bd7 Bg6! Planning ... Bh5 followed by ... g4-g3. Bologan resigned here as he saw that resistance would only delay the inevitable. Following 60 Bg4 (to prevent ... Bh5) 60 ... Ke2! White is actually in zugzwang and must make a concession. The rest is easy: 61 Be6 Bh5! 62 Bc4+ Ke1 63 Bd5 g4 64 Bc4 g3! (Diagram 36) 65 fxg3 f2+ 66 Kg2 Be2 and the f-pawn promotes.
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Bishops of Same Colour
Endings \AJith More Pa\llJns Mter tackling the fundamentals, it's time to take a brief look at bishop endings with more pawns. This will include positional ideas such as 'good' and 'bad' bishops, plus themes like breakthroughs and bishop sacrifices.
Play in a limited area We've already seen some examples ofthis when we looked at bishop and two pawns versus bishop and one (with no passed pawns). The ending of bishop and four pawns versus bishop and three (all on the same side) is an expanded version of this. In general this endgame gives the defender excellent drawing chances.
Example 80 Petronic-Csom, Paks 1996
Diagram 37 (W) A draw with best play
Diagram 38 (W) As far as Black can get
(Diagram 37) This example is an ideal case for the defender. White's king is well placed on e2, potentially blocking Black's 'extra' e-pawn. A further factor in White's favour is that White's pawns are all on light squares, which means two things: 1) They are not vulnerable to attack from the enemy bishop. 2) They complement their own bishop. White's bishop controls the dark squares and the pawn control light squares. The second point is important because it makes it very difficult, if not impossible, for the black king to infiltrate. Black can only make progress by advancing his kingside pawns, but this inevitably leads to pawn exchanges and directs the game towards a draw. Let's see how the game continued: 41 Bd2 e5 42 Bc3 g6 43 Bd2 EM Black spends considerable time shuffling his pieces around without purpose, hoping that White will lose patience and create a weakness in his own camp,
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames but without success. White already has the ideal set-up and so he simply plays waiting moves with his bishop. 44 Be3 Bg5 45 Bb2 Bf4 46 Be3 g5 47 Bb2 Ke4 48 Ba3 g4 Finally some action, but this allows White to exchange two sets of pawns. 49 hxg4 fxg4 50 fxg4 hxg4 White's king is still perfectly placed, blocking Black's newly created passed pawn. Without the g-pawns on the board there would be no point in Black continuing, but even with this pair there is little hope unless White goes horribly astray. 51 Bf8 Kd4 52 BM Ke4 53 Bel Bel 54 Bg3 Bg5 55 Bel Be3 56 Bg3 Bel 57 Bh2 Bb2 58 Bg3 Bd4 59 Kd2 Be5 60 Ke2 Be7 61 Bh2 Bh4 62 Bgl Bg5 63 Bf2 Bel 64 Bg3 Ba3 65 Kd2 Be5 66 Ke2 Kf5 67 Kd3 Bd4 68 Ke2 e4 Mter another bout of going to and fro, Black finally makes another push. 69 BM Kf4 (Diagram 38) 70 Bel! The bishop and pawn on g2 continue to combine well to prevent Black's king from infiltrating any further. 70 Bd8? would be careless and after 70 ... Kg3! 71 Kfl Kh2! 72 Bc7+ Khl! White would suddenly have to play accurately to draw: 73 Bd6 e3 (Black's plan is ... e2+ to leave him with a passed g-pawn) 74 Bc7 e2+ 75 Kxe2 Kxg2 76 Bd6 Bgl (preparing ... Bh2) 77 Bb4! (the only move) 77 ... Bh2 78 Bel Bg3 79 Ba5 Bf2 80 Bc7 and White has struggled rather than cruised to a draw. 70 ... Be5 71 Bh4! BM Or 71...e3 72 Bel Be7 (preventing Bh4) 73 Kd3 and White will oscillate with Ke2-d3 etc. 72 Bf2 Be7 73 Bel Be5 74 Bh4 Bgl 75 Kfl 'IV;' Mter 75 ... Bd4 76 Ke2 it's clear that Black is not making any progress.
Exampie 81 Grunfeld-Finkel, Israeli League 1996
Diagram 39 (W) Good winning chances
Diagram 40 (8) Black wins in style!
(Diagram 39) This example differs from the previous one in one crucial way:
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Bishops of Same Colour White's pawns are on the same colour of square to the bishops (Black's previous move was ... h5-h4!, fixing White's h- and g-pawns on light squares). This means two things: 1) White's pawns are vulnerable to attack from Black's bishop. 2) With his bishop and pawns covering only light squares, White is vulnerable on the dark squares. More specifically, Black may have possibilities to infiltrate on the dark squares with his king. In this position these two important factors swing the balance very much in towards a black victory. 52 Be2 f5 53 Bfl Kf6 54 Kf2 Ke7 For the moment Black just bides his time, leaving White with a very awkward decision. 55 g3 It's understandable that White want to exchange pawns, as each pawn exchange brings the draw closer. However, this trade on g31eaves White's remaining pawns (h3 and £3) rather vulnerable because now they are isolated. Nevertheless, simply waiting with 55 Ke3 also leaves White with a grim and probably ultimately hopeless defensive task; for example, 55 ... e5 56 Bd3 Kf6 57 Bfl (or 57 Be2 g4! 58 fxg4 Bxg2 59 gxf5 Bxh3 and the f-pawn falls too) 57 ... g4! (Black's major pawn break, trying to expose the weakness at g2) and now: a) 58 hxg4 fxg4 59 f4 (59 fxg4 Kg5 60 Kf2 Kxg4 is similar to line '1') 59 ... g3 60 fxe5+ Kxe5 and we have a typical scenario: White is in zugzwang and is forced back: 61 Ke2 Kd4 62 Kd2 Bc6 63 Ke2 (or 63 Ke1 Ke3) 63 ... Bb5+ 64 Ke1 (Diagram. 40) 64 ... Ke3!! (but not 64 ... Bxf1?? 65 Kxfl Kd3 66 Ke1 Ke3 67 Kf1 Kd2 68 Kg1 Ke1 69 Kh1 h3 70 Kg1! and it's only a draw) 65 Bxb5 h3! 66 Bc6 h2 and the pawn promotes. b) 58 Bd3 (White tries to 'sit tight') 58 ... Kg5 59 Bb5 Be6 (threatening .. .f4+ followed by ... gxh3) 60 Bfl Bc8 (zugzwang!) 61 fxg4 (or 61 Kf2 Kf4 62 Bb5 gxh3! 63 gxh3 e4! 64 fxe4 fxe4 65 Kg2 e3 66 Bc4 - 66 Bc6 Bxh3+! - 66 ... Bb7+ 67 Kf1 Bf3 68 Ke1 Kg3 69 Be6 Bg2 70 Ke2 Bxh3 71 Bd5 Bg2 72 Be6 Kf4 etc.) 6l...fxg4 62 Ke4 Kf6! (it seems like Black is going backwards, but ...) 63 hxg4 Bb7+! 64 Ke3 Kg5 65 Kf2 Kxg4 (now the weakness on g2 decides matters) 66 Bb5 Kf4 67 Bc4 e4 68 Bb5 e3+ 69 Kg1 Kg3 70 Bfl Bxg2! (a nice sacrifice to finish off) 71 Bxg2 e2 and the e-pawn promotes. 55 ...hxg3+ 56 Kxg3 e5! 57 Be2 If White were able to exchange another pawn with h3-h4, he would have excellent drawing chances. However, Black's next move prevents this, leaving White stuck with two glaring weaknesses. 57 ...Be6! 58 Kf2 Now 58 h4 is simply met by 58 .. .f4+! followed by ... gxh4. 58 ... f4! 59 Bfl Kd6 (Diagram. 41) Black now has a two-stage winning formula: 1) Play the king to c5 or d4 and offer the trade of bishops with ... Bc4. As the pawn ending is winning for Black, White will be forced to lock his bishop in on g2 andhl. 2) Re-route the king back to the kingside and to the h4-square, using zugzwang to finish White off.
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames There is absolutely no defence to this plan.
Diagram 41 (W) A two-stage plan
Diagram 42 (W) White becomes desperate
60 Kg2 Ke5 61 Kf2 Kd4 62 Bg2 Or 62 Kg2 Ke3 followed by ... Bd5 and ... Bxf3. 62 ... Be4 63 Bhl The pawn ending following 63 Bfl Bxfl 64 Kxfl Ke3 65 Kg2 Ke2 is easily winning for Black - the f-pawn drops immediately. 63 ... Bb5 64 Bg2 Kd5 Beginning phase '2' of the operation. 65 Bhl The plan to bring the king to h2 and then play h4 is too slow: 65 Kgl Ke6 66 Kh2 Kf6 67 h4 gxh4 68 Kh3 Kg5 etc. Instead White just sits and waits ... 65 ... Ke6 66 Bg2 Kf6 67 Kgl The pawn ending after 67 Bfl Bxfl! 68 Kxfl is still winning for Black: 68 ... Kf5 69 Kf2 e4 70 fxe4+ Kxe4 71 Ke2 f3+ 72 Kf2 Kf4 73 Kfl Kg3 etc. 67 ... Kg6 (Diagram 42) 68 h4?! A lunge out of desperation. After the more resilient 68 Kh2 Black carries out his plan: 68 ... Kh5 69 Kgl Kh4 70 Kh2 Bc4 (zugzwang) 71 Bhl (71 Kgl Kg3 is total humiliation!) 7L.Bfl! 72 Bg2 Bxg2 73 Kxg2 and the pawn ending is again winning after 73 ... Kh5 74 Kf2 Kg6 75 Ke2 Kf5 76 Kd3 e4+! 77 fxe4+ Ke5 etc. 68 ... gxh4 Now Black is simply two pawns ahead and can win easily. Note how Black's king leisurely walks back to the queenside again. 69 Bh3 Bd3 70 Bd7 Bf5 71 Be6 Kf6 72 Kg2 Ke7 73 Bb5 Kd6 74 Kf2 Ke5 75 Be8 Kd4 76 Ba4 Be6 77 Bb5 h3 The final push. 78 Be8 Bd5 0-1 Black wins easily after 79 Bh5 h2 (a deflector) 80 Kg2 Ke3 81 Kxh2 Bxf3.
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Bishops of Same Colour
Exploiting an extra pawn on the far wing One of the most common scenarios in any type of ending is one where the attacker has an extra pawn on the far wing, away from the main mass of pawns (in the vast majority of cases, this is the queenside). In bishop endings, chances of success for the attacker are of course influenced by other factors, such as the relative king activities, the ability to create a passed pawn on the far wing and possible pawn weaknesses elsewhere. In general, though, the chances to convert the extra pawn into the full point are high (not as high as in a pure pawn ending, but much higher than in a rook ending). The winning plan is very similar to the one seen in Example 74 and goes as follows: 1) Create a passed pawn on the far wing. 2) Use the passed pawn to tie down or deflect the opposing king to the far wing. 3) Infiltrate into the main pawn mass with the king. The following is a fairly typical example of a successful strategy for the player with the extra pawn.
Example 82 Polugaevsky-Rossetto, Havana 1967
Diagram 43 (W) Exploiting the queenside majority.
Diagram 44 (8) A difficult choice for Black
(Diagram 43) As with many endings, the first job is to activate the king as quickly as possible. 36 KfI! Bbl 37 a3! This is stronger than 37 a4?! because now it becomes easy to create a passed pawn with b4. 37 ... Ke7 At first sight 37 ... Ba2, preparing ... a4, looks awkward, but in fact White can ignore this threat as his king is near enough: 38 Ke2! a4 39 Kd3 axb3 (or 39 ... Bxb3 40 Bxb3 axb3 41 Kc3 followed by Kxb3, reaching a typically winning king and pawn ending) 40 Kc3 and White will follow up with Bxb3. Then all Black has achieved is to help White create the outside passed pawn.
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames 38 Ke2 f6 39 Ke3 Kd6 Trying to exchange pawns on the kingside is futile; for example, 39 ... g5 40 Kd4 h5 41 h4! (fixing the h5-pawn on a light square; Black will manage to exchange just one pawn but at a cost of being lumbered with a further weakness) 41...gxh442 gxh4 Kd6 43 b4 axb4 44 axb4 Bc2 45 Be2 Bg6 46 b5 Be8 47 b6 Bf7 48 Bf3 Be8 49 Ke3 Bg6 50 Kf4 Kd7 51 Be4 Bf7 52 Kf5 and the f-pawn drops off. 40Kd4 White's king has managed to reach the fourth rank, where it is slightly more active than Black's king. This certainly makes the winning process easier. 40 ...Bc2 41 b4 (Diagram. 44) Stage two of the plan: a passed pawn is created. 41 ... axb4 Black's only other choice is to play 41...a4. With his king likely to be stuck on the queenside, it does make some sense to keep a pair of pawns on that side, as this could become a source of counterplay for Black in the future. On the negative side, however, the a4-pawn is now stuck on a light square and is thus vulnerable to attack by both king and bishop. White can win in the following fashion: 42 b5 g5 43 Bd5 (taking away the c6-square from the king and thus preparing b6) 43 ...h6 44 b6 Bd145 b7 Kc7 46 Kc5 Bc2 47 Kb5! (the bishop is stuck defending a4) 47 ... Bd1 48 Ka6 (threatening Ka7 and thus forcing Black's king to give ground) 48 ... Kb8 49 Kb6 (now the king heads for the kingside to mop up Black's pawns) 49 ... Be2 50 Ke6 Ba6 (Black must eliminate the b7-pawn to free his king) 51 Kd6 Bxb7 52 Bxb7 Kxb7 and now after 53 Ke6 White is much quicker in the race to promote pawns (Black's king is a long way from a3). As well as this, White could even win by playing 53 Kc5, coming back for the a4pawn! Note that here the individual moves aren't so important - there are probably many move orders that win for White. The important thing is the overall plan. 42 axb4 Bd1 43 Bd3 Bf3 44 b5 Bb7 45 f4 (Diagram 45)
Diagram 45 (8) White plans Be4
Diagram 46 (W) How to break through?
White is going to play Be4, offering the exchange of bishops. If Black refuses, the bishop on e4 supports the advance ofthe passed b-pawn to b7.
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Bishops of Same Colour
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45 ...Be8 Or: a) 45 ... Bg2 46 Be4 Bxe4 47 Kxe4 Kc5 48 g4 Kxb5 49 Kd5 and typically the pawn ending is winning for White. b) 45 .. .f5 (preventing Be4 but fixing another pawn on a light square) 46 h4 (now Bc4-g8 is a threat) 46 ... Bg2 47 Bc4 Bf3 48 Bg8 (48 b6 Kc6 49 b7 Kxb7 50 Bd5+ is also good enough) 48 ...h6 49 Bf7 Bh5 50 b6! (deflecting) 50 ... Kc6 51 Ke5 and following Kf6 Black's kingside pawns will drop off. 46 Be4 Bd7 47 b6 Finally the pawn pushes on. 47 ...Be8 48 b7 Ke7 Black has resisted as well as possible, preventing White's king from infiltrating via e5 by keeping a pawn on f6. Nevertheless, White will triumph in the end. 49 Ke5 Ba4 (Diagram 46) 50 b8Q+! This final deflection allows White's king to penetrate. 50 ...Kxb8 51 Kd6 Ke8 52 Ke7 1-0 Black will lose his pawns; for example, 52 ... f5 53 Bd5 Bc2 54 Bg8 h6 55 Kf6 etc. NOTE: The further away the passed pawn is from the main mass of pawns, the greater the winning chances are. For example, Black would have stronger drawing chances if White had a passed c-pawn instead of a passed b-pawn, and stronger still if White had a passed dpawn. The reason is that the defending king will not be deflected so far - it has more chance of dealing with both the passed pawn and the defence of the main pawn mass.
Good and bad bishops The theme of good and bad bishops runs throughout all phases of the game, but it's especially evident in bishop endings. A 'good' bishop is one that has the majority of its own pawns fixed on a different colour complex, while a 'bad' bishop' is one that has the majority of its pawns fixed on the same colour complex. In certain phases ofthe game there are actually quite a few examples of a traditionally 'bad' bishop being superior to a so-called 'good' bishop. However, in pure same-colour bishop endings, 'good' virtually always means good and likewise 'bad' means bad! The main problems with having a 'bad' bishop in this type of ending are: 1) The bishop's mobility is hampered by its own pawns. 2) Perhaps even more importantly, the pawns themselves become targets for the opposing bishop. Often the 'bad' bishop is reduced to the job of defending weak pawns. 3) As we've seen in some cases, (Example 81, for instance) the owner ofthe 'bad' bishop is often vulnerable to attack by the enemy king on the different colour complex to that of the bishop. Let's see how these problems can be exploited in an admittedly lop-sided case.
Example 83 Ofek-Griinfeld, Ramat Aviv 1998
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames
Diagram 47 (8) White has an awful bishop!
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Diagram 48 (8) It's time to open up
(Diagram 47) This is a very severe case of the 'good' versus 'bad' bishop. White's pawns are fixed on dark squares, so that they are vulnerable to attack by Black's bishop. At the moment the only one that can be assaulted directly is the isolated pawn on d4, but if and when the position opens up via exchanges, pawns such as the ones on a3 and h2 could become vulnerable. Furthermore, Black's king is ideally placed on d5, eyeing the weaknesses on the light squares (especially c4 and e4). White can hardly allow and king infiltration on these squares, so his own king is pretty much stuck to the d3-square. Finally, the advanced pawns on a4 and h3 are very annoying for White. He always has to be wary of various bishop sacrifices (on b4 or g3) that might release these pawns and allow promotion. All in all, a perfect, 'good bishop v bad bishop' scenario for Black. It's not surprising that these advantages can be converted into a full point. 38 ...Bd8! Black cannot break through simply by attacking the d4-pawn - White's king and bishop can defend this point easily enough. Instead Black plans to open diagonals with ... g5, giving him more of a chance to reach White's other weaknesses. 39Be3 Or 39 Bd2 Bf6 40 Be3 g6! and White is in zugzwang (see the note to Black's 39th move) NOTE: A spare pawn tempo (in this case ... g7-g6) is a useful tool for inducing zugzwang. 39 ... Bf6! White is now in zugzwang - his king cannot move ~thout allowing a decisive infiltration, while the bishop cannot stay both defending d4 and preventing ... g5. White chooses the lesser evil: allowing Black to achieve ... g5. NOTE: Zugzwang normally features very heavily in 'good bishop' versus 'bad bishop' endings.
40Bgl
Bishops of Same Colour 40 Kc3?! is unthinkable: 40 ... Ke4! 41 Bg1 Kf3 and Black's king runs riot. 40 ... g5! 41 Bf2 Preventing an infiltration of the black bishop via h4 after an exchange on f4. Other defences are less resilient: a) 41 Be3 gxf4 42 gxf4 Bh4! (threatening ... Bg3! - an advantage of having the pawn on h3) 43 Bg1 Bel (another zugzwang) 44 Ke2 (or 44 Be3 Bg3!) 44 ... Bxb4! 45 axb4 a3 and there is no stopping the a-pawn. b) 41 fxg5 Bxg5 (immediately threatening ... Bc1) 42 Be3 (or 42 Kc2 Ke4 and ... Kf3-g2) 42 ... Bxe3 43 Kxe3 Kc4 and the pawn ending is clearly winning. 41. .. Be7 42 Bel Bd8! Cleverly using the squares on the d8-h4 diagonal to induce another zugzwang, which arises after 43 Bf2 gxf4 44 gxf4 Bf6!. In that case White cannot stay both protecting the d4-pawn and preventing ... Bh4. Following 45 Be3 Bh4 Black wins as in note 'a' to White's 41st move. 43 Bd2 gxf4 44 Bxf4 Bf6 45 Be3 (Diagram. 48) 45 ... e5! Somewhat paradoxically, the way to make progress here is to liquidate the weakness that has given White so much grief over the past few moves. Now, however, the a3- and g3-pawns begin to feel the chill. 46 dxe5 Bxe5 Threatening both ... Bb2 and ... Bxg3. There is no defence and White can already resign with a clear conscience. 47 Bf2 Bb2 48 Bel Bxa3 49 Be3 Bel 50 Bel Bg5 51 Be3 Be7 52 Ke3 Bd6 0-1 Black threatens both ... Bxg3 and the simple ... Be5.
The breakthrough A breakthrough (the idea of a pawn sacrificing itself in order to allow another one to progress, and possibly promote) is common in pure pawn endings, but can also feature in bishop endings. I particularly like the following example:
Example 84 Stroppa-Duffau, Yvelines 2003 (including analysis by Stropp a)
Diagram 49 (W) White has a breakthrough planned
Diagram 50 (8) The second breakthrough
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames (Diagralll 49) At first sight the position seems quite unclear, but in fact White has a very nice breakthrough on the kingside at his disposal. 1 g5! The first move looks fairly normal, but things are about to hot up ... 1...fxg5 Or: a) 1...b4 2 Bxf6! gxf6 3 g6! and the g-pawn will queen. b) 1...Be5 2 gxf6! gxf6 (2 ... Bxc3 allows 3 f7) 3 h5!! Bd6 (or 3 ... Bxc3 4 h6 and Black cannot prevent the h-pawn from queening) 4 Bxf6 Bf8 5 Kg4 c4 6 bxc4+ bxc4 7 Kg5 Ke4 8 Kg6 Kd3 9 h6 and White wins. c) 1...Bd8 2 Bxf6!! Bxf6 (or 2 ... gxf6 3 g6!) 3 gxf6 gxf6 4 h5 and the h-pawn promotes. 2 h5!! Much stronger than the 'automatic' 2 hxg5?, when 2 ... Be5! defends. After 2 h5 White has ideas of Bxg7 and f6, ... gxf6, h6. 2 ... Kd6 2 ... Be5 also fails: 3 f6!! gxf6 (3 ... Bxc3 4 f7) 4 Bxe5 Ke6 (captures on e5 allow the h-pawn to promote) 5 h6! Kf7 6 h7 Kg7 7 Bxf6+ Kxh7 8 Bxg5 c4 9 b4! and White will win. 3 f6! (Diagralll 50) The second breakthrough. White is paving the way for the h-pawn to promote. 3 Bxg7?! Ke7 4 h6 Kf7! is less clear. 3oo.Ke6 The only way to prevent an immediate catastrophe, but now White obtains two far advanced and connected passed pawns - a decisive advantage. 4 fxg7 Kf7 5 h6 Kg8 6 Kg4! Bf4 7 Kf5 Threatening Kg6 followed by h7 mate. 7oo.Kh7 8 Kf6 1-0 White next move is Kf7.
Bishop sacrifices One further theme of same-coloured bishop endings is the bishop sacrifice, which may be carried out either to allow a breakthrough, to simply accumulate pawns or a mixture of both. See the following case:
Example 85 Vistinietzki-Novopashin, Leningrad 1962 (Diagralll 51) Black is a clear pawn ahead. Added to this, the pawn on a4 is both passed and protected. But despite these advantages, the win is not straightforward. After the plausible 67 ... Be6?, understandably forcing a pawn ending after 68 Bxe6! Kxe6, it becomes apparent that Black has no way to win because White's pawns provide an impenetrable barrier. White's king simply stays in the 'square' of the a-pawn and Black has no way to progress (you can check that any attempt with ... g4 is unsuccessful). So how does Black make progress? 67 ... a3!
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Bishops of Same Colour
Diagram 51 (8) How does Black win?
Diagram 52 (8) A deflection is required
Now Black is threatening ... Be6, so White's king moves towards the pawn. 68Kd3 Now White simply plans Kc3-b3xa2. What's Black's idea? 68 ... g4! 69 fxg4 Bxg4!! So that's it. Black sacrifices his bishop to support a kingside breakthrough. 70 hxg4 White really has no option but to accept the sacrifice. Following 70 Kc3 f3! 71 gxf3 Bxh3 the h-pawn will touch down. 70 ...f3! Note the similarity between this breakthrough and the one seen in the previous example. 71Ke3 The only move to avoid an immediate promotion, but now Black obtains a pair of dangerous connected passed pawns. 71 ...fxg2 72 Kf2 h3 73 Kg1 Kg6 74 Kf2 Kg5 The other consequence of the bishop sacrifice is that there is now an entry path for the black king to infiltrate. 75 Be6 Kf4 76 Bd5 Kxg4 77 Be6+ Kf4 78 Bd5 (Diagram 52) Black now has three dangerous pawns for the bishop and White is completely tied up, but how to proceed? The answer comes in the form of a deflection. 78 ... g1Q+! 79 Kxg1 Ke3 Now Black's king is able to get to the queenside to support his a-pawn and attack b4. It's true that White's king is also back in the game, but Black has correctly calculated that White is just too slow with his counterplay. 80 Kh2 Kd4 81 Kxh3 Kc3 82 Kg4 Kxb4! 83 Kf5 Kc3 84 Kxe5 b4 85 Kd6 b3 86 e5 Or 86 Bxb3 Kxb3 87 e5 a2 88 e6 a1Q 89 e7 Qa4 and Black wins. 86 ... a2 87 e6 a1Q 88 e7 Qa3+ 89 Kd7 Qa7+ 90 Ke6 b2! 91 Be4 Qe3 0-1 The game could finish 92 Kf5 Qxe4+! 93 Kxe4 b1Q+ 94 Ke5 Qb5+ and ... Qe8.
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames
Try it Yourself
Exercise 1
Exercise 2
Exercise 1 (White to play) White has a winning position because he can force Black's king out of the g8square. Out ofthe continuations 64 Kg6 and 64 Bd7, which would you choose? Exercise 2 (Black to play) This game concluded 53 ...Kd6 54 Kb5 Kd7 55 Kc5 Bd6+ 56 Kb5 Kc8 57 Kc6 Kb8 58 Kxd6 Ka8 '1.-'1.. Can you see any improvements for either side?
Exercise 3
Exercise 4
Exercise 3 (White to play) Centurini's rule states that White should be winning here, but the actual winning process is far from straightforward (Clue: it's easier if Black's bishop starts on g3, f4 or e5 rather than h2). Exercise 4 (White to play) Should White grab the pawn on c6?
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Chapter Three
ishops of Opposite Colour
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Bishop and Two Pawns vs Bishop
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Bishop and Three Pawns vs Bishop
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Endings with More Pawns
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Try it Yourself
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames Opposite-coloured bishop endings couldn't be more different to those with samecoloured bishops. The drawing tendency of these endings is almost legendary: sometimes the attacker can be two or three pawns ahead and yet still the game ends in a draw. The reason for this vast number of draws in practice is that both sides usually dominate the colour of square of their own bishops, and this promotes the chances of the defender setting up a successful blockade or fortress. Once again we'll begin by looking at the most important fundamental oppositecoloured bishop endings before moving onto positions containing more pawns.
Bishop and Two Pawns versus Bishop
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Before moving onto our main topic, I should just briefly mention the ending of bishop and pawn against bishop, which of course is trivially drawn in 99% of all cases. The defending bishop simply moves to control a square in front of the pawn so that the pawn can never be forced through without the bishop capturing it. NOTE: Because the bishops are of opposite colour, the attacker's bishop can never oppose the defender's bishop and thus it cannot support the advance of a passed pawn.
The attacker only wins on the very rare occasions when the defender's bishop cannot reach a suitable diagonal in time and the king is unable to block the pawn, as in the following example.
Example 86 Kruppa-Moskalenko, Kharkov 1984
Diagram 1 (W) White wins
Diagram 2 (B) A perfect defensive set-up
(Diagram 1) Previously Black had incorrectly offered an exchange of rooks on e7, which White gladly accepted. Now, due to the unfortunate placing ofthe black bishop, White can force through the g-pawn. 71 g6!
and Black resigned. The bishop cannot locate itself onto the a1-h8 diagonal in
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time (71...Be5 is simply met by 72 Kxe5). The only other try to prevent the pawn moving to g7 is 71 ... KfS, but then White replies 72 Kf6!, after which there is no good answer to the threat of 73 g7+.
The pawns are connected At first sight two connected pawns would seem to give the attacker excellent winning chances, but unlike with same-coloured bishops (where the win ratio was 91 %), the winning chances are actually no more than reasonable (a win ratio of only 49% on my database). The main problem is overcoming the domination the defender has on the colour complex of his bishop, and preventing both a blockade and the bishop from sacrificing itself for the two pawns.
A perfect defensive set-up When defending against the two connected pawns, there is a fundamental setup that the defender should aim for, as demonstrated in the next example
Example 87
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Van Wely-Fedorov, Wijk aan Zee 2001 (Diagram 2) Van Wely has just moved his bishop from f4 to e3, an excellent move that immediately reaches the standard drawing set-up. The bishop is perfectly placed on this side ofthe gl-a7 diagonal because it both attacks the pawn on c5 and, with the king also ideally placed on c3, 'prevents' ... d4+ due to the simple reply Bxd4. Black has three possible plans here, but none of them leads to victory. a) Black can play 63 ... c4, moving his pawns onto the same colour as his bishop. However, it's easy to see that in general this is a bad plan. White's king simply stays immovable on c3, while the bishop remains on the gl-a 7 diagonal. White has a straightforward blockade on the dark squares and draws easily. The c4pawn is blocked forever and the d5-pawn will never be able to make it to d4 without being captured because White has total control of this square. White simply keeps moving his bishop along the gl-a7 diagonal. NOTE: In basic opposite-coloured bishop endings, the attacker should generally place his pawns on a different colour of square to his bishop. This prevents the defender from reaching an easy blockade.
b) Given the note above, the logical continuation is 63 ... d4+ (this was actually the game continuation), but unfortunately this fails to the rather obvious 64 Bxd4 cxd4+ 65 Kxd4 with an immediate draw. This is why White's king is so well placed on c3. If instead the king had been on say, d2, then ... d4 would have been very strong. c) Black's most serious option is to defend the c-pawn with 63 ... Kd6, keeping the status quo for the moment. However, as long as White doesn't panic, the draw is in his hands. What White should do is to simply shuffle his bishop along the crucial gl-a7 diagonal (more specifically, on the squares e3, f2 and gl). To stay protecting the c5-pawn, Black's king will need to be on one of four squares: d6, c6, b6 or b5. However, none ofthese squares allows Black's king to support the desired advance ... d4. The only available squares from where the king can support this advance are e5 and (after the bishop moves away) e4. However, as soon as Black's king moves to e5, the white bishop simply grabs
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames
the pawn on c5. Let's just playa few moves to satisfy ourselves that no progress can be made: 64 Bgl! Kc6 65 Bf2! (the punishment for leaving the crucial diagonal is harsh: 65 Bh2?? d4+! 66 Kc4 Bd5+ 67 Kd3 Bg2 6S Bgl Kd5! and White is in big trouble) 65 ... Bf5 66 Bgl (l'll stop the exclamation marks now - you should be getting the idea!) 66 ... BcS 67 Bf2 Ba6 6S Bgl Kb5 69 Bf2 Kc6 70 Bgl Kd6 71 Bf2 and it's clear that Black can make no progress. Now let's look at another example, this time with the defender a couple of moves away from reaching the ideal defensive set-up.
Example 88
Diagram 3 (W) Black should draw
Diagram 4 (W) White's only try is e5
(Diagram 3) White's first move is very natural, protecting the f5-pawn in preparation for e5. 1 Kf4 Ba4! The only move to secure a draw. Now Black intends to meet 2 e5 with 2 ... Bd7!, obtaining the ideal set-up and drawing in a similar way to Example S7. Let's see how Black loses if he fails to reach the ideal set-up: L.Bbl? 2 e5 Ba2 (it's true that Black prevents e6+ for the moment, but the lack of pressure on the f5-pawn allows White's king to move round to support this advance) 3 Ke3! (White's king is heading for d6) and now: a) 3 ... Bbl 4 e6+ KeS 5 Kf4! followed by Ke5, supporting the pawns' advance. But not 5 f6? Ba2! and White's king is too far away: 6 f7+ KfS an ... Bxe6, while 6 e7 allows Black a typical blockade. TIP: When advancing connected passed pawns, make sure that the king is supporting their progress.
b) 3 ... Bb3 (Black stays on the a2-gS diagonal for the moment) 4 Kd4 Ba2 5 Kc5 Bb3 6 Kd6 (now e6+ cannot be prevented) 6 ... Bc2 7 e6+ KeS S f6 (threatening f7+) S... Bg6 9 Ke5! (now White's king comes to g5 - the bishop runs out of squares) 9 ... Bh5 10 Kf4 KfS 11 Kg5 BeS (Black is resisting hard, but it's ultimately hopeless) 12 Bf2 KgS 13 Bc5 and Black is in zugzwang - f7 is White's next move.
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Bishops of Opposite Colour 2 Ke5!? I've deliberately put this move as the main line just to show that the defender cannot quite switch off once he has identified the ideal set-up; there are still one or two nuances that must be addressed. With 2 Ke5 White waits before committing his e-pawn and lays a little trap. Of course the most consistent move for White is 2 e5, but then Black is just in time to play 2 ... Bd7!, hitting f5, preventing e6+ and drawing in a similar way to Example B7. 2 ... Bc6! Ideally Black should wait for White to push his pawn to e5 before settling with ... Bd7. In the meantime it's a good idea to place the bishop on c6, attacking e4 and thus restricting the movement of White's king. Given the example below, the automatic move is 2 ... Bd7?!, but Black shouldn't be too hasty with this move. With the pawn on f5 still protected, White's king is free to roam: 3 Kd6! BcB? (consistently staying on the cB-h3 diagonal, but now Black loses; Black could still just about draw with 3 .. .KeB! 4 Bg5 BcB 5 Kc7 Bd 7 6 Bh4 [zugzwang, but ...] 6 ... Ba4 7 e5 Bc2! B f6 Bb3 9 Kd6 Kf7 and Black has constructed a blockade) 4 Kc7! (the bishop has run out of squares) 4... Ba6 5 e5 Bd3 6 e6+ (crucially, this comes with check) 6... KeB 7 f6 Bg6 and now White's king rushes to g5 and White wins as in note 'b' to Black's first move. 3 Kd4 Bb7! (Diagram 4) The bishop stays attacking e4 and is also ready to relocate to the cB-h3 diagonal after e5. 4 Ke3 Bc6 5 Kf4 Bb7 6 e5 Finally White admits that there's no other way to make progress. 6...Bc8! with the typical drawing position. If the pawns are far enough advanced (on the sixth rank), the ideal defensive set-up doesn't work because the bishop's diagonal is too short, as in the following case.
Example 89
Diagram 5 (W) White wins
Diagram 6 (W) White wins
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames (Diagram 5) The only difference between this example and the previous one is that the pieces have moved 'up' a rank. This slight alternation is enough to change the assessment to winning for White. 1 Kf5 Preparing to play e6. L.Ba5 Black's bishop logically aims to reach the d8-h4 diagonal. 1...Bb41oses after 2 e6 Ba3 3 Ke4! (the king will run to d7) 3 ... Bb4 4 Kd5 Ba3 5 Kc6 Bb4 6 Kd7 and e7+. 2 e6 Bd8 3 Bg6! and Black is in zugzwang - there's not enough space for the bishop to move on the d8-h4 diagonal. Both bishop and king moves will be met by e7.
Example 90 Henneberger 1916 (Diagram 6) In this example Black hasn't been able to reach the ideal set-up. Let's see how White should finish things off. 1 Bg5+! This move is stronger than 1 Bb4+ because here the bishop controls the crucial f6-square, thus ruling out counterattacks with ... Kf6 after e6. Other moves are less good: a) I e6? allows 1...Bxe6! (it's easy to forget this defence!) b) I f6+? is criminal- 1 ... Kf7 and Black has an impenetrable blockade. c) I Bb4+?! Kf7! 2 Kd4? (White can still win by admitting his mistake with 2 Bel!, planning to relocate the bishop to the correct h4-d8 diagonal) 2 ... Bc2! 3 e6+ Kf6! 4 e7 (otherwise ... Bxf5) 4 ... Ba4 5 Ke4 Kf7 and again Black has a blockade. l...Kd7 After 1.. .Kf7 White runs his king to d6 with Kd4-c5-d6 and follows up with e6+, winning as we've seen before. 2Kf4! White's king begins the long journey to support the e6 advance. With Black's king on d7, the supporting square is f6! 2 ...Ba2 3 Bh4 Bf7 4 Kg5 Ke7 The most resilient: 4 ... Bg8 5 Kf6 Bb3 6 e6+ Ke8 7 Ke5 Bc2 8 f6 Bg6 9 Kf4 and Kg5 wins as we've seen before. 5 Kh6+! Kd7 6 Kg7 Bd5 7 Kf6 Finally the advance e6+ cannot be prevented. The win is now pretty straightforward. 7... Ke8 8 e6 Bf3 9 Ke5 Bh5 10 f6 Bg6 11 Kf4 Kf8 12 Kg5 Be8 13 Bf2 Kg8 14 Bc5 and Black is in zugzwang.
The pawns are split Perhaps surprisingly on first thought, the attacker has been more successful when the two pawns are split (the winning ratio on my database is 57%). Before
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Bishops of Opposite Colour
o o
we go on to look at a few examples it's worth stating an important point. NOTE: The larger the gap between the two pawns, the greater the winning chances for the attacker.
This last note is reasonably easy to comprehend. The nearer the pawns are, the easier it is for the defending king and bishop to contain them. As the gap gets larger, the defensive resources become more stretched. NOTE: As a rough guide, the attacker normally wins if the gap between the pawns is three files.
Defending on one diagonal Just as in the bishop versus pawns ending, the ability of the defending bishop to fight against threats on one diagonal is crucial. If the defender can reach a position where this is possible, then he usually draws.
Example 91 Variation on Cheron 1957
Diagram 7 (W) Defending on one diagonal
Diagram 8 (W) White cannot make progress
(Diagram 7) Here Black's bishop is perfectly placed to cope with the potential pawn advances f4 and c7. Crucially, Black's king is also ready to help the bishop to oppose the white king's attempts to support these advances. Black's king simply follows in the same direction as White's, and White can make no progress. 1 Kc5 Threatening Kb6 followed by c7. The alternative is 1 Ke4, preparing f4. Black answers this move with. 1...Kg5!' 1...Ke7! The most consistent move. 1...Bc7 is also possible, but it's revealing that Black doesn't actually have to use his bishop apart from when waiting. 2 Kb6Kd8! Preventing c7.
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames 3Kc5 Now White rushes back to the e4-square to prepare f4, but Black's king is ready... 3 ... Ke7! 4 Kd5 Kf6! 5 Ke4 Kg5! (Diagram 8) and White is not getting anywhere. If White's king moves back to b6, Black's king rushes back to d8 and so on. Even when the attacker breaks the resistance on the diagonal, success cannot be taken for granted. Look at the following case:
Example 92
Diagram 9 (8) A surprising draw
Diagram 10 (W) Black has a blockade
(Diagram 9) Both of White's pawns are well advanced and Black cannot defend only on one diagonal. However, he can still draw with careful defence. Unfortunately for White, the board is not quite wide enough (an introduction of an extra 'i' file would grant White victory!). "1...Ke8! Doing two jobs at once: covering d7 and preventing Kf7 and thus allowing the bishop to change diagonals. Other moves lose in a straightforward fashion: a) l...Bb3? 2 Kg7! (White prepares KhS and then g7-gS; not 2 g7? BgS!) 2 ... Bc2 3 Kf7! Bb3+ 4 KfS and g7 -g8. b) l...Bd3? 2 Kf7! (but not 2 g7? Bc4! 3 Kg6 BgS!) 2 ... Bc4+ 3 KfS and again g7gS. 2Kg7 The most testing line. White prepares KhS followed by g7 -gS (2 g7 is met by 2 ... BgS!). 2 ... Bd3! The only move: Black prevents KhS. 3 Kh6 Bc4! Again the only move. White was threatening g7, ... Bc4, Kh7. 4Kh7
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Bishops of Opposite Colour Now White threatens g7. 4 ... Bd3! The bishop is performing miracles! 5 Kh6 Be4! 6 g7 Eg8! (Diagralll 10) and Black has a perfect blockade - there is absolutely no way for White to break through. Black will simply oscillate his king between d7 and e8, being sure to leave it on d7 if White's king tries to venture to the c6·square. If there were an extra file on the right of the board, White would have an easy winning plan of Ki7-h8!
Example 93
Diagram 11 (W) White wins
Diagram 12 (8) Draw!
(Diagra= 11) Just to redress the balance a little, I should include a case ofthe bishop and two pawns winning! Here there is a gap of three files between the pawns, and this makes all the difference. Black's defences are extended too far. 1 Ke3 White's first aim is to march the king up to the b6-square. 1...Kf5 2 Kd4 Bf3 3 Ke4 Ke6 4 Kb5 Kd7 5 Kb6 Bg4 6 Bf4 Bf3 7 Be3 The first zugzwang. Black must allow one of the pawns to advance.
7... Bg4 The most resilient defence. Following 7 ... Be4 8 g4 Bf3 9 g5 Be4 10 Bf2 Black is very quickly in zugzwang again and the pawns advance further. S e6+ KeS Trying to defend on the one diagonal doesn't work on this occasion. Here, unlike the previous example, the board isn't big enough: 8 ... Ke8 9 c7 Bc8 10 Ka7 Bg4 11 Kb8 and unfortunately for Black, there is not a square on d9 for his king! WARNING: The defence on one diagonal doesn't work if one of the pawns is on the seventh rank. 9 e7 9 Kc5 Kc7 10 Bf4+ Kc8 11 Kd6 Bf3 12 c7 is perhaps even more precise, but the text move is good enough.
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames 9 ...Bf310 Bf4 Kd711 Kc5 Be2 12 Be5 White's king is coming to f4 to force the pawn through to g4. 12 ...Bg4 13 Kd4 Bf5 14 Ke3 Be6 15 Kf4 Bf7 16 g4 Bb3 17 Kg5 Bd118 Kf5 Black is powerless to prevent White's slow but sure progression. 18...Bc2+ 19 Kf6 Bd3 20 g5 Bc2 21 g6 Bb3 22 Kg7! It would be careless for White to allow 22 g7?! Bg8!, but ultimately it would not be a disaster. Unlike in the previous example, White could still win after the long-winded 23 Kf5 Bf7 24 Ke4 Bg8 25 Kd4 Bf7 26 Kc5 Bg8 27 Kb6 Kc8 28 Kc6 Bf7 29 Kd6 followed by Ke7-f8 etc. 22 ...Bc2 23 Kf7 In contrast to the previous example, White's king has access to this square. 23 ...Bb3+ 24 Kf8 and White wins with g7-g8.
Bishop and Three Pawns versus Bishop This scenario is nearly always winning for the attacker (the win ratio on my database is 90%), but there are occasions where the defender draws if a blockade can be reached.
Example 94 Fahrni (Diagrrun 12) Funnily enough, Black's defence is the same regardless of whether White has a bishop or not! l...Kh8! Stalemate is the key resource here. L.Bc3? would allow White to break through with 2 f6+! Bxf6 3 h8Q+! Kxh8 4 Kxf6, which would be winning even without White's bishop. 2 g7+ What else? After Black's bishop moves from f6, the pawn push to f6 will always be greeted by ... Bxf6!' 2 ... Bxg7 3 f6 Bxf6 4 Kxf6 and it's stalemate.
Endings with More Pawns The drawish tendency of opposite-coloured bishops remains when there are more pawns on the board. Just for interest I checked out the statistics for a few endgames. Bishop and four pawns each With same-coloured bishops the draw ratio was 50%, but with oppositecoloured bishops it was as high as 77%. Bishop and five pawns versus bishop and four Same-coloured bishops: 71% wins, 24% draws, 5% losses Opposite coloured bishops: 35% wins, 63% draws, 2% losses
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Bishops of Opposite Colour The second case is very revealing. With an extra pawn there is only a one in three chance of winning!
Fortresses One of the most important resources for the defender is the construction of a fortress. Let's look at an example of the most typical kind.
Example 95
Diagram 13 (W) A successful fortress
Diagram 14 (W) An easy draw
The position shown in Diagram 13 is a stone-cold draw. It should be immediately apparent that White can do nothing constructive, despite having a twopawn advantage. Black's fortress consists of the king firmly blocking White's passed pawn, plus the bishop and pawns all protecting each other and preventing White from obtaining another passed pawn on the other side of the board. For anyone who needs more convincing, let's just playa few moves from the diagram. 1 Ke4Bg1 The simplest course of action: Black moves his bishop up and down the long gla7 diagonal so that it stays protecting the b6-pawn and keeps an eye on the pawn break c5, White's only chance on the queenside. Black could also leave the bishop on c5 and oscillate with his king between the squares g7 and f6, although the black king would have to go back to g7 if White's king ever ventured up to h5, otherwise Kh6 would lift the blockade: 1.. .Kf6 2 Kf4 Kg7 3 Kg4 Kf6 4 Kh5 Kg7 5 Bd5 and now Black should move his bishop. 5 ... Kf6?? would be a blunder that loses after 6 Kh6! (threatening g7) 6 ... Bf8+ 7 Kh7 Bg7 8 c5! (the blockade on the queenside is broken) 8 ... bxc5 9 b6 and White wins. 2 Kd5 Be5 3 Ke6 Bg1 (Diagram 14) White has infiltrated with his king but it achieves nothing more here than it does on the kingside. Black's most 'vulnerable' pawn (the one on b6) is on a dark square and is protected by the black bishop. With White's bishop operating on light squares, there are simply no other pieces that can attack this pawn.
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames
4 c5 This pawn break is White's only remaining hope, but Black's reply isn't too difficult ... 4 ... Bxc5! and now it's certainly safe to call this a draw. On the other hand, 4 ... bxc5?? would be a serious blunder, gifting White a second passed pawn and, with it, the game: 5 b6 Bh2 6 b7 c4 (what else?) 7 Bxc4 Kxg6 8 Kd7 followed by Kc8 and b8Q. TIP: In opposite-coloured bishop endings, the defender should generally put his pawns on the same colour complex to that of his bishop. This is very important to remember because it's contrary to the advice given in same-coloured bishop endings. With the pawns on the same colour as the defending bishop, they can be protected by that bishop and can only be attacked by the enemy king. Note that in the previous example, a slight change in Black's pawn structure would alter the result. If Black's pawn were on a 7 instead of a5, Black would not have a fortress because the a7-pawn is unprotected and thus vulnerable to attack. Indeed, there would be little Black could do to prevent White's king marching up to b7 to capture the pawn, followed by Ka6 and pawn to a5, lifting the blockade on the queenside. In theory the bishop could defend the a7-pawn from b8, but it's easy to see that this wouldn't work (Black would have no answer to Kb7). We'll look at more ofthis type of position later.
Example 96 Dautov-A.Sokolov, Ohrid 2001
Diagram 15 (8)
Diagram 16 (W)
Black sets up a fortress
Draw!
(Diagram 15) Here Black sets up a typical fortress, the easiest way to reach a drawn position. 46 ... Be2! The bishop plans to go to the ideal square h5, sealing things up on the kingside. Meanwhile, Black's king only has to take care of the b-pawn. 47 Bd4 Kd6 48 Kg5 Bh5
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Bishops of Opposite Colour
o
Here the players agreed a draw. Let's just play on a few more moves. 49 b5 Kc7 50 b6+ Kb7 51 Kf6 Kc6 (Diagrrun 16) Now if White keeps his king attacking g6, Black can simply oscillate his king between b7 and c6. If White's king marches to the queenside, Black keeps his king on b7 and moves his bishop up and down the d1-h5 diagonal. In either case it's easy to see that White's not getting anywhere. NOTE: In an ideal fortress the defender's king blocks the enemy passed pawn while the bishop p~otects the defender's pawn mass.
The king is the ideal piece to take care of the passed pawn due to two reasons. Firstly, unlike the bishop it can attack the pawn at the same time. Secondly, and more importantly, it cannot be harassed by the enemy king. In the final position (Diagrrun 16) if you swap the positions of Black's king and bishop, he would suddenly be in big trouble. White would play Be5-g3 (to protect the kingside pawns) and then march his king to c7 to harass the bishop and support the pawn's promotion.
Example 97 Jansa-Sunye Neto, Zenica 1986
Diagram 17 (8) A drawn position
Diagram 18 (W) Draw agreed
(Diagrrun 17) Here we see that typical endgame scenario again: the same number of pawns on one side with the attacker having an extra passed pawn on the far wing. The defender's chances of drawing are far superior here than in the analogous ending with same-coloured bishops (see Example 82). 44 ...f6! Black begins sensibly, putting his pawns on dark squares. 45 Kf3 Ke7! In line with the rules of the ideal fortress, the king comes to the queenside to take care of White's passed pawn. 46 h4 h6! Now all of Black's pawns are on dark squares. 47 Ke4 Kd6 48 Bd5 Bf2!
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames Another technique that edges Black nearer to setting up a fortress. By forcing White's pawns onto light squares, Black increases the likelihood of a blockade on that side: White will have no effective pawn break and Black's bishop will find it easier to find an invulnerable outpost. 49 h5 Bg3! Again excellent technique. White has an obvious plan of Kf5-g6xg7, so Black discourages this idea by attacking the f4-pawn. 50Bg8 Following 50 f5, Black plays ... Bh4-g5 and White would never be able to make progress, even if his king could somehow run round to grab the g7-pawn. 50 ...Bh2 51 Kf5 Bg3 52 Bd5 Bh2 v"-v,, (Diagram 18) Here the players agreed a draw as it's obvious White can make no progress. The logical continuation would be 53 Kg6 Bxf4 54 Kxg7 Bg5, when Black has an ideal fortress.
Example 98 Sax-Yusupov, Rotterdam 1988
Diagram 19 (8) A different approach
Diagram 20 (W) Black has a fortress
(Diagram 19) In this example Black aims for a second type offortress, in which the king and bishop work together to prevent both the passed pawn progressing and the enemy king infiltrating the pawn mass. 40 ... £5! A good start. Black puts his pawns on the same colour of square as his bishop. If Black failed to do this, White would have the possibility of playing his pawn to f5, fixing the black pawns on dark squares where they may be vulnerable to attack from the bishop. 41 Be5 g6 42 Kb7 White lines up the typical breakthrough idea b5, ... axb5, a5, as on b7 the king can support the passed pawn's route home. The most obvious try is 42 b5 axb5 43 axb5 (or 43 a5!? b4 44 a6 b3 45 a7 Bf3 and White cannot make progress) 43 ... Bfl 44 Kc5 (or 44 Ka5 Be2 45 b6 Kc6! 46 Bc7 Bfl 47 Kb4 Ba6 48 Kc3 Kd5 and there is no way through) 44 ... Be2 45 b6
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Bishops of Opposite Colour Bf3! 46 Bb2 Bg2 47 Kd4 Ke6! (Diagram 20) with a typical fortress where Black's king and bishop combine to prevent both the passed pawn from promoting and White's king from infiltrating. 42 ... Ke6! Black has to be prepared to counterattack in the case of White using the breakthrough on the queenside. 43 Ke7 Critical is 43 b5!? axb5 44 a5, when Black will eventually be forced to sacrifice his bishop for the a-pawn. However, Black's counterplay on the kingside will be sufficient. One sample line runs 44 ... Bf3+ 45 Kb8 Kd5! 46 a6 Ke4 47 a7 Ke3 48 a8Q Bxa8 49 Kxa8 Kf3 50 Kb7 Kg2 51 Kc6 Kxh2 52 g4 h5! (not 52 .. .fxg4?? 53 f5+!) 53 gxh5 gxh5 54 Kd5 h4 and it's actually Black who wins! 43 ... Bd3 44 Kd8 Kf7!
An important point: Black prevents the white king from creeping along the back rank to attack the weak pawn on h7. 45 Be3 Be2 46 b5!? Finally White tries the breakthrough on the queenside. 46 ... axb5 47 a5 b4! The easiest way to draw is to immediately give back the pawn, thus preventing the a-pawn from progressing without help from its king. 48 Bxb4 Bfl 49 Kd7 Be2 50 Kd6 Bfl 51 Kd7 and the players agreed a draw. The only idea White has is to support the apawn with his king: 51 Kc5 Ke6 52 Kb6 Kd7! 53 a6 Be2 54 a7 Bf3 55 h3 h5! (preventing g4) 56 Kc5 Ke6, when there is no way for White to improve his position. White wants to get his king to the b8-square to support the a-pawn's promotion, but it's prevented from going there via c7 by the black king and via a7 because the pawn is in its way!
Example 99 Euwe-Yanofsky, Groningen 1946
Diagram 21 (8) Black should draw
Diagram 22 (W) White to play and win
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames , (Diagram 21) Here's another example showing the defensive resources in opposite-coloured bishop endings. White has two extra connected passed pawns on the queenside but still Black should draw with best play. However, it's true that the defence has to be more precise than in the preceding examples. 31 ...h5! Again a good opening move. At some point Black intends to follow up with ... g6 so that the rear pawn of the two can be protected by the bishop. Another point is that White is not allowed to advance his pawns too far on the kingside without having to deal with exchanges. Dvoretsky gives the following alternative line: 3l...Ke6?! 32 Kf2 (32 g4!?) 32 ... Kd7? 33 BfS! g6 34 Bh6! and now it's clear that the h7-pawn could be a decisive weakness in the long run. 32 Kf2 Bd3! Forcing the a-pawn onto a dark square so that a blockade on the queenside becomes more likely. 33 a7 Be4 34 g3 Ke6 35 Ke3 Bg2? A plausible move, but it turns out to be the decisive error. Black has no need to allow White's king near the kingside pawns. That said, it takes some impressive play by Euwe to refute Black's play. Black can secure the draw with 35 ... Kf5! (from here the king can still get back to the queenside in time) 36 BfS g6 37 Kd4 Bg2 3S Kc5 Ke6! (preventing Kd6) 39 Kb6 Kd7! (preventing Kc7) 40 b4 BaS 41 b5 and now: a) 41...Bg2? 42 aSQU BxaS 43 Ka7 Bf3 44 KbS! (Averbakh) and there is nothing that Black can do about the threat ofb6-b7 followed by KbS. b) 41...KcS! and White can make no further progress. 36 Kf4! g6 37 g4! The first step in White's plan to obtain the f5-square for his king! 37 ...hxg4 38 Kxg4 Bh1 39 Kg5 Kf7 40 Bd4 Bg2 41 h4 Bh1 42 b4 Bg2 43 b5 Bh1 Now how does White make further progress? 44Bf6! This is a crucial square for the bishop, as we will see. 44 ...Bg2 (Diagram 22) 44 ... Be4 is answered by 45 Kf4! followed by Ke5, Bg5 and Kd6-c7, winning. 45h5! Removing the defender of the f5-square. Suddenly White's idea is becoming apparent. 45 ... gxh5 46 Kf5! 1-0 Following 46 ... KeS 47 Ke6! White will follow up with Kd6-c7 etc. This is why White placed his bishop on the fB-square. On this square it prevents ... Ke7 and ... KdS, while it also contains Black's newly passed h-pawn.
Targeting vulnerable pawns One obvious technique that the attacker can employ in opposite-coloured bishop endings is to attack any vulnerable pawns in the defender's pawn mass.
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Bishops of Opposite Colour
Example 100 Kozul-Pinter, Rabac 2003
Diagram 23 (W) White targets h7
o
Diagram 24 (8) A decisive breakthrough
(Diagram 23) At first sight it looks as if Black has a fortress, and if Black's pawn on h7 were on h5 instead, then this would indeed be the case. However, on h7 the pawn is vulnerable to attack from White's king. Once this pawn falls, Black's kingside cannot hold itself together. If the black bishop plants itself on f5 then White creates a second passed pawn with h5; if the bishop moves to h5 then White moves his king to f6, simultaneously hitting both g6 and e6 (remember that Black's king has to contain the b-pawn). Enough of the chat. Let's see how this works out in practice. 53 Bc7! Defending b6 and vacating the e5-square for the king. 53 ... e5! The best try. Passive defence fails: 53 ... Bf3 54 Kd4 Ke7 55 Ke5 Bg2 56 Bd6+ (forcing the king one way or the other) 56 ... Kd7 (or 56 ... Kf7 57 Bc5 and Kd6) 57 Bc5 Kc6 58 Be3 Bh3 (or 58 ... Kd7 59 Kf6 Bf3 60 Kg7 Ke7 61 Kxh7 Kf7 62 h5!) 59 Kf6 Bg4 60 Kg7 Kb7 61 Kxh7 Bh5 (6 l... Bf5 loses after 62 Kh6 Kc6 63 h5!) 62 Kg7 Kc6 63 Kf6 Kd7 64 Bc5! and Black is in zugzwang and must lose. 54 f5! (Diagram 24) This breakthrough is much stronger than 54 fxe5? Ke6 55 Kb5 Bb7!, after which Black has indeed set up a fortress. NOTE: In opposite-coloured bishop endings, positional aspects are often more important than material considerations.
54 ... gxf5 55 Bxe5 Now White is threatening to create a decisive passed pawn on the kingside. 55 ...Ke6 Or 55 ... Kc8 56 h5 Bf3 57 g6! hxg6 58 h6! and the h-pawn promotes. 56 Bf4Kd7 56 ... Bf3 can still be met by 57 h5! - the bishop on f3 is overloaded.
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames 57 h5 KeS 58 hS! 1-0 After 58 ... Kf7 (to prevent g6) White simply plays Kd6-c7 and pawn to b7.
Example 101 Speelman-Sveshnikov, Biel 1993
Diagram 25 (8) A difficult defence
Diagram 26 (W) White is stuck
(Diagram 25) In this position Black's task is complicated by the fact that his pawns on the kingside are fixed on light squares, so they could become targets for the light-squared bishop. It looks as if Black can draw, but only with precise defence. 44 ... Ba7?
An immediate mistake that costs the game. Speelman gives the following drawing line: 44 ... Ke7! (preventing Be8 in preparation for .. .£5) 45 Kf3 f5! 46 Ke2 Ba 7 47 Kd3 Bf2 (of course White's kingside pawns are also vulnerable) 48 Kc4 Kd8! (Black's king must rush to the queenside to relieve the bishop of its duty) 49 Kd5 Kc7 50 Ke6 Bxg3 51 Kf6 Bxf4! 52 Kxg6 Bd6! 53 Kxh5 (White has two passed pawns but ... ) 53 ... Be7! (Diagram 2S) and Black draws by the skin of his teeth. Strangely enough, White cannot do anything on the kingside without losing his h-pawn (Bd3 is met by ... Kb6). 45 Kf3 Bg14S Bc4+ Ke7 47 Ke4 KfS 48 Kd5 Kf5 Black's only chance is to counterattack with the king, otherwise White's own king will simply rush to b7. 49 KdS! fS Planning to exchange pawns with ... g5. The main alternative is 49 ... Kg4 but then White wins with 50 Bxf7 Kxg3 51 Ke5! (White must keep the £-pawn) 51...Kxh4 52 Bxg6 Kg4 53 Bf5+ Kh4 54 Be4 Kg4 55 f5 Kg5 56 f6 Kh6 57 Ke6 Bc5 58 Kd7 followed by f7 and Ke8. 50 Be2 g5 The most resilient defence is 50 ... Ke4! when White's king should attack the black pawns on the kingside: 51 Ke6! (51 Kc6? Bd4 52 Kb7 f5! 53 a7 Bxa7 54 Kxa7 is only a draw after 54 ... Ke3 55 Bc4 Kf2 56 Bf7 Kxg3 57 Bxg6 Kxf4) 51...Bd4 52 Kf7 Kf5 (or 52 ... Ke3 53 Kxg6! Kxe2 54 Kxh5 Kf3 55 Kg6 Kxg3 56 h5
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Bishops of Opposite Colour and one of the pawns will promote as the bishop is overloaded) 53 Bd3+ Kg4 54 Kxg6 Kxg3 55 Kxh5 Kh3! (55 ... Kxf4loses to 56 Kg6 and h5 etc.) 56 f5 Kg3 57 Bf1! (zugzwang!) 57 ... Bc5 58 Kg6 Kxh4 59 Kxf6 Kh5 60 Ke6 Kg5 61 f6 Kg6 62 Bd3+ Kh6 63 Kd 7 and White finishes with f7 and Ke8. 51 Bd3+ Kg4 52 hxg5! fxg5 53 f5! As is often the case, the creation of a second passed pawn proves to be decisive. 53 ... h4 54 gxh4 gxh4 55 f6 1-0
Creating a passed pawn A second technique an attacker can utilise is the creation of a second passed pawn (assuming the extra pawn is also passed). With two passed pawns to contend with, the defender's resources become stretched, particularly if there is a large gap between the two pawns.
Example 102 Anand-Karpov, Lausanne 1998
Diagram 27 (8) Black targets h5
Diagram 28 (W) A good spot for the bishop
(Diagram 27) Here Karpov shows excellent technique in converting his extra pawn. 40 ...f4! Isolating the pawn on h5, which will now be picked off with ... Be8xh5. It's true that White will also pick up the pawn on f4, but the resulting asymmetric pawn structure on the kingside gives Black every chance of creating another passed pawn. 41Bb2 Following 41 Bc3 a4 42 Bd2 a3 White doesn't have time to grab the pawn on f4 because the a-pawn is promoting. 41...Be8 42 Bel a4 43 Bxf4 a3 44 Be3 Bxh5 45 Kf2 Or 45 g4 a2 46 Bd4 Be8 (intending to create a second passed pawn with ... g6 and ... h5) 47 f4 g6! 48 Kf2 h5 49 Kg3 Ba4 50 Kh4 Kh6 51 Bc3 Bd1! (forcing the issue) 52 gxh5 gxh5 (Ftacnik) and Black has a winning advantage. Let's playa
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames few more moves: 53 Kg3 Kg6 54 Kf2 Kf5 55 Ke3 (White must prevent ... Ke4-d3 but now ... ) 55 ... h4! 56 Ba1 h3 and White is stretched too far. 45 ... Be8 46 Bd4 Be6 (Diagram 28) A good place for the bishop, pressuring White on the kingside. 47 Be3 a2 48 g3 Passive defence is hopeless; for example, 48 Ke3 h5 49 Ba1 g5 50 Bb2 h4 51 Ba1 Kg6 52 Bb2 Kf5 53 Ba1 g4! 54 fxg4+ (otherwise Black gets a passed pawn) 54 ... Kxg4 55 Kf2 Kf4 56 Bb2 Ke4 57 Ke2 Bb5+! and now 58 Kf2 is met by 58 ... Kd3 followed by ... Kc2-b1, while 58 Kd2loses to 58 ... Bfl. 48 ... h5 49 g4 Or: a) 49 Kg2 g5 50 Kf2 Kg6 51 Ke3 h4 52 Kf2 h3 (threatening ... g4!) 53 g4 h2! 54 Kg2 Bxf3+ 55 Kxh2 Bxg4 and Black has his second passed pawn. b) 49 f4 (now Black's king is free to infiltrate on the light squares) 49 ... Kg6 50 Ke3 Kf5 51 Bb2 Kg4 52 Kf2 h4! 53 gxh4 Kxf4 (Ftacnik) and Black will follow up with ... Kg4xh4, leaving him with a decisive passed pawn on g7. 49 ...h40-1 One possible continuation is 50 f4 g5! 51 f5 (or 51 fxg5 Kg6 and both g-pawns will be captured) 51...exf5 52 gxf5 g4 (Ftacnik) and Black wins; for example, 53 e6 g3+ 54 Ke2 Bd5! (containing White's pawns) 55 e7 Bc6 56 f6 Kg6 and there's no stopping Black's pawns.
Example 103 Maksimovie-Pikula, Podgorica 1996
Diagram 29 (B) White draws
Diagram 30 (B) The bishop stays on d8
(Diagram 29) In this example White's king deals with the passed b-pawn, while everything on the kingside is covered. Black's only chance is to try to create a second passed pawn on the kingside, but a combination of a symmetrical pawn structure and White's good defensive technique denies him. 52 ... Be6 53 Kb2 Kf3 54 Ke3 Ke4 55 Bf6! The bishop finds a good diagonal. We'll see why in a few moves.
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Bishops of Opposite Colour 55 ... Kf5 56 Bd8! f6 The only attempt at creating a passed pawn is with .. .f6 followed by ... g5 and then ...h5. If White captures on g5, Black recaptures with the f-pawn, giving him the opportunity to create a passed pawn with ... h4. 57 Kb2 Bd5 58 Kc3 h6 Black is in no hurry. 59 Kb2 g5 60 Kc3! (Diagram 30) It's becoming clear that with White's bishop on d8, attacking f6, Black can achieve little. 60 hxg5?! is what Black wants: 60 ... fxg5 61 Be7? (White can still draw with 61 f3!) 61...Kg4! and now there is no good defence to ... h5-h4, creating a decisive second passed pawn. 60 ...Kg6 Black plays a few moves before acquiescing to the draw. The most direct attempt is 60 ... gxh4 61 gxh4 Kg6 (of course 61...Kg4 is met by 62 Bxf6, protecting the h4-pawn) 62 Kb2 f5 63 Bc7! Kh5 64 Bf4 and Black has nothing better than 64 ... Kxh4 65 Bxh6, after which White's bishop has the simple task of defending f2. 61 Be7 Bf7 62 Bd8 f5 63 hxg5 h5!? 64 f4 Bd5 65 Kb2 Kf7 66 g6+! Yo-Yo Following 66 ... Kxg6 67 Bh4! White has a perfect fortress. In some cases, as in the following example, the attacker may have to sacrifice one or two pawns to create the second passed pawn. Despite its many mistakes and my obvious disappointment with the final result, it's worth including because there are quite a few enlightening moments.
Example 104 Steil-Emms, Hamburg 1992
Diagram 31 (8) Surely a draw?
Diagram 32 (W) The h-pawn is dangerous
(Diagram 31) Despite having been in a drawn position for many moves, I gamely battled on in the hope that my resilient opponent would finally make a mistake, and now I was about to make my final bid for victory. My previous few moves had included marching my king to g4, before 'sealing' it in with .. .f7-f5.
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames My opponent seemed quite bemused by this all until he saw my next move. 52 ... g5! The whole point of Black's previous play and the only possible way to create a second passed pawn on the kingside. Perhaps it was the shock of this move that caused my opponent to err immediately. 53 fxg5?! Not yet losing, but making things more difficult. The right capture is 53 hxg5! h4 54 gxh4 Kxf4 and, in contrast to the game continuation, Black has a passed f-pawn instead of a passed h-pawn. We already know that the defence is easier if the passed pawns are nearer together, so on principle this should have been White's choice. In fact White draws comfortably, one possible line being 55 Bd2+ Kg4 (or 55 ... Ke4 56 Ba5 Bh5 57 Bb4 Kd3 58 Ba5! c3 59 Bxc3! Kxc3 60 Ke3 Kc4 61 Kf4 Bg6 62 h5) 56 Ke3 f4+ 57 Kd4 f3 58 Bel Bf7 59 g6 Bg8 60 g7 Kh5 61 Ke3 etc. 53 ... f4! 54 gxf4 Kxh4 (Diagram 32) Black's initial play has been successful- he is no longer a pawn ahead but does possess a very dangerous passed h-pawn. In contrast, thanks to the positioning of the black bishop on e8, White's newly acquired passed pawns are no threat. TIP: Before indulging in a sacrifice to create a passed pawn, make sure that your bishop is correctly placed to contain the new enemy passed pawns.
55 Kg2 Kg4 56 Bd2 Bg6 Without his two connected passed pawns, White would be lost, but with precise defence these give him enough counterplay to draw. 57 Bel? After this mistake White has a lost position - it's a bad idea to allow the c-pawn to pass through the c3 barrier and to its 'last stop' without any provocation. White can draw with 57 Kh2; for example, 57 ... Be4 58 Kgl Kg3 59 Kfl and now: a) 59 ... h4 60 Bel +! (once this pawn leaves the 'safety' of h5, White's king must rush to h2 to stop its progress; in many lines White can give up his bishop for the c-pawn and use his own pawns to deflect the black bishop from the defence of the final black pawn). 60 ... Kg4 61 Kgl! h3 62 Kh2 Bf5 63 Bc3 Kxf4 64 g6 Ke3 65 g7 Be6 66 g8Q Bxg8 67 Kxh3 with a draw. b) 59 ... Kf3 60 Kgl Bf5 61 Kfl h4 62 Kgl Ke2 63 Bcl c3 64 Kh2 Kdl 65 Be3 c2 66 g6! Bxg6 67 Kh3 and again it's a draw. 57 ... e3! Of course! 58 Kh2 Be4 59 Be3 Kf3 60 Bel Bf5! Placing White in zugzwang - something has to give. 61 Kg1 Giving up the f4-pawn while Black's pawn is still on h5 simply loses: 61 Ba3 Kxf4! 62 Bcl+ Kf3 63 Ba3 c2 64 Bcl Ke2 65 Kg3 Kdl 66 Be3 clQ 67 Bxcl Kxcl 68 Kh4 Bg6! and the bishop does all it needs to do on g6. 61...Kg3! Strangely enough, pushing with the immediate 61...c2? is too early. Following 62 Kh2! Black cannot improve his position as White can always play waiting
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Bishops of Opposite Colour moves with Bd2-c1-d2 etc. For example, 62 ... Ke2 63 Kg3 Kd1 64 Be3 c1Q 65 Bxc1 Kxc1 66 Kh4 Bg6 and now the extra f-pawn makes all the difference, as 67 f5 is an easy draw. 62 Be3 e2 63 Bd2 Be4! Another zugzwang. I must admit that this endgame is full of subtlety, most of which passed me by as I was playing the game. The immediate 63 ... h4? is too early, allowing White to draw with 64 Bel +! Kxf4 65 Bd2+ Kg3 (65 ... Kg4 66 Kh2! is similar) 66 Be1+! Kf3 67 Bd2 Ke2 68 Bf4 Kd1 69 Kh2! c1Q 70 Bxc1 Kxc1 and the h-pawn is too far advanced: 71 g6! Kd2 72 g7 Be6 73 g8Q! Bxg8 74 Kh3 with a draw. 64 Kfl (Diagram 33)
Diagram 33 (8) Black to play and win!
Diagram 34 (8) An easy draw
In contrast to the previous note, 64 Bel + now loses after 64 ... Kxf4 65 Bd2+ Kf3 66 Kh2 Ke2 67 Bf4 Kd1 68 Kg3 c1Q 69 Bxc1 Kxc1 70 Kh4 Bg6!. 64 ... Bd3+? The first of many missed chances. Black can win very neatly with 64 ... h4! 65 Kg1 c1Q+! 66 Bxc1 h3, when the threat of ... h2+ is unstoppable. 65 Kg1 Bg6 66 Bel Bd3? Again 66 ... h4! 67 Bd2 c1Q+ 68 Bxc1 h3 wins. 67 Bd2 Be4 68 Kfl Kf3? At the risk ofrepeating myself, 68 ... h4! wins. 69 Kgl Ke2? Finally throwing away the win for good. 69 ... Kg3! 70 Kf1 h4 wins, although after having missed it three times already, it just wasn't going to be my day. 70 Bel Kdl 71 Ba3 elQ 72 Bxel Kxel 73 Kh2 Kd2 74 Kh3 Ke3 75 KM Bg6 76 f5 'h-'h (Diagram 34)
Connected passed pawns Even in endgames with many pawns, a pair of connected passed pawns that cannot be blockaded is often a decisive advantage, regardless of the material situation.
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames
Example 105 Bezgodov-Kornev, Krasnoyarsk 2003
Diagram 35 (W) Winning for Black
Diagram 36 (W) Winning for Black
(Diagram 35) Here Black is a pawn ahead, but it's the pawn duo on f6 and e5 that promise him a reasonably straightforward victory. 42 b4 a6 43 a4 Bd7 44 Ke4 Kf7 45 b5 Passive defence inevitably fails: 45 h4 Ke6 46 Kf3 f5 47 Bc5 Be8 48 Be3 f4 49 Bd2 (or 49 Bxf4 exf4 50 Kxf4 Bg6 51 Kg5 Bd3 52 Kxh5 Bxc4 53 Kg6 Bd3+ 54 Kg7 Kd5 etc.) 49 ... Kf5 50 Bc3 e4+ and White is slowly getting pushed back. Notice that with extra pawns on the board, White cannot rely on giving up his bishop for the two connected pawns, as he does in the fundamental bishop and two pawns versus bishop ending. 45 ... cxb5 46 cxb5 axb5 47 axb5 (Diagram 36) 47 ... Ke6! A significant point. It's more important for Black to secure the advance of his connected pawns than to grab the lone pawn on b5. That pawn is easily contained by the black bishop and is virtually irrelevant. In contrast, 47 ... Bxb5? 48 Kd5! Kg6 49 Bh4 Kf5 50 Kd6 gives White undeserved counterplay. 48 b6 Bc6+ 49 Ke3 f5 50 Kd3 50 Bg3 f4+ 51 Bxf4 exf4+ 52 Kxf4 Kf6 is winning for Black: 53 Kg3 Kg5 54 Kh3 Bb7 (but not 54 ... h4?? 55 b7!) 55 Kg3 h4+ 56 Kh3 Bc8+ 57 Kg2 Kg4 58 Kf2 Kh3 59 Kg1 Bb7 etc. With the bishop sacrifice not working, there is nothing White can do to stop the pawns charging down the board. 50 ... Kd5 51 Bh4 f4 52 Bd8 e4+ 53 Kc3 e3 54 Kd3 Bb5+ 55 Kc3 Ba6 0-1 After 56 Bg5 Ke4 there is no good defence to .. .£3-f2-f1.
Zugzwang Yet another weapon at the hands of the attacker in opposite-coloured bishop endings is our old friend, zugzwang. Sometimes a fortress will not work simply because the defender is obliged to make a move ...
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Bishops of Opposite Colour
Example 106
Diagram 37 (W) Zugzwang
Diagram 38 (W) Another zugzwang
(Diagram 37) Here's a very straightforward example. If Black could simply 'pass' then it would be an easy draw. 1 Bf3! White plays a waiting move and Black is in zugzwang. He must either allow the c-pawn through or give up the e-pawn. 1. .. Be5 2 Kxe7 Kc7 3 Kf7 and White wins with e7-e8.
Example 107 (Diagram 38) Here's a slightly more complex example of the same theme. However, on this occasion Black can draw with the 'principle of one diagonal'. 1 Be3! Placing Black in zugzwang. He must now allow either the c-pawn to run or a breakthrough on the kingside with g4. The immediate 1 g4 draws after 1...Bxg4 2 c6 Bh3 3 c7 Ka6 4 Ke7 Kb7. 1. ..Be4? The wrong choice. Black should let the c-pawn advance and then just defend along the h3-c8 diagonal: 1...Bg4! 2 c6 Ka6 3 Ke7 (or 3 c7 Kb7 and ... Kc8!) 3 ... Bh3 4 Kd8 Bg4 5 c7 Kb7 and despite the two-pawn deficit Black draws. 2 g4! Creating a second passed pawn. 2 ...hxg4 3 h5 g3 4 h6 Bf5 Or 4 ... g2 5 c6 Ka6 6 c7 Kb7 7 Kd7. 5 c6 Ka6 6 Ke7! But not 6 cn Kb7!. 6 ... g2 7 c7 Kb7 S KdS and White wins.
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames
Example 108 Sutovsky-Alterman, Tel Aviv 1999
Diagram 39 (W) White wins
Diagram 40 (8) Zugzwang!
(Diagram 39) At first sight it looks difficult for White to break through, but ... 61 h6! Placing Black in zugzwang. 61...Bc4 62 b4! axb3 If only Black could pass; he would then simply leave his bishop on the b5square. However, in reality White wins after 62 ... Bb5 63 Ke3 Bfl 64 Kd4 Be2 65 Ke5 Bc4 (or 65 ... Bf3 66 Kd6 Be4 67 Kc7 Bf3 68 Kb6 Be4 69 Ka5 Bc2 70 b5!) 66 Kd6 Bb5 67 Kc7. 63 Kc3 Be6 64 a4 Bd5 65 a5 Bc4 66 Kb2! 1-0 (Diagram 40) Black must allow either the a-pawn to progress or the b-pawn to be captured. Either way, further resistance is useless.
Bishop Sacrifices One rather extreme try by the attacker is to sacrifice the bishop, either for pawns, time or both. The following example has achieved legendary status.
Example 109 Topalov-Shirov, Linares 1998 (Diagram 41) 47 ... Bh3!! In The Most Amazing Chess Moves of All Time I voted this move as my all-time favourite, a view shared by many others. In this book I wrote: 'At first sight this looks like the worst move on the board, a beginner's blunder. But then you remember that it has been played by a top level grandmaster, so we must think again. I was actually following this game online as it happened and, having seen the endgame position, I fully expected Shirov to convert the full point. Later on, when I saw the move he played here, at first I just couldn't believe it, but slowly I saw Black's brilliant idea and was impressed by this 'flashy' way of winning. But that's not all. Far from just being a nice finish, it seems that
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Bishops of Opposite Colour 47 ... Bh3 is Black's only way to win, or at the very least, the quickest. way t.o win. Objectively it is certainly Black's best move.
Diagram 41 (8) Black plays 47 ... Bh3!!
Diagram 42 (8) Black plays an 'only move'
To make obvious progress Black's king must reach the e4-square as quickly as possible, so as to support the advance ... d5-d4. Generally speaking, Black is winning if he can get this move in free of charge. The problem is that the black king must go via the f5-square, so Black must spend a tempo moving the bishop. Simply moving the bishop anywhere allows White's king to reach e3 in time and thus prevent the crucial ... Ke4. If only Black could gain a tempo with his bishop, everything would be okay. And so we have our answer. The bishop gains a tempo by attacking the g2pawn and the only way to attack the pawn is with 47 ... Bh3!!. White loses a tempo by capturing the bishop and the black king reaches the e4-square in time, after which Black wins despite being a piece down!' Before confirming that 47 ... Bh3 does indeed win, let's look at a couple of more sober-looking alternatives: a) 47 ... a3 48 Kf2 a2 49 Ke3 Bg4 50 g3 Kf5 51 Bd4 and it's difficult to see how Black makes progress. b) 47 ... Be4 48 g3 Kf5 49 Kf2 a3 50 Ba1! Bh1 51 Ke3 Kg4 52 Bxf6! Kxg3 53 Ke2 a2 54 Ke3 Kg4 55 Ke2 Kf5 56 Ba1 Ke4 57 Kd2 d4 58 Bb2 Bf3 59 Ba1 d3 60 Bf6 Bg4 61 Ba1 Bf5 62 Bb2 Kf4 63 Ba1 Kg4 64 Bf6 a1Q 65 Bxa1 Kxh4 66 Bf6+ g5 67 Ke3 (Muller) and the best that Black can reach is something similar to Example 92, which we know is drawn. 48 gxh3 Alternatively: a) 48 Kf2 Kf5 49 Kf3 and now the bishop is used as a deflector: 49 ... Bxg2+! 50 Kxg2 Ke4 51 Bxf6 d4 52 Be7 Kd3 53 Kf2 Kc2 54 Bb4 d3, when Black wins in a similar fashion to the game. b) 48 g3 Kf5 49 Kf2 Ke4 (reaching the critical square) 50 Bxf6 a3 51 Ba1 Bg4 and Black wins. 48 ... Kf5 49 Kf2 Ke4 50 Exf6 Ignoring this pawn also loses:
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames a) 50 Ke2 a3 51 Kd2 d4 52 Ba1 f5 and White can do nothing to prevent the fpawn racing down the board. b) 50 Bb4 Kd3 51 Ba3 d4 52 Bb2 f5 53 Kf3 Kc4 54 Ke2 d3+ 55 Kd2 f4 56 Be5 f3 57 Ke3 f2 58 Kxf2 Kb3 followed by ... Kc2 etc. c) 50 Bb2 f5 51 Ke2 d4 52 Kd2 f4 53 Ke2 d3+ 54 Kf2 f3 55 Bc1 a3 and once again White's resources are over-stretched. 50 ... d4! 51 Be7 (Diagram 42) After 51 Ke2 a3, Black wins immediately. 51...Kd3! The only move, not falling for 51 ... d3?? 52 Ke1!. After 51...Kd3 Black is ready to go onto 'automatic pilot' with ... Kc2. 52 Be5 Ke4! Again the only way to win. 52 ... Kc3? allows 53 Ke2! d3+ 54 Kdl. 53 Be7 Or 53 Bxd4 Kxd4 54 Ke2 Kc3 55 Kd1 Kb2 and the a-pawn promotes. 53 ... Kb3! 0-1 Finally Black's king will reach c2. After 54 Bc5 d3 55 Ke3 Kc2 56 Bb4 Black plays the deflecting 56 ... a3! and one ofthe pawns will promote.
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Bishops of Opposite Colour
Try it Yourself
Exercise 1
Exercise 2
Exercise 1 (Black to play) How should Black secure the draw: with 50 ... Kg4 or 50 ... Be2? Exercise 2 What should the result be (a) with White to play and (b) with Black to play?
Exercise 3
Exercise 4
Exercise 3 (Black to play) Can Black draw this position? Exercise 4 (White to play) What should Black play in reply to 59 h4?
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Chapter Four
night (and Pawns) versus Pawns •
Knight vs Pawn
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Knight vs Two Pawns
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Knight vs Three Pawns
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King, Knight and Pawn vs King
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Knight and Pawn vs Pawn
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Knight and Pawn vs Two Pawns ~
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Endings with More Pawns
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Try it Yourself
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[?~ ~t::: ~'g
'//~
~~ ~
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Knight (and Pawns) versus Pawns In this chapter we move away from bishop endings for the moment and instead concentrate on knights. One thing I've noticed is that, when compared to bishop endings, it's more difficult and sometimes dangerous to generalise simply because the knight is such a tricky piece. One moment it's performing miracles; the next it looks like the worst piece on the board. Of course there are guidelines that are worth following, but many positions have to be judged on their own merits.
Knight versus Pawn In the majority of cases this is simply a draw, but this ending is a little less trivial than the analogous one of bishop versus pawn. In my database the player with the knight scored 1% wins (see Example 115), 86% draws and 13% losses. Of course the only chance for the pawn to win is if it is near promotion. If the defending king can block the pawn then the game is certainly drawn. If the defending king can enter the square of the pawn the game is also drawn unless the enemy king can block its path. The exception to this rule is a very famous example that, it must be admitted, does show the knight in a very poor light.
Example 110
Diagram 1 (W) White wins!
Diagram 2 (W) Draw
(Diagram 1) Take the knight off the board and the result would be a straightforward draw. With the knight, however, Black loses! 1 a6 Kc7 2 a7! and promotion cannot be prevented. The result is more in doubt if the defending king is far away and the knight has to deal with the passed pawn itself.
Example 111 (Diagram 2) Here the knight has blocked the pawn on the seventh rank and there is no way White can force the pawn through without the knight being
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames able to sacrifice itse1f for the new queen. 1 Ke7 Na6+
The only move, but a good one. 2 Kb6 NbS 3 Ka7 Ne6+ 3 ... Nd7 is just as good. 4 Kb6 NbS with an obvious draw. With a rook's pawn on the seventh rank, however, the knight has much more trouble.
Example 112
Diagram 3 (W) White wins
Diagram 4 (W) White should win
(Diagram 3) White wins by simply marching his king to the b7-square, whereupon Black will have no move for his knight. 1 Kd5 Kg2 Or 1...Nb6+ 2 Kc6 NaS (what else?) 3 Kh7. 2 Ke6 Kf3 3 Kb7 and White wins. WARNING: The knight is notoriously bad at dealing with passed rook's pawns.
Example 113 Seheurer-Kokseh, Germany 2000 (Diagram 4) This is an interesting practical example of the knight against a rook's pawn on the seventh rank. White wants to harass the knight into the corner with his king, but it's not as easy as it looks. The d5- and e6-squares are covered, while moving to d4 or d6 allows the fork ... Nb5+ (these squares are 'mined'). White has two possible routes his king can take; in the game he chose the wrong one. 55 Ke5? White should play 55 Kd3!, both shouldering off Black's king and planning Kc4-
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Knight (and Pawns) versus Pawns
c5-c6: 55 ... Kc1 56 Kc4 Kd2 57 Kc5 Kc3 58 Kc6 Na8 59 Kb7 and White wins. 55 ... Kc2! Now Black's king arrives back in the nick of time. 56Kf6 Of course 56 Kd6 allows 56 ... Nb5+! and ... Nxa7. 56 ... Kc3 57 Ke7 Na8 58 Kd6 Kb4 Black can also draw by sacrificing the knight to imprison White's king: 58 ... Kd4 59 Kc6 Ke5 60 Kb7 Kd6 61 Kxa8 Kc7 stalemate. 58 ... Kc4??, however, is neither one thing nor the other and allows White to win with 59 Kc6 and Kb7. 59 Ke6 Ka5! 'iZ-'iZ Mter 60 Kb7 Black has the move 60 ... Nb6!. If the knight blocks the rook's pawn on the sixth rank, it does not require the king's help to achieve a draw.
Example 114
Diagram 5 (W) Black draws
Diagram 6 (W) Saved by a fork
(Diagram 5) White cannot force the pawn through. 1 Kb6 Ne8+ 2 Kb7 2 Kc7 Na7 3 Kb7 Nb5 4 Kb6 reaches the same position as the main text. 2 ... Nd6+ But not 2 ... Ne7?? 3 a7! and the pawn promotes. 3 Ke7 Nb5+ 4 Kb6 Black seems to be in some trouble, but... 4 ... Nd6! (Diagram 6) 5 a7 Or 5 Kc6 Nc8 etc. 5... Ne8+ and Black follows up with ... Nxa7. It's not always the king and pawn having all the fun. In some rare cases, the pawn is actually a hindrance because it gets in the way and allows the king and knight team to set up a mating net.
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames
Example 115
Diagram 7 (W) White wins
o
Diagram 8 (8) checkmate!
(Diagram. 7) Without the pawn on the board the game is declared drawn. However, in this position White can force mate against Black's cornered king. I Nb4+! I Ncl +? Kal 2 Nb3+ Ka2 3 Ncl + is only a draw by perpetual check. 1...Ka12 Kcl! Using zugzwang to force Black to commit hara-kiri. 2 ... a2 3 Nc2 mate (Diagram. 8) NOTE: This is known as Stamma's mate.
White also wins if it's Black's move first: 1...KaI 2 Ncl! a2 3 Nb3 mate. When the defending knight and king are both far away, but the passed pawn is quite far back, things become more complex and it's difficult to generalise.
Example 116
Diagram 9 (8) White draws with difficulty
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Diagram 10 (W) A difficult choice
Knight (and Pawns) versus Pawns
Mek (Diagram 9) This end to a complex study by Mek contains some instructive points. 1...Ke3! The most testing move, preventing White's knight from reaching a favourable 'circuit'. L.b5 allows the knight an easier path: 2 Nf3+ Kc3!? (or 2 ... Ke3 3 Ne5 b4 4 Nc4+ Kd3 5 Na5) 3 Ng5! (finding a good circuit) 3 ... b4 4 Ne4+ Kd4 (Nc5 must be prevented) 5 Nd2 Kc3 (preventing Nb3) 6 Ne4+ Kc4 7 Nd2+ with a draw. 2 Nh3! There is no hope of catching the pawn after 2 Kg7? b5!. 2... b5 3 Ng5 b4 (Diagram 10) 4 Nf7!! Mter 4 Ne6? the knight is geographically 'nearer' the pawn, but it's the knight's circuit which is the most important thing. Black wins after 4 ... b3 5 Nc5 b2 and ... b1Q. 4 ... b3 Or 4... Kd4 5 Nd6 Kd5 6 Nf5! (the only move; 6 Nb5? loses to 6 ... Kc5!, when suddenly the knight has nowhere good to go) 6 ... b3 7 Ne3+ and Nd1, drawing. 5 Nd6! Another 'only move'. 5 Ne5? loses to 5 ... Kd4! 6 Nf3+ Kc3 and the pawn cannot be stopped. 5 ...Kd3 5 ... b2 is met by 6 Nc4+. 6 Nb5! b2 7 Na3 and the pawn is stopped just in time. IT you found this example perplexing, don't worry - you're not the only one! NOTE: Even with little material on the board, knight endings are notoriously difficult due to the strange moving pattern of the knight.
Knight versus Two Pawns In practice knight versus two pawns is drawn more often than not (my database gives a 31% win ratio for the two pawns). Let's first look at the case of connected pawns. Of course the positioning of the defending king is one of the crucial factors: if the defending king can get in front of the pawns, then a draw is very likely, even if the pawns are far advanced and supported by the attacking king.
Example 117 Illescas Cordoba-Godena, Lisbon 1993 (Diagram 11) Here Black draws comfortably due to the placing of his king, despite the fact that the knight has to make up some ground. 74... Nb4 75 Ke6 Nd3 In fact the players agreed a draw in this position. Let's just see how the game might have ended.
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames
Diagram 11 (8) Draw
Diagram 12 (W) Black has a blockade
76 g6 Or 76 £7+ Kf8 77 g6 Nf4+ 78 Kf6 Nh5+ (78 ... Nd5+ 79 Ke5 Ne7 80 Kf6 Nd5+ also draws, but not 78 ... Nxg6?? 79 Kxg6 Ke7 80 Kg7 and White wins) 79 Kg5 Ng7 80 Kf6 Nh5+ 81 Kg5 Ng7 (Diagrrun 12) and White cannot break Black's blockade. 76 ... Nf4+ 77 Kf5 Nd5 78 £7+ Or 78 g7 Kf7 and ... Nxf6. 78 ...Kf8 79 Ke6 Nf4+ 80 Kf6 Nh5+ 81 Kg5 Ng7 and Black draws.
Example 118 Azmaiparashvili-Benjamin, Reykjavik 1990
Diagram 13 (8) Black wins
Diagram 14 (W) The pawns cannot be stopped
(Diagrrun 13) Here both White's king and knight are far away from the action. Black just wins, despite the pawns being quite far back.
124
Knight (and Pawns) versus Pawns 50 ... h4 51 Ne5 h3! The only move to win. 51...g5? only draws after 52 Kb6! h3 53 Ng4 Kf7 (Black's king is too slow) 54 Kc5 Ke6 55 Kd4 Kf5 56 Nf2 h2 57 Ke3 g4 58 Nh1 Kg5 59 Kf2 Kh4 60 Kg2. 52 Nf3 Now after 52 Ng4 Black's king arrives in time (Black has not 'wasted' a move with his g-pawn): 52 ... Kf7! 53 Kb6 Ke6 54 Kc5 Kf5 55 Nf2 (55 Nh2 Kf4 56 Kd4 g5 57 Kd3 g4 transposes to the main text) 55 ... h2 56 Kd4 Kf4 57 Kd3 Kf3 58 Nh1 Kg2 59 Ke2 Kxh1 60 Kf1 g5 and Black wins. 52 ... g5! Again the only move (52 ... Kf7?? 53 Ng5+ is to be avoided!). 53Nh2 White must prevent being totally overrun with ... g4. 53 ...Kf7 Now the king comes up to support the pawns. 54 Kb6 Ke6 55 Kc5 Ke5 56 Kc4 Kf4 57 Kd3 g4 58 Ke2 g3 (Diagram 14) 59 Nfl Or 59 Kf1 gxh2 and crucially there is no access to the g2-square. 59 ...h20-1 Only on rare occasions, such as the following example, can the knight perform a dual role of both containing the pawns and preventing the enemy king from supporting them.
Example 119 Meleghegyi-Rotariu, Correspondence 1992
Diagram 15 (W) A deceptively powerful knight
Diagram 16 (W) Draw
(Diagram 15) At first sight Black's position looks grim because his king is far from the action and it looks like White's king is ready to come across and harass the knight. However, in this example the knight truly shows what a tricky customer it can be!
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames 55 Ke4 Taking the most direct route, but this square is 'mined'. However, less direct routes are also covered well by the knight: a) 55 Kf5 (another 'mined' square) 55 ... Nb6! 56 a5 Nc4 57 a6 Nd6+ and ... Nxb5. - the knight is working overtime to stop the pawns. b) 55 Kg5 (delicately sidestepping the mined squares, but now Black's king gets back in time) 55 ... Kg3 56 Kf6 Kf4 57 Ke7 Ke5 58 Kd8 (58 Kd7 Nb6+!) 58 ... Kd6 and now 59 Kc8 is met by 59 ... Nb6+. c) 55 Kf3 Kh3! 56 Ke2 Kg4 and White finds more mined squares in d3 and d1 (due to ... Nb2+ and ... Nxa4). 55 ... Nb6! The knight has to act here and now. 55 ... Nb2! also draws after 56 b6 (56 a5 Nc4 transposes to the text) 56 ... Nxa4 57 b7 Nc5+, but the procrastinating 55 ... Kg3? loses to 56 Kd4 Na5 57 b6 Kf4 58 Kc5 Ke5 59 Kb5 Nb7 60 a5 Kd6 61 a6 etc. 56 a5 Nc4 (Diagram 16) and the players agreed a draw due to the inevitable 57 a6 Nd6+ 58 Kd5 Nxb5, when Black draws as in Example 114.
Example 120 Riksten-Hendrickx, Groningen 1995
Diagram 17 (W) Should be drawn
Diagram 18 (8) Helpmate in three moves!
(Diagram 17) This final example with two connected pawns acts as a reminder that things can sometimes go disastrously wrong in endgames if you stubbornly try too hard to win a drawn position! 55 Nf5+ Kg4 56 Ne3+! Not falling for 56 Nxg7?, which allows the h-pawn to promote after 56 ... h3! 57 Nf5 h2 58 Ne3+ Kg5. 56 ... Kg3 56 ... Kg5 57 Kf3 is an easy draw. 57 Nf5+ Kh3 58 Kf3!? Now that Black's king is blocking the h-pawn, it's safe to grab on g7: 58 Nxg7
126
Knight (and Pawns) versus Pawns
Kg2 59 Nh5 h3 60 Nf4+ and White's knight is back in time. However, perhaps White sensed an unlikely opportunity ... 58 ... g5 59 Ne3! Kh2 60 Kf2 (Diagram 18) 60 ... Khl?? A calamity for Black. It was time to bailout with 60 ... Kh3 61 Kf3 Kh2 62 Kf2 Kh3 etc. with a draw by repetition. Note that 60 ... h3?? is equally disastrous after 61 Ng4+ Kh1, leading to the text. SI Ng4! h3 Only move. 62 KfI! 1-0 Black is forced to entomb his own king with 62 ... h2 63 Nf2 mate. When the two pawns are split, the knight has different problems in trying to contain them. If the defending king is out of play, the knight's resources are often stretched too far.
Example 121 Denker-Boleslavsky, Groningen 1946
Diagram 19 (8) Black wins
Diagram 20 (W) A pawn promotes
(Diagram 19) Here Black's split pawns, supported by the king, just about defeat the knight and defending king rushing back to join the action. 5l...g5! This fairly obvious move is the only way to win. After 51...Ke3? White manages to draw with 52 Nc4+! Kd4 53 Nd2 c4 54 Nxc4! Kxc4 55 Ke6, when White's king picks up the final pawn. 52Nb3 Or 52 Kd6 g4 53 Kd5 (or 53 Kxc5 g3 and the pawn promotes) 53 ... g3 54 Ne4 g2 55 Nf2 Kg3 and Black wins (but not 55 ... g1Q?? 56 Nh3+!). 52 ... c4 53 Nd4 Ke4 54 Ne2 g4 55 Kd6 g3 56 Nel c3 (Diagram 20) and White resigned. One pawn sacrifices itself to allow the other to promote; for example 57 Kc5 g2! 58 Nxg2 c2 and ... c1Q.
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames
Knight versus Three Pa\vns With a further pawn, the odds begin to stack up in favour ofthe pawns (my database gives a win ratio of 55%). Connected pawns normally win if they can reach the fifth rank without being blockaded.
Example 122 Moiseenko-Rustemov, Russia v Ukraine (blitz) 2003
Diagram 21 (W) Black wins
Diagram 22 (W) Not a trivial win
(Diagram 21) An instructive example, despite the severe time restraints. Black wins despite one of the pawns being on the rook's file. 63 Kf2 63 Nf2loses quickly after 63 .. .f3+ 64 Kfl g3 65 Ne4+ Kf4 and ... h3. 63 ... h3! The correct pawn push. 63 .. .f3? only draws after 64 Ne5! (threatening Nxf3+!) 64 ... Kf4 65 Ng6+ Kg5 66 Ne5! etc. 64 Kg1 g3 65 Ne5 Kf5 66 Nf3 Kg4 67 Ne5+ Kf5 68 Nf3 h2+! Mter one repetition Black selects the winning plan. 69Kg2 69 Nxh2 gxh2+ 70 Kxh2 is a losing pawn ending after 70 ... Ke4 71 Kg2 Ke3 etc. 69 ... Ke4 70 Ng5+! The toughest defence. 70 Nelloses to 70 .. .f3+! 71 Nxf3 hlQ+! 72 Kxhl Kxf3 73 Kgl g2. 70 ... Ke3 (Diagram 22) The game actually finished here. Being a blitz game it's possible that White lost on time (or perhaps the score is incomplete). It looks easily winning for Black but in fact some care is needed because there are some stalemate tricks. Let's look at a possible finish. 71 Kh1! 71 Nf3 loses to 71...hlQ+! 72 Kxhl Kxf3.
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Knight (and Pawns) versus Pawns
7l...Kf2! Some moves must be avoided: a) 71...£3?? 72 Nxf3! Kxf3 is stalemate! b) 71...Ke2 72 NeG f3?? 73 Nd4+! Kf2 74 Nxf3 is again a draw. 72 Ne4+ Or: a) 72 Nf3!? g2+! 73 Kxh2 Kxf3 and Black wins. b) 72 Nh3+!? Kf3! 73 Ng5+ Ke3 reaches the main text. 72 ... Ke2 73 Ng5 Ke3! Black has cleverly triangulated with his king and it's now White to move in this crucial position. It's another zugzwang. 74Ne6 74 Kg2 again loses to 74 .. .£3+! 75 Nxf3 h1Q+! 76 Kxh1 Kxf3 77 Kg1 g2. 74 ... £3 75 Nd4!? g2+! There was still time to go wrong with 75 .. .£2?? 76 Nf5+! Kf4 77 Nxg3!. 76 Kxh2 Kxd4 and Black wins.
Example 123 Moehring-J.Pribyl, Hradec Kralove 1977
Diagram 23 (W) Black draws
Diagram 24 (8) Black wins comfortably
(Diagram 23) In this example Black's knight is well placed blocking the g4pawn. Black manages to construct a blockade and draw. 80 e6+ The best try. 80 Kf4leads to a draw after 80 ... Nh3+ (but not 80 ... Nh7? 81 g5!) 81 Ke3 Ng5 82 Kd4 (planning Kd5-d6) 82 ... Ke7 83 Kd5 Nf3 84 f6+ (or 84 e6 Ng5 85 Ke5 Nh7! with a blockade) 84 ... Kf7 85 Ke4 (85 Kd6 Ng5!) 85 ... Ng5+ 86 Kf5 Ne6 87 g5 Nd4+ 88 Kg4 Kg6 and ... NeG. 80 ... KfS 81 Kh4 Or 81 Kf4 Nh7! 82 Ke4 Kg5! (planning ... Nf6) 83 e7 Nf6+ 84 Ke5 Nxg4+ 85 KeG Nf6 and Black draws.
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames 81...Ne4! 82 Kh5 White tries to sneak his king round the kingside. 82 ... Nd6 83 Kh6 Ne8! 84 Kh5 After 84 Kh7 Black can draw with 84... Kg5! 85 Kg8 (85 e7 Kf6!) 85 ... Nf6+ 86 Kf7 Nxg4 87 e7 Nf6 (pribyl). 84 ... Nd6 85 Kh4 Ne4 '1.-'1. White is making no progress. When the pawns are split, the defensive resources of the knight and king are often extended too far. Angus Dunnington has commented that in certain endings it seems as if the knight has 'short legs' as in the following example.
Example 124 Loginov-Yashtylov, St Petersburg 1999 (Diagram 24) The outside a-pawn is a killer because it basically restricts the white knight to the queenside. Black wins easily by pushing his kingside pawns, supported by the king. 65 ...Kh4 66 Kf2 Kh3 67 Kg1 g4 68 Na3 Kg3 69 Nc4 h5 70 Na3 h4 71 Nc4 h3 72 Na3 Any movement by the knight towards the kingside is met by ... a3. 72 ...h2+ 73 Kh1 Kh3 74 Nc4 g3 75 Ne3 Finally the knight must leave the queenside. Black's response is predictable. 75 ... a3 76 Ng2 a2 77 Nel g2+ 0-1
King, Knight and Pawn versus King King, knight and pawn versus the lone king is nearly always a win for the attacker (a 89% win ratio in my database). The defender can only draw if he can win the pawn immediately or in certain special circumstances. If the pawn can be defended by the attacking king then the win is a near certainty.
Example 125
Diagram 25 (W) White wins
130
Diagram 26 (W) White wins
Knight (and Pawns) versus Pawns (Diagram 25) White doesn't even need to use his knight to support the promotion. In a very similar fashion to Example 24, White can win by simply treating the position as a king and pawn ending, only using the knight to playa waiting move at the crucial moment. 1 Kd4 Ke7 2 Kd5 Kd7 3 e6+ Ke7 4 Ke5 Ke8 5 Kd6 Kd8 6 e7+ Ke8 7 Nc4! Kf7 8Kd7 and the pawn promotes. (Diagram 26) With a rook's pawn the attacker does need the knight to help support the pawn's promotion. The key for the knight is to control the square on which the pawn promotes (here this is h8). 1 h5 Kh7 2 Kg5 White begins by forcing the pawn to the sixth rank. 2 ...Kg7 3 h6+ Kh7 4 Kh5 Kh8 After 4 ... Kg8 White wins with 5 Kg6 Kh8 6 Nf4! Kg8 7 Ne6! Kh8 8 Ng5 Kg8 9 h7+ Kh8 10 Nf7 mate. 5 Kg6 Kg8 6 Nf4! Now the knight comes in to support the promotion. The circuit will be Nf4-e6g5-f7. 6 h7+?? would be a horrendous blunder: after 6 ... Kh8 White has to either give up the h-pawn or allow stalemate. 6 ...Kh8 7 Ne6! Kg8 8 Ng5 Kh8 9 Nf7+ Kg8 10 h7+ Kf8 11 h8Q+ and White wins.
Example 126 Azmaiparashvili-Korchnoi, Moscow (rapid) 1995
Diagram 27 (8) Draw agreed!
Diagram 28 (W) A difficult choice
(Diagram 27) This example is a rare case of king, knight and pawn failing to beat the lone king, even though the pawn is protected. In fact the players immediately agreed a draw. Black can only make progress by protecting the hpawn with his king in order to release the knight, but this leads to stalemate. 70 ...Kb3 71 Kg2 Kc3 72 Khl Kd3 73 Kg2 Ke3 74 Khl Kf4
131
Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames 74 ... Kf3 is an immediate stalemate. 75 Kg2 Kg5 76 Khl Kh5 77 Kg2 Kh4 78 Khl Kg3 and it's stalemate.
How to defend the pawn When the attacking king is slowly coming back to the main scene of action, it's left to the knight to defend the passed pawn.
Example 127 (DiagraITl28) This is a good example of how the knight should protect the passed pawn. 1 Nb3+! Surprisingly the two other plausible knight moves only draw: a) 1 Nc6+? Kc5 2 Ne5 Kb4 and the pawn is lost. b) 1 Nb7? (preparing a4-a5) 1...Kc4 2 Kg2 Kb4! 3 a5 Kb5! 4 Kf3 Ka6! and White must lose either knight or pawn with a draw in each case. 1...Kc42 a5! and the knight and pawn 'protect' each other. The pawn is protected by the knight, while the knight is also invulnerable because capturing it would allow the pawn to race to promotion. White now wins easily by leisurely bringing his king up into the action. 2 ... Kb5 3 Kg2 Ka6 4 Kf3 Kb5 5 Ke4 Ka6 6 Kd4 Kb5 7 Kd5 Ka6 8 Kc4 Kb7 9 Kb5 and White wins in a similar fashion to Example 125. NOTE: In general the knight should protect the passed pawn from behind.
Stuck in the corner One of the special instances where the king, knight and pawn fail to beat the lone king is reached when the attacking king is stuck in the corner, on the promotion square of the pawn.
Example 128 Carty-Wegener, Bad Wiessee 1997
Diagram 29 (W) A reciprocal zugzwang
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Diagram 30 (8) Draw!
Knight (and Pawns) versus Pawns
o
(Diagrrun 29) Black's king is stuck on the promotion square ofthe h-pawn. White's king prevents it escaping via g2 and gl while the h-pawn squashes it into the corner. With White to play he draws by simply oscillating his king between f1 and f2, never moving off these squares even if tempted by a knight sacrifice: 89 Kfl Ng3+ 90 Kf2 Ne4+ 91 Kfl Nd2+ 92 Kf2 Nb3 After 92 ... Nf3!? White ignores the knight and plays 93 Kf1!. 93 Kfl Nc194 Kf2 Nd3+ 95 Kfl Nf4 96 Kf2 Nd5 97 Kfl Nb4 98 Kf2 Nc6 99 Kfl Ne5 100 Kf2 Nd3+ 101 Kfl (Diagrrun 30) and after many more moves (!) Black finally gave up trying to force the white king away from f1 and f2. NOTE: Unlike both the king and bishop, the knight doesn't have the ability to 'lose a move'.
Both the king and bishop are able to take two moves to playa manoeuvre that could be achieved in one, but the knight is unable to do this. With Black to move in the initial position, he wins easily with L.Ne3! or L.Ng3!, preventing White from playing Kfl, thus releasing the black king.
Knight and Pawn versus Pawn Knight and pawn versus pawn is generally a win for the knight and pawn team (it has a win:draw:loss ratio of 71 %:27%:2%). If the pawns are blocked the win ratio rises to 90%. The following example contains a typical winning procedure.
Example 129
Diagram 31 (W) An easy win
Diagram 32 (8) Black cannot win
(Diagrrun 31) White has a two-stage plan to win the e4-pawn: 1) Manoeuvre the knight to attack the e4-pawn to tie down Black's king. 2) Bring his own king round to 'outflank' Black's king. 1 Nh3! Kd5 2 Nf2 Black's king is tied down to the defence of the e4-pawn.
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames 2...Ke53Kd2! Now White's king moves via the queenside to attack e4 for a second time. 3 ... Kf5 4 Kc3 Ke5 5 Kc4 Black's king is outflanked and has to give way. 5 ...Kf5 6 Kd4 Ke6 7 Kxe4 and White wins in a similar fashion to Example 125. The defender can draw in the rare instances of the knight being tied down to the defence of the pawn and the attacking king not being able to relieve it of its duties, as in the following case.
Example 130 Anastasian-Piskov, Minsk 1990 (Diagram. 32) Somewhat surprisingly, Black cannot force a win. 71. ..Kf7 If 71...Kd5 White harasses the knight with 72 Kf5!, when sacrificing the knight with 72 ... Kd4?? actually loses after 73 Kxf6 Ke3 74 Kg5! Kf3 75 Kh4!. 72 Kf5! 72 Kg5! also draws, but 72 Ke5? allows Black's king to defend the g4-pawn: 72 ... Kg6 73 Kf4 Kh5 74 Kf5 Ne8! (now the knight manoeuvre to attack g3) 75 Kf4 Ng7! 76 Ke4 Kg5 77 Ke3 Nf5+ 78 Kf2 Kf6 79 Kg2 Ke5 80 Kf2 Kd4 81 Kg2 Ke3 etc. and Black wins. 72 ... Kg7 73 Kg5! Again preventing Black's king from approaching the g-pawn. 73 ...Kf7 74 Kf5 Ke7 75 Ke5 Ng8 76 Kf5 Nf6 77 Ke5 'h-'h Black cannot make any progress. Going back to the initial position, if Black's knight were on a less vulnerable square (h2, for example) Black would win: 71 ... Kd5 72 Kf5 (or 72 Ke3 Ke5 73 Kf2 Kd4 74 Kg2 Nf3 75 Kf2 Kd3 etc.) 72 ... Kd4 73 Kg5 Ke3 74 Kh4 Kf3 etc.
Example 131 Nogueiras-Gongora, Las Tunas 2001
Diagram 33 (W) White wins
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Diagram 34 (8) Mate is imminent
Knight (and Pawns) versus Pawns (Diagram 33) This case is interesting because Black can force the win of the a2-pawn but this is not enough to draw because White can employ Stamma's mate. 77 Nd7+!! With this 'only move' White's knight joins the correct circuit. Other knight moves only draw; for example, 77 Ng4+? Kd4 78 Kf4 Kc3 79 Ke3 Kb2 80 Kd2 Kxa2 81 Kc2 Kal 82 Ne3 a2 and there's no mate. 77 ... Kd4 78 Kf4! White's king follows Black's to the pawns with the intention of locking it in on a2. 78 ...Kc3 79 Ke3 Kb2 80 Kd2 Kxa2 Delaying capturing on a2 doesn't help Black: 80 ... Kbl 81 Nc5 Kb2 (81. .. Kxa2 82 Kcl! Kal 83 Kc2 transposes to the main game) 82 Nd3+ Kxa2 (or 82 ... KbI83 Nb4! and White wins the a-pawn with Kc3-b3 etc.) 83 Kc2! Kal 84 Ncl a2 85 Nb3 mate. 81 Kc2! (Diagram 34) 81...Kal 82 Nc5! Ka2 Or 82 ... a2 83 Nb3 mate. 83Nd3 Kal and Black gave up before being mated with 84 Ncl a2 85 Nb3.
A Fortress A major advantage the knight has over the bishop is that it is able to cover all the squares on the board. Because of this, when facing the knight as opposed to the bishop, it is much more difficult for the defending side to construct a fortress. There is one fortress, however, that the defender has at his disposal and in the next example he cleverly sacrifices material to reach this goal
Example 132 Weber-Marcus, Hofbieber 1996
Diagram 35** (8) Black draws
Diagram 36 (W) Black has a fortress
(Diagram 35) Perhaps we're jumping ahead of ourselves a little by looking at a
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames knight versus bishop ending, but the bishop doesn't stay on the board long... 7S ...Bxf5!! This sacrifice is the only way to draw, for example: a) 78 ... Bh3 79 Ng5! and the h-pawn drops. b) 78 ... Bd1 79 Kg7 Bc2 80 f6 Bg6 81 Ng5 and White follows up with f7. 79 Kxf5 Kf7! SO Nd8+ Kf8 81 Kf6 KgS (Diagram 36) Black has set up a fortress. Any attempt by White to force the king out of the f8-, g8- and h8-squares merely lead to stalemate. S2 Nf7 Kf8 S3 NdS Or 83 Ne5 Kg8 84 Ng6 hxg6 85 Kxg6 Kh8 with a draw. S3 ...KgS S4 Ke7 Kh8 S5 Ke8 KgS Y2-Y2
Example 133
Diagram 37 (W) White wins
Diagram 38 (8) 'Stalemating' the king
(Diagram 37) At first sight this looks like another example of a fortress, but this one can be 'stormed'. 1Ne6 The first step is to take away the f8-square from Black. l ...KhS 2 Kd6 KgS 3 Ke7 KhS 4 Nc7! Now the knight is relieved of its duty of controlling f8 and begins its winning manoeuvre. 4 ...KgS 5 Nd5 KhS 6 Nf6! (Diagram 3S) The point of White's previous play is revealed. On f6 White's knight 'stalemates' Black's king, leaving the defender with only one move. 6... gxf6 7 Kf7 But now the g-pawn promotes and White quickly mates. 7 ...f5 S g7+ Kh7 9 gSQ+ Kh610 Qg6 mate When both pawns are passed the defender has more chance of drawing because sometimes his passed pawn can be used to deflect either the king or the knight away from the defence of its own passed pawn.
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Knight (and Pawns) versus Pawns
Example 134 Mochalov-Ostojic, Kiev 1995
Diagram 39 (8) White wins
Diagram 40 (W) White waits
(Diagram 39) Here White wins because his king protects the passed pawn while the knight arrives back just in time to deal with Black's passed pawn. 74 ... e3 75 Nc5! and Black resigned. Let's just playa few more moves to see what might have happened. 75 ... e2 Or 75 ... Ke5 76 Nd3+ Kd4 77 Ne1 Kc3 78 f6 Kd2 79 Ng2 and White wins easily. 76 Nd3 Kf7 77 Kg5 Now White treats the position as a king and pawn ending, but with the crucial possibility of being able to playa waiting move. 77 ...Kg7 78 f6+ Kf7 79 Kf5 Kf8 80 Ke6 Ke8 81 £1+ Kf8 (Diagram 40) 82 Ne1! Kg7 83 Ke7 and White wins. Note that White only won due to the favourable position of his knight. If we moved White's knight to a7 (instead ofb7) in the initial position then 74 ... e3 would draw easily. The knight would not be able to get back in time so White would have to give up his final pawn with 75 Kf3. If the attacker's pawn is on the rook's file, this complicates the winning process even when the knight is able to contain the defender's pawn. The defender's drawing chances increase if his pawn is far advanced and there are a large number of files between the pawns.
Example 135 Gulko-Grigorian, Leningrad 1974 (Diagram 41) Here White needs the knight to force through the promotion of the h-pawn. However, the knight is also required to contain Black's a-pawn. Due to the advanced nature of this pawn, Black manages to draw with careful play. 60 ...Kh7 61 Kg5 Kg7 62 h6+ Kh7 63 Na2
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames
Diagram 41 (8) Black draws
Diagram 42 (W) Precise defence
The alternative is 63 Kh5, when Black draws if he chooses the correct square with the king: a) 63 ... Kh8? 64 Kg6 Kg8 65 h7+! Kh8 66 Nc6! a2 67 Ne5 alQ 68 Nf7 mate. b) 63 ... Kg8! 64 Kg6 Kh8 65 h7 a2 66 Nxa2 stalemate. 63 ... KhS! With the knight on a2, h8 becomes the correct square for the king. White mates after 63 ... Kg8? 64 Kg6 Kh8 65 Nb4! Kg8 66 h7+ Kh8 67 Nc6 a2 68 Ne5 alQ 69 Nf7. 64Kh5 Kh7! Again the only move. 65 N c3 KgS! (Diagralll 42) Black is precise to the end: with the knight on c3 or b4, g8 is the correct square for the king (65 ... Kh8? would have lost to 66 Kg6 Kg8 67 h7+ Kh8 68 Ne4 a2 69 Nd6 alQ 70 Nf7 mate). Here a draw was agreed on account of 66 Kg6 Kh8 67 h7 a2 68 Nxa2 stalemate. Note that again the attacker failed to win essentially because the knight cannot 'lose a move'. The defender can sometimes draw if he can harass the knight that is preventing the pawn from promoting.
Example 136 (Diagralll 43) Here Black draws by perpetually attacking White's knight. White doesn't have time to promote his own pawn. 1...Kc2! 2 Na3+ Kb3! 3 Nbl Kc2! 3 ... Ka2? would be a blunder, allowing 4 Nd2!, when suddenly it takes the black king a long time to attack the knight again: 4 ... Ka3 5 g6 Kb4 6 g7 Kc3 7 g8Q Kxd2 and White has a winning queen v pawn ending with 8 Qb3 Kcl 9 Qc3+ Kbl 10 Ke4 Ka2 11 Qc2 Ka112 Qa4+ Kbl 13 Kd3 Kc114 Qc2 mate. 4 g6 Otherwise White must acquiesce to the perpetual attack. 4 ... Kxbl 5 g7 Kc2 6 gSQ blQ
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Knight (and Pawns) versus Pawns
Diagram 43 (8) Black draws
Diagram 44 (8) White wins
with an obvious draw. This defensive resource generally only works if the passed pawn that the knight patrols is either a knight's or rook's pawn. With a centre or bishop's pawn, the knight has too much manoeuvring space.
Example 137 (Diagram 44) Here White wins easily after 6 ...Kd2 Or 6 ... Ke4 7 h4 Ke5 8 Kg5 Ke6 9 Kg6 Ke7 10 Kg7. 7 Na2! Kd3 8 h4 Kc4 9 h5 Kb3 10 Nc1+ Kb2 11 Ne2! etc.
Knight and Pawn versus Two Pawns This endgame has arisen many times in practice, the win:draw:loss ratio for the player with the knight on my database being 49%:43%:8% - the player with the knight winning roughly half the games.
No passed pawns When there are no passed pawns, much depends on the placing of the attacking king. If the king is supporting its pawn then there are very good winning chances.
Example 138 Fedorov-Ivanchuk, Leon 2001 (Diagram 45) Here Black's king is well placed to protect its pawn from attack by the enemy king and also to help avoid a pawn exchange that would immediately lead to a draw. In the end Black wins quite comfortably. 43 g4 Not surprisingly White advances his pawns in the hope of an exchange. 43 ...Kf7 44 h4 h6 45 Ke4 Both sides advance their kings. Of course 45 g5 is always met by 45 ... h5!.
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames 45 ...Ke6 46 Kf4 Nc5!
Diagram 45 (W) Winning for Black
Diagram 46 (W) Black slowly edges in
The first step in forcing White's king back - the e4-square is taken away by the knight. In fact here Fedorov saw no reason to carry on fighting against his distinguished opponent and threw in the towel. Let's see how the game could have ended. 47Kf3 The only alternatives to a retreat were pawn advances, but these can be dealt with easily enough: a) 47 h5 Kf6! (preventing the pawn thrust g5 and preparing to occupy this square) 48 Kf3 Kg5 49 Kg3 Ne4+! 50 Kf3 Nf6 followed by ... Nxg4, ... Nf6 and ... Nxh5. b) 47 g5 h5! (of course!) 48 g6 (or 48 Ke3 Kf5 49 Kf3 Nd7! - coming to g6 - 50 Kg3 Ne5 51 Kh3 Kf4 52 Kg2 Kg4 and Black wins the pawns) 48 ... Kf6! 49 g7 Ne6+! (but not 49 ... Kxg7?? 50 Kg5) 50 Kg3 Nxg7 etc. 47... Ke5 48 Ke3 Ne6 49 Kf3 Kd4 (Diagrrun 46) White's king is slowly being forced back. It's only a matter of time before he loses a pawn. 50Kg3 Breaking out with 50 g5 doesn't help: 50 ...h5 51 g6 Ke5! 52 Ke3 Kf5 and ... Kxg6. 50 ...Ke4 51 Kh3 Kf3 Now White is forced to advance a pawn or else he loses them immediately. 52h5 After 52 g5 Black can win with 52 ... h5 or the flashy 52 ... Nxg5+!. 52 ...Kf4 Now Black has a few ways to win, but the simplest is to move the king to block the pawn on g5, and then to attack the g-pawn a second time with the knight. 53 Kh4 Nc5 54 Kh3 Kg5 55 Kg3 Nd7! 56 Kf3 Nf6 and Black follows up with ... Nxg4, ... Nf6 and finally ... Nxh5 with an easy win (see Example 125).
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Knight (and Pawns) versus Pawns
Example 139 Tseshkovsky-Bagirov, Lvov 1978
Diagram 47 (W) A surprising draw
Diagram 48 (8) Draw!
(Diagram 47) Here White's king is well placed attacking c5 while Black's king is away from the action, so it's left to the knight to both protect Black's last pawn and avoid a pawn exchange. It has to be said that the situation looks good for Black despite his king's placing. White's pawns are not ideally placed (he would prefer to have one on c3 rather than c4 as then b4 would draw immediately). Also it looks very difficult to harass the knight on d3. Trying to move round to attack the knight proves to be far too slow: 56 Kc6 Kf4! 57 Kd6 Ke4 and Black will follow up with ... Kd4-c3 etc. Waiting is also hopeless: 56 Ka4 Kf3 57 Ka3 Ke2 58 Ka2 Kd2 59 Ka3 Kc3 60 Ka4 Kb2 and White must lose a pawn. However, White does have an unlikely looking solution: 56b4!! At first sight this seems suicidal but ... 56 ... cxb4 Of course 56 ... Nxb4 57 Kxc5 is an immediate draw. 57 Ka4! Necessary to avoid ... b3. Now we see the point to White's previous move: the plan is to deflect the knight by moving the c-pawn up the board. 57...Kf4 Running back to contain the c-pawn. 58 c5 Ke5 59 c6 Kd6 60 Kb3! (Diagram 48) and the players agreed a draw. Following 60 Kb3 Kxc6 61 Kc4! (now Black must give up his knight) 61...Kb6 62 Kxd3 Kb5 63 Kc2 Ka4 64 Kb2 it's a drawn king and pawn ending. When the two pawns are split there is even less chance of survival.
Example 140 Beliavsky-Van Mil, Bundesliga 2002
141
Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames
Diagram 49 (8) White wins
Diagram 50 (8) A difficult position
(Diagram 49) Here White wins comfortably because Black's pawns are easy targets. 58 ... Kf6 59 Nd5+ Kg5 59 ... Ke5 60 Nf4 h4+ 61 Kf3 Kf6 transposes to the text. 60 Nf4h4+ Or 60 ... Kh6 61 Kh4 and Black immediately loses a pawn. 61 Kf3 Kf6 62 Nh3 Here Black resigned, but we'll just play on a few more moves: 62 ... Ke5 63 Ke3 Ke6 64 Kf4 Kf6 65 Ng5! (planning Nf3) 65 ... Kg6 66 Nf3 (now White wins a pawn) 66 ... Kh5 67 Kxf5 and so on.
One pawn passed; two blocked This is another scenario that often arises in practice. Again everything depends on the positioning of the pieces.
Example 141 J.Polgar-Yusupov, Dortmund 1997 (Diagram 50) At fIrst sight this looks like an easy win for Black but in fact he must play very carefully to ensure the full point. 61...Ke4! Shouldering off White's king and keeping all options open. This is in fact the only way to win. a) 61...Ke5? is similar to the text but it allows White's king into the action: 62 Ke3 Kf6 (or 62 ... Kf5 63 g7! - deflecting the knight - 63 ... Nxg7 64 Kd4 Ne6+ 65 Kd5 Nf4+ 66 Kc5 Nd3+ 67 Kb6 Nb4 68 Kc5 Nd3+ 69 Kb6 and again it's a draw) 63 Ke4 Kxg6 64 Kd5 Kf5 65 Kc6 Ke5 66 Kb6 and White wins the a6-pawn. b) Heading directly to attack the a5-pawn with the king allows White to draw via a perpetual attack on the knight: 61...Kc5? 62 Kf3 Kb5 63 Ke4 Kxa5 64 Ke5! Ng7 65 Kf6 Nh5+ 66 Kg5 Ng7 67 Kf6 Ne8+ 68 Kf7 Nd6+ 69 Ke6 Ne8 70 Kf7
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Knight (and Pawns) versus Pawns
o
etc. This is one case of a knight being inferior to a bishop: with a bishop Black would win easily. NOTE: A perpetual attack by the king on the knight is a very common drawing resource.
62Kg3 Or: a) 62 Ke2 Nf4+! (using the knight to capture on g6 so that the king remains active) 63 Kd2 Nxg6 64 Kc3 Kd5 and White's king obviously cannot reach the a6pawn. b) 62 Kel (this route is simply too long) 62 ... Kf5 63 Kd2 Kxg6 64 Kc3 Kf5 65 Kc4 Ke5 and again White's king cannot get in. 62 ... Nf4! 0-1 Yusupov is precise to the very end. Now 63 g7 allows 63 ... Nh5+ and ... Nxg7, winning easily. In contrast, going after the g6-pawn with the king is still an error: 62 ... Kf5? 63 Kf3 Kxg6? 64 Ke4! Kf6 65 Kd5 Ke7 66 Kc6 Kd8 67 Kb6 Nc7 (Black has managed to protect the a6-pawn but, rather like Example 130, he can now make no useful progress) 68 Kb7 Kd7 69 Kb6 Kc8 70 Ka7! Kd7 71 Kb6 Kd6 72 Kb7 Kc5 (what else?) 73 Kxc7 Kb5 74 Kd6 Kxa5 75 Kc5! with a drawn pawn ending.
All pawns are passed If the two passed pawns are connected, in general the ideal scenario for king and knight team is for the knight to be restraining the enemy pawns while the king supports the lone passed pawn. In this case the attacker can still hope to use waiting moves with the knight to force the pawn through to promotion.
Example 142 Liberzon-Ben Zion, Israel 1974
Diagram 51 (W) White wins
Diagram 52 (8) Black's pawns will be blocked
(Diagram 51) Here White doesn't yet have the ideal set-up. At the moment it's the knight that's protecting the pawn and the king that's restraining the enemy
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames passed pawns, but it's quite easy to see that White can make no progress like this. On its own the knight can only protect the pawn (it can't force it forwards), while any attempt by White's king to grab Black's rear pawn allows the front one to deflect the knight. For example, 52 Kg6? g4! 53 Kxh6 g3 54 Kg5 g2 55 Ne2 Kxb5 with a straightforward draw. White, however, does have a winning plan: the king and knight have enough time to switch jobs! 52 Ke6! White's king is heading for the queenside and, in particular, the c4-square. 52 ... Kc5 Preventing Kd5-c4, but White has planned for this eventuality. The alternative is to begin racing down the board on the kingside, but White's knight arrives just in time: 52 ... g4 53 Kd5! g3 54 Kc4 g2 55 Ne2! (Liberzon) and White is winning. Let's just playa few more moves to confirm this: 55 ... h5 56 Ng1! h4 57 Nh3 (the pawns are blocked and now White plays it like a pawn ending on the queenside) 57 ... Kb7 58 Kc5 Kc7 59 b6+ Kb7 60 Kb5 Kb8 61 Kc6 Kc8 62 b7+ Kb8 63 Ng1! (that crucial waiting move) 63 ... Ka7 64 Kc7 and the b-pawn promotes. 53 Kd7! A feint to play Kc7, followed by b6 etc. Black must avoid this. 53 ...Kb6 54 Kd6! But now White's king has access to c4. 54...h5 54... g4 55 Kd5! g3 56 Kc4 g2 57 Ne2 transposes to the note to Black's 52nd. 55 Kd5 h4 56 Kc4 g4 57 Ne2! (Diagram 52) and Black resigned. The pawns are blocked and contained after either 57 ... g3 58 Ng1 g2 59 Nh3 or 57 ... h3 58 Ng3 h2 59 Kb4. White wins in very much the same way as in the note to Black's 52nd move.
Example 143 Barua-Lee, Torquay 2002
Diagram 53 (W) A neat knight circuit
144
Diagram 54 (8) Black has to give way
Knight (and Pawns) versus Pawns (Diagram. 53) Here White's winning task is complicated by Black's strong pawns, which between them control many important squares. Black hopes to keep these two pawns abreast as long as possible because when one moves forward it gives away important squares to White's king and knight. White is able to win by first of all manoeuvring his knight to the correct square before slowly going forward with the h-pawn. 54 Ng4! This knight is heading for d2! The impatient 54 h4? allows Black to draw immediately with 54 ... eS! 55 NdS Kg4!. 54 ... Kg5 As I mentioned before, pawn pushes simplify White's task: a) 54 ... eS gives White the vital fS-square: 55 Nh2! (but not the obvious 55 KfS? Kg5! 56 Ne5 e2! 57 NdS Kh4 58 Kg2 f3+! and White cannot keep hold of his last pawn) 55 ... Ke4 56 NfS with lines similar to the one discussed in the note to Black's 57th move. b) 54 ... f3+ crucially presents White with the gS- and eS-squares: 55 KgS Kg5 56 NeS! Kh5 57 Nc4 (threatening Nd2) 57 ... Kg5 58 h4+ Kf5 (or 58 ... Kh5 59 Nd2! f2 60 Nfl! and Black loses a pawn) 59 Nd6+ (not the only way to win) 59 ... Ke5 60 h5! Kd4 61 h6 eS 62 KxfS KdS 6S h7 e2 64 Kf2 Kd2 65 Ne4+ Kd1 66 NcS+ etc. 55 Ne5! Kf6 56 Nc4 Kf5 57 Nd2 The ideal square for the knight because: 1) It pressures the pawn on e4 2) It's ready to meet ... eS with NfS, blocking the pawns 57 ...Ke5 Or 57 ... eS 58 NfS Ke4 59 h4 Kf5 (59 ... e2 60 Kf2 KdS 61 h5) 60 KhS with a transposition to the text. 58h4! Only now does White move this pawn, the plan being KhS-g4. 58 ...Kf5 59 Kh3 (Diagram. 54) 59 ... e3 Finally moving one of the pawns. The only other option was to give way with the king: 59 ... Ke5 60 Kg4 fS (or 60 ... eS 61 Nf3+ Ke4 62 h5 e2 6S h6 and White promotes) 61 Nfl! Kf6 62 Kf4 Kg6 6S NgS! (the king is kept out) 6S ... f2 64 Nfl! (but not 64 KeS?? flQ! 65 Nxfl Kh5 and ... Kxh4) 64 ... Kh5 65 KgS and finally Black loses a vital pawn. 60 Nf3 e2 Allowing a simple fork, but alternatives also lose: a) 60 ... Ke4 61 Kg4 e2 62 h5 etc. b) 60 ... Kf6 61 Kg4 Kg6 62 Kxf4 e2 6S KeS e1Q+ 64 Nxe1 Kh5 65 NfS. 61 Nd4+ Ke4 62 Nxe2 Re3 63 Ng11-0 After 6S Ng1 Kf2 64 Kh2 there's nothing to stop the h-pawn promoting.
Endings with More Pawns We'll finish this chapter by taking a look at some endings that include more pawns.
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames
Pawns on one side When there are pawns on only one side of the board, the knight is generally a powerful piece. This is because it won't be stretched by things happening on the other side of the board. It can concentrate its powers on a limited front and, unlike the bishop, it can use the quality of being able to manoeuvre to control any square.
Example 144 Adams-Kir.Georgiev, Las Palmas 1993
Diagram 55 (W)
Diagram 56 (8)
White wins
Running out of moves
(Diagram 55) This knight and two pawns versus three pawns ending is comfortably winning because all Black's pawns are on one side of the board. Using the king and knight White slowly runs Black out of useful moves. 54 Ne3 Kf4 55 Ne2+ Ke4 56 Ng1! Kf4 57 Nf3 f6 The alternative is 57 .. .£5 58 Kg1 g4 (forced) 59 hxg4! (59 Nxh4?? allows a draw after 59 ... gxh3 60 gxh3 Kg3!) 59 ... Kxg4 (else the pawn on h4 falls, but now Black has split pawns and White wins in a similar fashion to Example 140) 60 Nh2+! (60 Kh2?? h3!) 60 ... Kg3 61 NfH Kg4 62 Kh2 f4 63 Nd2 Kg5 64 Kh3 Kh5 65 Nf3 etc. 58 Nd2 g4 Otherwise Black would have to give way with his king. For example, 58 ... Ke5 59 Ke3 Kf5 60 Kf3 Ke5 61 Kg4 Ke6 62 Nf3 Ke7 63 Nxg5!. 59 Ne4 Of course, unlike with a bishop, White doesn't have to worry about ending up with a rook's pawn. 59 ...f5 Or 59 ... gxh3 60 gxh3 Kf5 61 Kf3 Kg5 62 Ke4 f5+ 63 Ke5 f4 64 Nd2 etc. 60 N d2 (Diagram 56) At first sight it seems as if White has made no real progress from the previous diagram, but Black will only ever be able to exchange one pair of pawns. He is
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Knight (and Pawns) versus Pawns
running out of good waiting moves and now something has to give. 60 ... Ke5 Or 60 ... Kg5 61 Ke3 f4+ 62 Ke4 f3 and now 63 Nxf3+! gxf3 64 gxf3 wins. TIP: Always look: out for opportunities to sacrifice the knight in order to simplify into a winning pawn ending.
61 Ke3! Luring Black's f-pawn further forward. 61...f4+ 62 Kf2 Kf5 63 Nc4! 1-0 Possible conclusions are 63 ... Kg5 64 Ne5! gxh3 65 gxh3 Kh5 66 Nf3 and Black's h-pawn goes, 63 .. .£3 64 Ne3+ Kg5 65 Nxg4 and 63 ... g3+ 64 Kf3 Kg5 65 Nd6.
Pawns on both sides As we have seen before, when there is action on both sides of the board, the knight tends to struggle a little bit because its influence is limited.
Example 145 Lesiege-E.Lawson, Richmond 2002
Diagram 57 (8) A difficult ending
Diagram 58 (W) White loses all his pawns
(Diagram 57) If White had a bishop on c7 instead ofthe knight then the win would be beyond doubt. However, with the knight the situation is not at all clear. If the knight concentrates solely on containing Black's a-pawn then the kingside becomes very much like a pawn ending, with the knight having no influence apart from being able to play waiting moves. Whether this is enough to win depends on other considerations. If White's knight moves to the kingside then the king has to march over to the queenside to contain the a-pawn. In this case, when compared to the bishop, the knight often finds it more difficult to protect the mass of pawns. 34 ... a5! Black starts by sensibly pushing this pawn as far as it can go. The nearer promotion it gets, the more tied down White's king or knight becomes. 35 Ke2 a4 36 Kd3?
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames After the game Lawson discovered that 36 Nb5!, preventing ... a3, is stronger, when it looks like White can just about win. For example: a) 36 ... f4 (planning ... Kh5-h4-g3 etc.) 37 Kd3 Kh5 38 Nc3! (but not 38 Ke4? g5 39 Kf5 h6 40 Kf6 Kh4 41 Kg6 Kg3 42 Kxh6 Kxg2 43 Kxg5 Kxf3 44 h4 Kg3 and one of Black's pawns will promote) 38 ... a3 39 Kc2 Kh4 40 Ne2 (Lawson), when White's knight arrives just in time to prevent Black's king from invading via g3. b) 36 ... Kg5 (a more serious try) 37 Ke3 and now we have that king and pawn ending on the kingside with White having waiting moves on the queenside; this looks enough to win here: b1) 37 ...Kh4 38 Kf4! g6 39 Na3 Kh5 40 g3 Kh6 41 Ke5 (White is slowly improving the situation on the kingside) 4l...Kg7 42 Ke6 Kh6 43 Kf6 Kh5 44 f4 Kh6 45 Kf7 Kh5 46 Kg7 g5 47 Kxh7 gxf4 48 gxf4 Kh4 49 Kg6 and White wins. b2) 37 ... g6 38 Na3 Kf6 (or 38 ... Kh4 39 Kf4) 39 Kd4 Kg5 (39 ... g5 40 Kd5 g4 41 f4!) 40 Ke5 h5 41 Nc4 h4 42 f4+ Kh5 43 Kf6 Kh6 44 Na3 Kh5 45 Kg7 g5 46 Kf6 and again White wins. 36 ... a3! 37 Kc2 Kh5 38 Ne6 38 g3!? prevents ... Kh4 but Black can draw with 38 .. .f4! 39 gxf4 g6! 40 Ne6 Kh4 41 Ng5 Kg3 42 Kb3 Kxf4 43 h4 h6 44 Nf7 Kxf3 45 Nxh6 Kg3. 38 ... Kh4! 39 Nxg7 Kg3 (Diagram 58) Now White is not able to keep a single pawn and the draw approaches. 40 Nxf5+ Kxg2 41 Kb3 1;2-1;2 It's drawn after 41 Kb3 Kxf3 42 Kxa3 Kf4 43 Nd6 Kg3. The line 41 Nd4 a2 42 Kb2 Kxh3 also draws after 43 f4 Kg4 44 f5 Kg5 45 Kxa2 h5 46 Kb3 h4 47 Kc4 h3 48 Kd5 h2 49 Nf3+ Kxf5 50 Nxh2. Finally, a couple of examples where it's the pawns that beat the knight
Example 146 Sutovsky-Erenburg, Tel Aviv 2002
Diagram 59 (W) White can win
Diagram 60 (W) A deflection is needed
(Diagram 59) Black seems to have some sort of blockade on the queenside, but Sutovsky comes up with an inspired solution to his problems:
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Knight (and Pawns) versus Pawns
60 a6!! Sacrificing the a-pawn so that the b-pawn can advance to the 'last stop'. Then the knight becomes completely tied down to preventing this pawn promoting. 60 Kf5? looks reasonable but then Black can play 60 ... Ne6! 61 a6 Nxd4+ 62 Kf4 Nb5 and suddenly White has to worry about Black's passed d-pawn. One possible continuation is 63 Kf5 Ke7! 64 Kg6 d4 65 Kxg7 d3 66 h6 d2 67 h7 d1Q 68 h8Q (looks like a draw but ... ) 68 ... Qg4+! 69 Kh6 Qh4+ 70 Kg7 Qg5+ 71 Kh7 Qh5+ 72 Kg7 Qxe5+ 73 Kh7 Qh5+ 74 Kg7 Qg5+ 75 Kh7 Kf7 and Black mates! 60 ... Nxa6 61 b5 Nb4 Or 61...Nc7 62 b6 Na6 63 Kf5 (Lukacs), intending e6 and Ke5xd5. 62 b6 Ne6 63 b7 Ke7 64 Kg5 Kf7 (Diagrrun 60) 65 e6+! Another pawn offer, but Black cannot accept. 65 ... Kf8 After 65 ... Kxe6 66 Kg6 Black has no answer to the plan of Kxg7 and h6-h7-h8. 66 Kg6 Kg8 Or 66 ... Ne7+ 67 Kh7! Nc6 68 e7+! Kf7 69 e8Q+! (finally the king is deflected) 69 ... Kxe8 70 Kxg7 and h6-h7-h8. 67 b8Q+! 1-0 Following 67 ... Nxb8 68 e7 the pawn promotes.
Example 147 Svidler-Anand, Dos Hermanas 1999
Diagram 61 (8) What result?
Diagram 62 (8) White wins!
(Diagrrun 61) The difficulty ofthis endgame is gauged by the fact that it completely confused two world-class grandmasters and also some annotators who had much more time as well as computer assistance. Black's knight is tied down completely to preventing White's a-pawn from queening, but it's difficult for White's king to approach the knight without letting Black's d-pawn run home, Of course Kxd4 must always met be ... Nb5+, so Black cannot even play waiting moves with his knight. 68 ... Kf6?
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames A losing mistake. 68 ... Kg7! draws because Black prevents White from advancing his pawns too far on the kingside: a) The direct 69 Kxd4 allows a draw after 69 ... Nb5+ 70 Ke5 Nxa7 71 Ke6 Nc6 72 £6+ Kh6 73 f7 Nd8+!. b) 69 Kd3 is a clever waiting move. Now more than one source has this position as winning for White but this is not true: bl) 69 ... Kh7? (now the f-pawn can run) 70 £6! Kh6 (or 70 ... Kg8 71 h6!) 71 Kxd4! Nb5+ 72 Kc5 Nxa7 73 Kb6! Nc8+ 74 Kc7 Na7 75 Kd7 and Black cannot prevent the f-pawn from queening: 75 ... Kh7 76 f7 Kg7 77 Ke8 etc. b2) 69 ... Kf7? (now the h-pawn runs) 70 h6 Kf6 71 Kxd4! Nb5+ 72 Kc5! wins in a very similar way to main text. b3) 69 ... Kg8! (with this calm move Black is ready to meet f6 with ... Kf7! and h6 with ... Kh7!) and now: b31) 70 Kc4 Kg7!. b32) 70 f6 Kf7! 71 Kxd4 Nb5+ 72 Ke5 (72 Kc5 Nxa7 73 Kb6 Kxf6! sees a point of 69 ... Kg8) 72 ... Nxa7 73 h6 Nc6+ 74 Kf5 Nd4+ 75 Kg5 Ne6+ and Black draws. b33) 70 h6 Kh7! 71 Kxd4 Nb5+ 72 Kd5 (or 72 Kc5 Nxa7 73 Kb6 Kxh6 74 Kxa7 Kg5) 72 ... Nxa7 73 f6 Kxh6 74 Ke6 Nc6 75 f7 Nd8+ again with a draw.
69 h6! Kf7 Here the players agreed a draw! In their defence, however, White's winning idea is very difficult to see over the board. 70 Kxd4! Other moves don't work:
o
a) 70 Kd3 Kf6 71 Kc4 (71 Kxd4! wins in a similar way to the game) 71...Kf7 72 Kc5 d3 73 Kc6 Na8!. b) 70 Kf4 Kf6 71 Kg4 Kf7 72 Kg5? d3 73 £6 d2 74 h7?? (74 a8Q Nxa8 75 h7 dlQ 76 h8Q is still a draw) 74 ... dlQ 75 h8Q and now Black mates: 75 ... Ne6+! 76 Kf5 (76 Kh4 Qhl +!) 76 ... Qf3+ 77 Ke5 Qf4+ 78 Kd5 Qd4+ 79 Kc6 Qc5+ 80 Kb7 Qb5+ 81 Kc8 Qc6+ 82 Kb8 Qb6+ 83 Ka8 Nc7 mate. NOTE: The queen and knight team often proves to be an irresistible attacking force.
70 ... Nb5+ 71 Ke5! A difficult move to see as it seems illogical to move away from the kingside. 71 Ke5? only draws after 71...Nxa7 72 h7 Kg7 73 £6+ Kxh7 74 Ke6 Kg8 75 Ke7 Nc6+ 76 Ke8 Ne5. 71. .. Nxa7 72 Kb6! Again a paradoxical move. Black loses because the knight is so badly placed. 72 ... Ne8+ 73 Ke7 (Diagram 62) 73 ... Na7 The main point of White's idea is seen after 73 ... Ne7 74 h7! Kg7 75 £6+!!. 74 Kd7! The only move to win. 74 h7? allows Black to draw after 74 ... Kg7 75 Kd7 Kxh7 76 £6 Kg6 77 Ke6 Nc6. 74 ... Nb5 Or 74 ... Kf6 75 h7 Kg7 76 £6+! Kxh7 77 f7 Kg7 78 KeS!. 75 h7 Kg7 76 f6+ Kxh7 77 f7 Kg7 78 Ke7! and White's f-pawn promotes.
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Knight (and Pawns) versus Pawns
Exercise 1
Exercise 2
Exercise 1 (White to play)
What should White play: 1 Ne6 or 1 Nb3? Exercise 2 (Black to play) Should Black play (a) 1...KaS, (b) 1...KbS or (c) it doesn't matter, White wins against either move.
Exercise 3
Exercise 4
Exercise 3 (Black to play) This game continued 98 ... Kcl 99 g7 blQ, when fortunately for Black he won on time, even though 100 gSQ would give a theoretically drawn position. Did Black miss something? Exercise 4 (White to play) Here White erred with 43 h5? How did Black punish this mistake?
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames
Exercise 5
Exercise 6
Exercise 5 (Black to play) This game ended 70 Nb3 h3 71 Nd4+ Kf6 72 g7 Kxg7 73 Kxb4 h2 74 Nf5+ KfB 75 Ng3 Ke5 and a draw was agreed on account of 76 Kc3 Kf4 77 Nhl Kf3 78 Kd2 Kg2 79 Ke2 Kxhl 80 Kfl stalemate. Can you see an improvement for either side? Exercise 6 (Black to play) This game ended 51. .. h6 52 Kg6 Nf7 0-1. Is the final position really winning for Black?
Exercise 7
Exercise 8
Exercise 7 (White to play) Here White tried to 'liquidate' with 53 Nxc4 Nxc4 54 b6. Was this a wise idea? Exercise 8 (Black to play) Can you spot a winning move for Black? (Clue: it's not the most likely looking move!)
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Chapter Five ..
Knight Endings
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Knight and Pawn vs Knight
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Knight and Two Pawns vs Knight
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Knight and Pawn vs Knight and Pawn
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Knight and Two vs Knight and Pawn
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Endings with More Pawns
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Try it Yourself
Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames
Knight and Pawn versus Knight As I've mentioned before, knight endings tend to be less structured than bishop endings. There is certainly no rule for knight and pawn versus pawns that is equivalent to Centurini's rule for bishop endings. On the other hand, there are still guidelines that you can apply. For example, it's fairly obvious that the further advanced the pawn, the greater the winning chances. The first thing to note is that a pawn on the seventh rank that is supported by the king and not blocked by the enemy king nearly always guarantees victory.
Example 148
Diagram 1 (8) White wins
Diagram 2 (8) No defence to Ne6
(Diagram 1) Despite having the move and the poor initial position of White's knight, there is nothing that Black can do to avoid defeat. White will simply improve the position of his knight, finally using it to deflect Black's knight away from the defence ofthe promoting square (e8). Let's see how this is achieved. 1... Ne8 Or l...Kc6 2 Nb3 (planning Nd4-e6) 2 ... Kd5 (preventing Nd4) 3 Nd2 (planning Nf3-g5-e6) 3 ... Ke5 4 Nf3+ Kf4 (preventing Ng5) 5 Nd4! and there is no good defence to Ne6 or Nb5. 2 Nb3 Nd6+ 3 Kf8 Kc6 3 ... Ne8Ioses immediately to 4 Nc5+, while after 3 ... Ke6 White wins with 4 Nd4+ and Nb5. 4 Nd4+ Kd7 5 Nf5! Ne8 The only move. 6Kf7! Nc7 Again the only move. 7 Ng7! (Diagram 2) Now there is no defence to the threat of Ne6. 7... Kc6 8 Ne6
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Knight Endings and White forces the pawn through (but not 8 Ne8?? Nd5!). Drawing chances increase significantly if the pawn is only on the sixth rank.
Example 149
Diagram 3 (8) Draw
Diagram 4 (W) As good as it gets
(Diagram. 3) Here White's king is very well placed and this is enough to secure a draw. 70 ...Kd3 71 Kdl White must keep his knight controlling the e2-square. The hasty 71 Nf5?? would lead to a disaster for White after 71...Ng2+! 72 Kf1 e2+ and ... elQ. 71 ... Ng2 The best try. Black prevents White's king from going back to el. 72Ne2 Oscillating with Kcl-dl also works because the knight is so well placed on g3: 72 Kcl Nh4 (of course 72 ... Kd4 is answered by 73 Nf5+! and Nxe3) 73 Kdl Nf3 74 Kcl Nd4 75 Kdl and Black is making no progress. NOTE: With the pawn on the sixth rank, knight deflections are less likely to work as the pawn is two squares away from promotion.
72 ...Ke4 Black sensibly re-routes his king to the f2-square, where it supports the pawn's progress and prevents White's king from reaching el. 73 Nc3+ Kf3 74 Ne2 Kf2 75 Nd4 75 Nc3 is also good enough. 75 ... Nf4 (Diagram. 4) Black has seemingly made some progress from the initial position. White's king is no longer blocking the pawn and now White's knight is denied access to the key e2-square. However, this is as good as it gets for Black - he cannot successfully budge the white knight from d4. 6 Kc2! An 'only move', but a fairly obvious choice. 76 Kcl?? would lose to the simple
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames 76 ... Ne2+! (or even 76 ... Ne6! 77 Nxe6 e2 when 78 Nc5 doesn't work as 78 ... e1Q comes with check). 76 ... Ne6 This typical deflection try fails tactically, but Black cannot improve his position in any case. For example, 76 ... Kf1 77 Nf5! e2 78 Ng3+ and Nxe2, or 76 ... Ke1 77 Nf5! e2 78 Ng3! and again Nxe2. 77 Nxe6! e2 78 Nf4! e1Q 79 Nd3+ and Nxe1 with a draw.
Example 150 Miroshniehenko-J.Polgar, Ohrid 2001
Diagram 5 (8) Black wins
Diagram 6 (8) A little more care needed
(Diagram 5) In this example Black wins with careful play. 80 ... a3! Obvious and good. 81 Nd5+Ke4! Black mustn't allow the knight onto the crucial c3-square, preventing ... a2. 82 Ne3+ Ke3 83 Nd5+ The best chance. 83 Nc2 a2! is a typical winning position for the rook's pawn that we'll come across more than once: it's easy to see that White is in zugzwang and the pawn will promote. 83 ...Kb2 84 Nb4 White has prevented ... a2 for the moment but unfortunately for him his king is out of play and the knight on b4 lacks support. 84... Ne5! Taking the d3-square away from White's knight, which she now plans to harass with ... Kb3 thus securing the way for ... a2. 85 Kd2 Kb3! 86 Ne2 a2 Finally the pawn reaches its 'last stop'. The final part of the winning procedure is to place White in zugzwang.
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Knight Endings 87 Na1+ Or 87 Kc1 Kc3 88 Kdl (88 Nal Nb3+!) 88 ... Nb3! with the typical winning zugzwang that we've discussed before. 87 ...Kb2 88 Kdl! (Diagram 6) 88 Nc210ses to 88 ... Nb3+ 89 Kd3 (or 89 Kdl Kc3) 89 ... Nd4! when either the king or knight is fatally deflected. With 88 Kdl White sets one final trap. 88 ... Nb3! 0-1 It's that typical zugzwang again following 89 Nc2 Kc3. In contrast, 88 ... Kxal?? would be a blunder, allowing White to draw with 89 Kcl! (see Example 128). Sometimes a knight deflection works even when the pawn still has a few squares to reach promotion, as in the following example.
Example 151 Eingorn-Beliavsky, Kiev 1986
Diagram 7 (W) White wins in style
Diagram 8 (W) Trapping the knight
(Diagram 7) In truth White has many moves that win here because Black's king is far away from the action (he must only be careful not to play 69 h5?? Nf4+!). The one chose by Eingorn, however, is by far the most elegant. 69 Nd4+! This deflection is decisive. 69 ... Nxd4 2 Kf6 What makes this example so striking is the fact that White follows up the knight sacrifice with a 'quiet' king move, just when you think he should be motoring ahead with the pawn. As Dvoretsky mentions in his endgame manual, the king is ideally placed two squares diagonally from the enemy knight. In a way the king dominates the knight and, despite being 'geographically' so close, it actually now takes the knight three consecutive moves before it can check the king. 2 h5? allows Black's knight back into the action. Following 2 ... Ne6 3 h6 Nf8+ Black draws as in Example 114. 2 ... Nc2
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames The knight has to move away before it can come back. 3 h5 Ne3 4 Kg5! Once again the king moves diagonally two squares from the knight and again the knight is dominated. Of course 4 h6?? would allow a draw after 4 ... Ng4+. 4 ... N c4 5 h6 1-0 Black resigned due to 5 h6 Ne5 6 h7 Nf7+ 7 Kf6 Nh8 8 Kg7.
Example 152 Gligoric-Petrosian, BledJZagreb/Belgrade 1959 (Diagram 8) In this example the attacker uses another technique: trapping the enemy knight. 56 Nc4! Nb1 Or 56 ... Nc2 (here the knight is dominated by the king and knight team) 57 b5 Ne1 58 b6 Nd3+ 59 Kb5! (again two squares diagonally from the knight) and the pawn promotes. 57 Kd4! 1-0 Black resigned because the knight is trapped and there is nothing useful that can be done about the simple idea of Kd3-c2. For example, 57 ... Kf5 58 Kd3 Ke6 59 Kc2 Kd5 60 Ne3+! Kc6 (or 60 ... Kd4 61 Kxb1 Kxe3 62 b5) 61 Kxb1 Kb5 62 Nc2 and White wins. Note that 57 b5?? allows Black to draw with 57 ... Nc3! 58 b6 Na4+!.
Example 153 Lautier-Karpov, Ubeda 1994
Diagram 9 (8) Black uses the fork
Diagram 10 (8) Should be drawn
(Diagram 9) In this example Black immediately draws by repeatedly attacking the pawn until a fork arises - a common defensive resource. 58 ... Nd3! and a draw was agreed on account of 59 e6 Nf4! 60 e7 Nd5+! followed by ... Nxe7.
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Knight Endings
Example 154 Antonio-Zaw Win Lay, Kuala Lumpur 2001 (Diagram 10) This final example of knight and pawn versus knight illustrates how tough these endings are to play in practice, even for experienced grandmasters. 72 ... Nc7+ 73 Kd6 Na6? This very plausible move is in fact losing because White can use his knight as a deflector. Instead Black can draw with 73 ... Ne8+! 74 Ke7 (or 74 Kd7 Nf6+ 75 Ke6 Ne8) 74 ... Nc7 75 Kd7 Nd5 76 Kd6 Nf6!, when 77 c7 is met by 77 ... Ne8+!. 74 Nd7! Now there are ideas of Nc5 ... 74 ...Kb4 75 NbS! ... and this! Black's knight is fatally deflected. 75 Nc5! also wins after 75 ... Nxc5 76 c7 Ne4+ 77 Ke5. 75 ... Nc5 Or 75 ... Nxb8 76 c7 and the pawn promotes.
c7
76 Nb7+ 1-0 After 77 Kd5 Black cannot prevent promotion.
Knight and Two Pawns versus Knight This scenario is generally winning for the attacker unless there is something unusual about the position (there's an 81% win ratio on my database). If all the pieces are in play then the win is a virtual certainty.
Example 155 Emms-Webster, Scarborough 1999
Diagram 11 (8) Black wins
Diagram 12 (8) Patience!
(Diagram 11) Here Black only has to be careful not to push the push the pawns too recklessly and allow White to sacrifice his knight for them.
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Starting Oui: Minor Piece Endgames 63 ... Ne5+ 64 Ke3 Nc4+ 65 Kf3 e5 66 Ng3+ Ke6 67 Ne4 f5 68 Ng3 Nd6! Of course not 68 ... e4+?? 69 Nxe4!. 69 Nh5 (Diagram 12) 69 ... Ne4! An instructive moment, with Black correctly choosing to improve the position of his knight rather than to advance a pawn. In fact, either pawn advance only draws: a) 69 .. .f4?? allows an obvious draw after 70 Nxf4+!. b) Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, 69 ... e4+? also allows White to draw: 70 Kf4! (now White's king is a real pain for Black) 70 ... Kd5 (or 70 ... Kf7 71 Ng3! Kg6 72 Nxf5! Nxf5 73 Kxe4) 71 Ng3 Kd4 72 Nfl! (planning Ne3) 72 ... Kd3 73 Ne3 Ke2 (what else?) 74 Nxf5! Nxf5 75 Kxe4. 70 Ng7+ Kf6 71 Ne8+ Kf7 72 Nc7 Ng5+ 73 Kg3 Ne6 74 Nd5 e4! Finally a pawn advance, but only because the knight on e6 now prevents White from blockading with Kf4. 75 Kf2 Nc5! Again patience is required. 75 .. .f4?? would spoil all the previous good work and allow 76 Nxf4! Nxf4 77 Ke3 winning the final pawn. 76 Ke3 Ke6 77 Nf4+ Ke5 78 Ng6+ Kf6 79 Nf4 Ne6! 80 Nd5+ Ke5 Finally forcing through .. .f4 under the most favourable circumstances. White's position now deteriorates very quickly. 81 Nc3 f4+ 82 Ke2 Nd4+ 83 Kf2 e3+ 84 Kel f3 85 Ndl Nc2+ 0-1 The following case is very much the exception that proves the rule.
Example 156 Movsesian-Hracek, Slovakia 2000
Diagram 13 (6) Black can draw
Diagram 14 (W) White cannot progress
(Diagram 13) Here Black's king is extremely well placed blocking White's pawns and this allows him to draw. 61...Nf7! Threatening ... Ne5. White doesn't have time to consolidate with Kf3 and Ne3+. 62 Ne3+ Ke4!
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Knight Endings Black has to stay active. 63Ng4 Following 63 e6 White's pawn becomes isolated from the rest of the army: 63 ... Nd6! 64 f5!? (the best try; 64 Ng4 Kd5 picks up the e-pawn after 65 e7 Nf5+) 64 ... Kxe3 65 Kg4 (or 65 f6 Ne4+) 65 ... Ne4 66 e7 Kd4! 67 Kh5 (67 e8Q allows 67 ... Nf6+) 67 ... Nf6+ 68 Kg5 Ke5 69 Kg6 Ne8 70 Kf7 Nf6 and Black draws. 63 ... Nd8! Now ... Ne6 is a threat. 64 Nf6+ Or 64 Nh6 Ne6 65 f5 Kxe5!. 64 ... Kf5 65 Ne8 65 Kf3 allows an immediate draw with 65 ... Ne6 66 Nd5 Nxf4! 67 Nxf4 Kxe5. 65 ... Nc6 Threatening ... Nxe5. 66 Nd6+ Ke6 67 Ne4 Kd5! Black continues this perpetual harassment and White can never quite consolidate. 68 Ne3+Ke6! 68 ... Ke4? is met by 69 e6!, when 69 ... Kxe3 70 f5 Ke4 71 f6 forces promotion. 69 Ng4Nd4 69 ... Kf5! is also good: 70 Kf3 Nd4+ 71 Ke3 Nc6 72 Nh6+ Kg6 73 Ng8 Kf5 transposes to text after White's 75th move. 70 Ne3 Ne6 71 Ng4 Nd4 (Diagram 14) 72 Kf2 The final try, but Black has enough resources. 72 ... Kf5 73 Ke3 Ne6 74 Nh6+ Any other knight move is answered by ... Nxe5. 74 ... Kg6 75 Ng8 Kf5 76 e6 The only way to avoid losing one pawn was with 76 Ng4+, but this simply repeats the position. 76 ... Kxe6 77 Ke4 Kf7 78 Nh6+ Kg6 79 Ng4 Ne7 80 Ke5 Kf7 81 Nh6+ Kg7 82 Ke6 Ng6 83 Nf5+ Kf8 v.-v.
Knight and Pawn versus Knight and Pawn This scenario is generally drawn (there's only a 21% win ratio on my database). However, chances of a decisive result increase if both pawns are passed and are involved in a race to promotion.
Example 157 Tyornkin-Belozerov, Tallinn 1997 (Diagram 15) Here Black's pawn on f4 gives him counterplay but he is still losing due to the poor placing of his king, which is too far away from the action. 48 Nf3! A good start. White knight blocks the f4-pawn and is prepared to enter the action via e5.
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames 4S ...Kg7 It's too late to try to run to the queenside: 48 ... Kf8 49 Ne5! KeS 50 Kc7! Na6+ 51 Kb6 Nb8 52 Ka7 f3 53 Nxf3 Nc6+ 54 KaS and White will win with the deflecting Ne5 or Nd4.
Diagram 15 (W) White wins
Diagram 16 (W) Black draws
49 Kc7 Na6+ 50 Kb6 NbS 51 Ne5! Preparing Ka7. 51. .. f3 Giving up this pawn is the equivalent of resignation, but there was no good defence to Ka7; for example, 51...Kf6 52 Ka7 f3 53 Kxb8 Kxe5 54 Ka7 f2 55 b8Q+ Ke4 56 Qb5 and White wins. 52 Nxf3 Kf6 53 Kc7! Na6+ 54 Kd6 Kf7 55 Ne5+ KeS 56 Nc6 1-0 Black resigned on account of 56 ... Kf7 57 Nb4 Nb8 58 Kc7.
Knight and Two Pawns versus Knight and Pawn Now we take a look at a few different examples of this endgame. Overall, the win:draw:loss ratio here was 47%:52%:1%.
No passed pawns When there are no passed pawns the defender has excellent chances of drawing (a 72% draw ratio on my database). To create a passed pawn the attacker will normally have to exchange a pair of pawns, and this only leaves him with one pawn.
Example 158 Gleizerov-Degerman, Stockholm 1996 (Diagram 16) Here Black draws despite the far-advanced position of White's king. 45 g4 KhS 46 h4?! White should prefer 46 Ng3, hoping for 46 ... Nxg3?? 47 hxg3 with a winning
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Knight Endings pawn ending. Instead Black should play 46 ... Nf2! 47 Kh5 Kg7. 4S ... Kg8?! Both players missed that Black could draw immediately with the very cheeky 46 ... Nf6!. 47 g5 NdS 48 Ng3 Or 48 Nf6+ Kh8 49 Nxh7 Nf5+. 48 ... Nf7+ 49 Kh5 Ne5! Preventing White from improving the position of his king. Now there is no way to make progress. 50 Nf5 Kh8 51 NdS Kg7 52 Ne8+ Kg8 '1.-'1.
One pawn passed; two blocked The appearance of a passed pawn considerably increases the attacker's chances in the two versus one ending (the win ratio here goes up to over 50%).
Exampie 159 B.Lalic-Enuns, Southend 2001
Diagram 17 (8) A complex ending
Diagram 18 (8) Black is too far away
(Diagram 17) In this complicated ending I failed to find the narrow path to a draw. 43 ...h5? Black had two checks at his disposal, one of them leading to a draw: a) 43 ... Nd3+? 44 Kf6! Kxd4 45 a6 Nf4 46 a7 Nd5+ 47 Kg7 Nb6 48 Kxh7 Ke5 49 Kg6! Kd6 50 h4 Ke7 51 Kg7! and the h-pawn promotes. b) 43 ... Nd7+! 44 Kd6 (or 44 Kf5 Kxd4 45 a6 Kd5 46 a7 Nb6 47 Kf6 Kd6 48 Kg7 Ke7 49 Kxh7 Kf7 50 h4 Na8 and White cannot make progress as his king is imprisoned) 44 ... Nc5! (I missed this retreat) 45 Nc6 (Black also draws after 45 Nf5 Nb7+ 46 Ke6 Nxa5 47 Kf7 Kd5 48 Ng3 Ke5 49 Kg7 Kf4 50 Ne2+ Kg5 51 Kxh7 Kh4) 45 ... Kb5! 46 Na7+ Kb4! 47 Kd5 (or 47 Kc6 Nb3 48 a6 Nc5 49 Kb6 Na4+! 50 Kc7 Ka5) 47 ... Nd3 48 Nc6+ Kb5 49 h4 h5 50 Ke4 Ne1! 51 Nd4+ Kxa5 and Black will follow up with ... Ng2xh4, eliminating White's final pawn.
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames 44 Ne6 Nd3+ 44 ... Na6Ioses to 45 h4 Kb5 46 Nf4 Kxa5 47 Nxh5 and Black cannot get back in time: 47 ... Nb4 48 Nf4 Nc2 49 Nd5! Nel 50 h5 Nf3+ 51 Kf6 Nh2 52 Ne3! Nf3 53 h6 etc. 45 Ke4 Nb4 46 Nf4 Kb5 47 Nxh5 Kxa5 48 h4 (Diagram 18) Now Black's pieces are too far away from White's h-pawn, and White wins in a similar fashion to Example 150. 48 ...Kb6 49 Nf6 Kc7 50 h5! Nc6 51 h6 Nd8 52 h7 Nf7 53 Kf5 Kd6 54 Kg6 Ke6 55 Kg7 Ke7 56 Ng4 Ke8 57 Ne5 Nh8 58 Ng6 Nf7 59 Kf6 1-0
All pawns are passed The defender's chances improve slightly when he has a lone passed pawn against two connected pawns. He has good drawing chances if the lone passed pawn can act as a far away deflector.
Example 160 Golod-Comp Junior, Givatayim 1998
Diagram 19 (8) The a-pawn saves the day
Diagram 20 (8) Black wins
(Diagram 19) Here White's a-pawn is far enough away from the action on the kingside to act as an effective deflector. 50 ...Kc6 51 Nc4 g4 52 a6 Kc7 53 Ne5 Kb6 54 Ng6 With Black's king distracted by the a-pawn, White begins threats to sacrifice his knight for two pawns on the other side. 54 ...Ka7 I'm not sure why the computer didn't capture on a6 here, although White will still draw in a similar way to the game after 54 ... Kxa6 55 Nf4. 55 Nf4 h4 56 Nd3! With this White plans Ne5. The move 56 Ng6! also draws after 56 ...h3+ 57 Kh2 (threatening Ne5) 57 ... Nd2 58 Ne5 Nfl + 59 Kgl h2+ (or 59 ... Ne3 60 Kh2 Nfl + 61 Kgl) 60 Khl g3 61 Nf3 Kxa6 62 Nxh2! gxh2 (Golod) and we have a position very similar to the one discussed in Example 126: White draws despite the ma-
164
Knight Endings terial deficit. 56 ... Nd2 57 Nf2 g3 '1.-'1. White draws after 58 Nd3 Kxa6 59 Nf4 Nc4 60 Ng6 Ne3+ 61 Kh3 g2 62 Kh2 h3 63 Nf4 Ng4+ 64 Kg1 and Nxh3.
Example 161 Dinstuhl-Van den Doel, Bundesliga 2003 (Diagram 20) Here Black's two passed pawns are split by a large distance and, as we have seen before, this severely stretches White's defensive capabilities. 51...Nd5 52 Kf3 Or: a) 52 Kh4 Nxf4 53 Kg5 Ne6+, exchanging knights and winning. b) 52 f5 Kf6 53 Kh4 Nf4 54 Kg3 Kg5 (Huzman) 55 f6 h4+ 56 Kf3 Ng6! 57 f7 Ne5+ and ... Nxf7. 52 ... Kf6 53 Nb3 Ne7! 54 Ke4 h4 55 Nd4 Or 55 Kf3 Nf5 56 Kg4 Ke6 57 Nd2 Kd5! 58 Nb3 (58 Kxf5 h3 59 Nf3 b3) 58 ... Kc4 59 Na5+ Kc3 and Black wins. 55 ... h3 56 Nf3 If 56 Kf3 Black wins with 56 ... Nd5 57 Kg3 (or 57 f5 Ne3!) 57 ... Nxf4! (Huzman). 56 ... b30-1 White resigned on account of 57 Kd3 Kf5 58 Kc3 Kxf4 59 Nh2 Nf5 60 Kxb3 Kg3 61 Nfl + Kg2 etc.
Ending with More Pawns In the final part of this chapter we'll be looking at positions that contain more pawns and where one side has either a material or a positional advantage.
Pawns on one side We saw earlier that knight and two pawns versus knight and pawn on the same side of the board is often drawn. However, as the number of pawns increase, so do the winning chances. Knight and four pawns versus knight and three (with no passed pawns) gave as high as a 58% win ratio on my database. This is a better ratio than for a rook or bishop ending, but still lower than a pure pawn ending.
Example 162 V.Milov-Grischuk, Biel 1999 (Diagram 21) Here's a fairly typical example of a player exploiting an extra pawn on one side. White's pawn structure and active king give him excellent winning chance here. 53 Kc4 Nd6+ 54 Kd5 Ne8 55 f4 Ke7 56 Nf5+ The immediate 56 e5 also looks strong. 56 ... Kd7 57 e5 Nc7+ 58 Ke4 g6 59 Nd4 Ke7 Trying to keep the status quo is Black's best chance. a) After 59 ... f5+ White shouldn't hesitate to sacrifice the knight with 60 Nxf5!
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames gxf5+ 61 K:xf5 and White should win; for example, 61 ... Ke7 62 g4! hxg4 63 Kxg4 Ke6 64 h5 Kf7 65 f5 Nd5 66 h6 etc. b) 59 .. .fxe5 60 Kxe5 Ke7 61 f5! transposes to note 'a' ofthe next move, while 60 fxe5, creating a passed pawn and planning Kf4-g5, also looks strong.
Diagram 21 (W) Good winning chances
Diagram 22 (B) A strong passed pawn on e6
60 f5 Kf7 Again Black is loath to release the tension, which tends to leave him with a very weak h5-pawn; for example: a) 60 .. .fxe5 61 Kxe5 Kf7 (or 61...gxf5 62 K:xf5 - Milov - followed by Kg5) 62 Ne6! Ne8 63 Nf4 gxf5 64 Nxh5 Kg6 65 Nf4+ Kf7 66 K:xf5. b) 60 ... gxf5+ 61 K:xf5 fxe5 62 Kxe5 Ne8 63 Kf5 Kf7 64 Kg5 Nf6 65 Nf5! Ke6 66 Ng7+ and Nxh5. 61 e6+! (Diagram 22) Black has to allow White a very strong passed pawn on e6. 61...Kg7 62 Ne2! Planning Nf4. 62 ... gxf5+ After this move Black's two remaining pawns are weak, but there was little choice. Unsurprisingly Black loses after 62 ... g5 63 hxg5 fxg5 64 Ke5; for example, 64 ... Ne8 65 Nc3 h4 (65 ... N£6 66 Ne4) 66 gxh4 gxh4 67 Ne4 h3 68 £6+ Kf8 69 e7+ Kg8 70 Ng5 and f7+. 63 Kxf5 Nb5 64 Ke4! There is still time to go horribly wrong: 64 Nf4?? walks into a one-move checkmate after 64 ... Nd6! WARNING: Beware of snap checkmates in knight endings!
64 ... Kf8 Or 64 ... Nc7 65 Nf4 Kh6 66 Kf5 and Black's position falls apart. 65 Nf4 Ke7 66 Kf5 Nd6+ 67 Kg6 f5 68 Nxh5! The simplest - the h-pawn will prove decisive. 68 ... Kxe6 69 Ng7+ Ke5 70 h5 f4 71 gxf4+ Kxf4 72 h6 Nc4 73 Ne6+ 1-0
HiS
Knight Endings
Pa\A!ns on both sides As with same-coloured bishop endings, the attacker has very good chances to exploit an extra outside passed pawn. Of course, the more distant the pawn, the more chance that the defence will not be able to cope.
Example 163 Ivkov-Filip, Vrsac 1971
Diagram 23 (W) The extra outside pawn
Diagram 24 (W) White has a pleasing win
(Diagram 23) Here White wins in a typical fashion. The extra outside passed pawn is used as a deflector, and while Black is dealing with it White makes decisive inroads into the kingside pawn mass. 47 Ne3 Kd6 Black's best chance is to head immediately for the b-pawn. 48 Ke4 Kc5 49 f5! Kxb5 If Black tries to keep things closed with 49 ... g5 then White wins with a similar sacrifice to the one played in the game: 50 Ng4! Nd7 51 Nxf6!! Nxf6+ 52 Ke5 and Black has no defence; for example, 52 ... Nd5 53 f6 Nf4 54 f7 Ng6+ 55 Kf6 Kxb5 56 Kg7 Nf4 57 Kxh7 Ne6 58 Kg8 Kc4 59 f8Q Nxf8 60 Kxf8 Kd4 61 Kf7 Ke4 62 Kg6 Kf4 63 g4 etc. 50 Ng4 Nd7 (Diagram 24) 51 Nxf6!
CJ
NOTE: Piece sacrifices are more common in knight endings than in any other type of ending.
White sacrifices a knight so that his king can run riot on the kingside. However, it also appears that White can win in a more mundane manner: 51 fxg6 hxg6 52 Kd5! (threatening Ke6) 52 ... Nc5 (or 52 .. .£5 53 Ne5 Nf8 54 h4 and Kd6e7) 53 Nxf6 Nd3 54 g3, when it's difficult to believe that Black can hold this. 51. .. Nxf6+ 52 Ke5 Nd7+ 53 Kd6 Nf6 53 ... Nc5 54 f6 Ne4+ 55 Ke7 Nxf6 56 Kxf6 and the pawn ending is hopeless. 54 Ke6 Nh5 55 f6 Nf4+ 56 Kd 7 Also winning is 56 Ke5 g5 57 Kf5!; for example, 57 ... Ng6 58 Kxg5 Nf8 59 Kh6
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames Kc5 60 Kg7 Ne6+ 61 Kxh7 Kd6 62 fl Ke7 63 Kg8 and White follows up by shoving the h-pawn down the board. 56 ... g5 57 f7 Ng6 58 g4 After 58 Ke8 Black has the extra possibility of 58 ... g4!?, but then White can still win with 59 h4! h5 60 f8Q Nxf8 61 Kxf8 Kc5 62 Kfl Kd4 63 Kg6 etc. 58 ... Kc5 59 Ke8 1-0 Black resigned on account of 59 ... Kd4 60 f8Q Nxf8 61 Kxf8 Ke4 62 Kg7 Kf3 63 Kxh7 Kg3 64 Kh6 Kxh3 65 Kxg5. Positional advantages are just as important in knight endings as elsewhere.
Example 164 Baklan-Vouldis, Plovdiv 2003
Diagram 25 (W) A winning advantage
Diagram 26 (8) A surprising decision
(Diagrrun 25) Here material is level but White has a massive positional advantage. White can create a passed pawn with his pawn majority on the kingside but Black cannot do the same on the queenside because his 'extra' pawn (the d-pawn) is backward and cannot advance. Added to this, it is vulnerable to attack and White also has the option of using a useful outpost on d5. Together all these plusses promise White a decisive positional advantage. 24 Kf2 h5 25 Kf3 Ke6 26 h3 g6 27 g4 hxg4+ 28 Kxg4! (Diagrrun 26) It seems strange for White to deliberately 'ruin' his pawn structure on the kingside but there is definite method to this 'madness'. With 28 Kxg4 White will find it easier to attack Black's g6-pawn (with Kg5). Black will be forced into extreme passivity with ... Kf7, after which White will always have the option of continuing with f5, leaving him with a passed rook's pawn - a major headache for the defending knight. 28 ... a6 29 Kg5 Kf7 30 Ne4! b5 31 b3 bxc4 Or 31...b4 32 Kh6 a5 33 h4 (Hecht) and as in the game Black is in zugzwang. 32 bxc4 a5 33 a4 Kg7 34 h4 Kf7 Mter 34 ... Kh7 White can transpose into a winning pawn ending with 35 Nf6+! Nxf6 36 Kxf6 Kh6 37 f5 gxf5 38 Kxf5 Kh5 39 Ke6 etc.
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Knight Endings 35 Kh6! As it happens White doesn't need to exchange pawns with f5. Instead a pawn (or indeed two) is captured for free as Black is in zugzwang. 35 ... Nf6 36 Nxd6+ Ke6 37 Kxg6 1-0 Pawns that are well advanced but are not passed can often prove to be weaknesses in knight endings, as the following case demonstrates.
Example 165 Zhang Pengxiang-Datu, Beijing 2001
Diagram 27 (W) Black's pawns are weak
Diagram 28 (W) White needs to use the king
(Diagram. 27) Replace the knights with bishops and Black would have no prob· lems drawing this ending, but here Black loses because of the advanced weak· nesses on h5 and g4. 63 Ne6 Nf5 Of course Black cannot allow a pure pawn ending, but now Black's king will be stuck defending the h5-pawn. 64 Nf4+ Kh6 65 Ke5 Ne7 66 Kf6 Nc8 67 Ke6! Preventing ... Nd6. 67 ... Nb6 (Diagram. 28) 68 Nd3! White's idea is to gain access for his king to the g5-square with Kf6 and Ne5f7+. Black's only chance is to attack f2 with his knight. However, as we see, even winning this pawn doesn't signal the end of Black's problems. 68 ... Nc4 Slightly more tricky is 68 ... Na4!? but White still wins: 69 Ne5 Nc3 70 Kf5 Nd1 71 Nf7+ Kg7 72 Nd6 Kh6 (or 72 ... Nxf2 73 Kg5 and White wins both pawns after 73 ... Kf8 74 Kxh5 Ke7 75 Nf5+ Kf6 76 Ne3) 73 Kf6! Nxf2 74 Nf5+ Kh7 75 Kg5 and both pawns will drop off after 75 ... Nd3 76 Kxh5 Nf2 77 Ne3 Kg7 78 Kg5! (but not 78 Nxg4? Ne4!) 78 ... Kh7 79 Nxg4. 69 Ne5Nb2 Or 69 ... Nd2 70 Kf5! Nb1 71 Kf6 Nc3 72 Nf7+ Kh7 73 Kg5 Ne4+ 74 Kxh5 Nxf2 75 Ne5 (Hecht).
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames 70 Kf6 Ndl 71 Nf7+ Kh7 72 Ng5+ 72 Kg5! Nxf2 73 Kxh5 Kg7 74 Ne5 wins immediately. 72 ... Kh6 73 Ne4 Nb2 74 Nd6 Nd3 75 Nf5+ Kh7 76 Kg5! Nxf2 77 Kxh5 Kh8 78 Kg5 Kh7 79 Ne3 1-0
Knight sacrifices We've already seen that these crop up surprisingly frequently in knight endings. Here are three more cases.
Example 166 Portisch-Adorjan, Amsterdam 1971
Diagram 29 (8) Black wins
Diagram 30 (W) White wins
(Diagram 29) Black probably has many ways to win this position, but the one chosen by Adorjan is undoubtedly the quickest. 58 ... Nxb3! 59 axb3 c4! and White resigned, as one of Black's pawns on the queenside will promote.
Example 167 Ionov-Shaposhnikov, St Petersburg 2003 (Diagram 30) This example is more complex. At first it looks like White will have trouble breaking through, but a knight sacrifice comes to his aid. 1 Nb7! Kg6 Or 1...Ke7 2 Kf5 Kd7 (2 ... Na7 3 Nxa5! bxa5 4 b6) 3 Kxg5 Na7 (Black lines up a sacrifice of his own with ... Nxb5, releasing the a-pawn) 4 Kh6 Nxb5 5 axb5 a4 6 g5 a3 7 g6 a2 8 g7 alQ 9 g8Q (lonov) and White wins; for example, 9 ... Qh1+ 10 Kg7 Qg2+ 11 Kf8 Qxg8+ 12 Kxg8 Kc7 13 Kf7 Kxb7 14 Ke7 Kc7 15 Ke6. 2 Nxd6! A typical sacrifice so that the king can infiltrate. 2... Nxd6+ 3 Ke5 Nxb5! Again this counter-sacrifice to release the a-pawn. Other moves lose quickly: a) 3... Nf7+ 4 Ke6 Kg7 5 Ke7 followed by the march ofthe d-pawn.
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Knight Endings b) 3 ... Ne8 4 d6 Nf6 5 Ke6 (Ionov) and White wins. c) 3 ... Nb7 4 Ke6 Kg7 5 Ke7 and d6-d7-d8Q. 4 axb5 a4 4 ... Kf7 5 Kd6 a4 6 Kc6 a3 7 d6 a2 8 d7 a1Q 9 d8Q is a winning queen ending. 5 Ke6! a3 6 d6 a2 7 d7 a1Q 8 d8Q and White won the queen ending. Usually it's the attacker who employs the knight sacrifice, but this is not always the case, as the following example shows.
Example 168 Emms-B.Lalic, London (rapid) 1995
Diagram 31 (W) White sacrifices a knight
Diagram 32 (8) White plans f4-f5
(Diagram 31) Black has an active king and more space, and after something like 41 Ne2 e5 White faces an uphill struggle to draw. Instead I saw an effective way to sacrifice my knight. 41 b5! f4+ 42 gxf4 gxf4+ 43 Kxf4 e5+ Stronger than 43 ... Kxd4 44 bxa6 as Black obtains a passed pawn. 44 Kf3 Ng5+ 45 Ke2 exd4 46 bxa6 Kc6 The other option is to use the knight to contain the outside passed pawn, but following 46 ... Ne6 47 a7 Nc7 48 Kd3 h5 49 h4 Ke5 50 a4! (to prevent ... Nb5+ after Kxd4) 50 ... Na8 51 f4+! it's clear that White is not losing. 47 h4 Ne6 48 Kd3 Kb6 49 Ke4 (Diagram 32) White plans f4-f5 to dislodge the knight from e6, thus winning the d4-pawn. 49 ... Kxa6 50 f4 Nxf4 Transposing into a drawn pawn ending. Other moves are no better: 50 ... Kb5 51 f5 Ng7 52 f6 Ne8 53 Kxd4 Nxf6 54 Ke5 Nd7+ 55 Kf5 Nf8 56 Kg4 and Kh5, or 50 ... Ng7 51 Kxd4 Nf5+ 52 Ke4 Nxh4 53 f5 Kb6 54 f6 Ng6 55 Kf5 Nf8 56 Kg4 and again Kh5. 51 Kxf4 Kb5 52 Kf3 Kc4 53 Ke2 Kc3 54 Kd1 h5 55 a4 Kb4 56 Kd2 Kxa4 57 Kd3 'h-'h 57 ... Kb4 58 Kxd4 Kb5 59 Ke5 Kc5 60 Kf5 Kd5 61 Kg5 Ke5 62 Kxh5 Kf5 is drawn.
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames
Trapping the knight In Example 152 we saw how trapping the knight helped to win in a knight and pawn v. knight ending. This idea also crops up in endings with more pawns.
Example 169 Emms-Sedgwiek, Isle of Man 1996
Diagram 33 (W) White wins quickly
Diagram 34 (W) Mind the mate!
(Diagram 33) The quickest way to exploit the extra pawn is to force a pure pawn ending by trapping Black's knight. 43 Nxb6 Nxb2 44 Ke2! Suddenly Black's knight has nowhere to go and White plans Kd2-c2. The only chance for Black is to use his own king to harass White's knight. 44...Ke745 Kd2 Kd6 46 Ke2 Ke6 47 Kxb2! Most pawn endings a pawn ahead are winning and this one is no exception. 47...Kxb6 48 Kb3 Kb5 49 f4 h5 50 g4 hxg4 51 hxg4 Ke5 52 Ka4 1-0
Mind the mate! To finish this chapter, another little warning about knight checkmates, which apparently are the easiest mates to overlook.
Example 170 Diehm-Sehlamp, Griesheim 2000 (Diagram 34) Despite being a pawn down, White can draw comfortably enough with 61 Kb5 Nxb4 62 Nc8, threatening both Nxa7 and Nxb6, or even the immediate 61 Nc8. Instead there came the very plausible 61 Nb5+?? which Black answered with 61...Kb2! Suddenly White is in a strange zugzwang: any legal move allows mate in one! 62 Nxa7 Ne3 mate (0-1)
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Bishop (and Pawns) versus Pawns
Try it Yourself
Exercise 1
Exercise 2
Exercise 1 (White to play) White has only one move that wins. Can you spot it? Exercise 2 (White to play) How can White force a draw here?
Exercise 3
Exercise 4
Exercise 3 (White to play) White has only one move that wins. Can you spot it? Exercise 4 (White to play) Here White played 37 Bxb6 and offered a draw, which Black accepted. Was Black right in accepting this offer?
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Chapter Six
Bishop versus Knight Endings •
Basic Endings
•
Exploiting Material Advantages
•
Exploiting Positional Advantages
•
Try it Yourself
Bishop versus Knight Endings The battle between bishop against knight has provoked endless arguments in the history of chess, and even whole books have been devoted to this debate. In this book we've already seen how the bishop and knight battle against their own kind; now we'll take a look at how they fear against each other.
Basic Endings We'll begin once again by looking at the most fundamental positions and then we'll move onto ones with more pawns.
Bishop and pawn versus knight Of course there are always many different characteristics to consider (piece positions, how far the pawn is advanced etc.), but more often than not this ending is a draw (my database revealed a 71% draw ratio). If the defending king can block the pawn on different colour of square to the bishop, then a draw is more or less certain. Here's a straightforward case.
Example 171
Diagram 1 (W)
Diagram 2 (W)
An easy draw
Corralling
(Diagram 1) This is a typical drawing position. Black's king is on an ideal square, where it blocks the progress of White's pawn and also where the enemy bishop can never attack it. Black can simply keep playing waiting moves with his knight and White cannot make any progress. 1 Kh5 Ne4 Black has to be just a little bit careful: 1...Nf7?? is a blunder that allows White to make a favourable exchange into a pawn ending: 2 Bxf7! K:xf7 3 Kh6 Kg8 4 Kg6 Kh8 5 Kf7 Kh7 6 g6+ Kh8 7 g7+ and White wins. 2 g6 Nf6+ 3 Kg5 Ne4+ There's also nothing wrong with 3 ... Nd7 4 Kf5 Nf8! followed by eliminating the final pawn with ... Nxg6. 4 Kf5 Nf6 5 Bf7 White is trying to cover many squares with hi bishop and king, but it's impossi-
175
Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames ble to cover all the possible knight moves. 5 ... Nd7 6 Kg5 Nf6 and it's clear that White's not getting anywhere.
Example 172 (Diagram 2) This is very much an exceptional case where the attacker wins despite the defending king blocking the pawn on a different colour of square to the bishop. Black loses due to the very unfortunate placing of his knight. 1 Bd5! Completely dominating the knight, which cannot move without being captured. Now Black will only be able to move his king and he will soon be forced into zugzwang. NOTE: The theme introduced with 1 8d5 is known as 'corralling the knight'.
1...Kg6 Or 1...KfS (trying to harass the bishop with ... Ke7-d6 but this is doomed to fail) 2 Kf5 Ke7 3 g6! Kd6 4 g7 and the pawn promotes. 2 Kf4 Kg7 3 Kf5 Black is in zugzwang and his king has to give way. A big bonus for White is that, not only does the bishop corral the knight, it also helps by controlling the promotion square (gS). 3 ... KfS 4 Kf6 Ke8 5 g6 Kf8 6 g7+ Ke8 7 g8Q+ and White wins. If the pawn is on the seventh rank and the attacking king controls the promotion square, then the attacker has very good winning chances. Often the defender can be quickly forced into zugzwang.
Example 173
Diagram 3 (W) White wins via zugzwang
Diagram 4 (8) Black draws
(Diagram 3) White wins here, whoever moves first. 1 Bd3! A semi-waiting move that also introduces the idea of attacking the knight with Bb5 as well as Bf5.
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Bishop versus Knight Endings 1...NfS Alternatives lose quickly: a) 1...Kd6 (now the king no longer controls fS) 2 Bf5! followed by Bxd7. b) 1...Ke6 2 Bb5! is similar. 2 Bf5! Placing Black in zugzwang. Any knight move allows the bishop to capture it, while king moves leave the knight en prise on fS. Note 2 Bf5 is again an example of corralling the knight. With Black to move it makes no difference: 1...NfSloses immediately to 2 Bf5!, while 1...Ke6 2 Bc2 (waiting) 2 ... Ke7 3 Bd3 directly transposes to 1 Bd3 above. On occasions the defender is saved by a perpetual check motif.
Example 174 (Diagram 4) 1...Ne8+! NOTE: Moving the knight to where it can be captured by the pawn but is defended by the king is a common resource in this type of position. Black can also draw with the alternative knight check 1...Nh5+!; for example, 2 Kg6 (or 2 KgS Nf6+ 3 Kg7 Nh5+) 2 ... Nf4+ 3 Kg7 Nh5+ 4 Kh6 Nf6 (threatening to block with ... KfS) 5 Kg7 Nh5+! etc. 2 Kg8 NfS+ 3 Kg7 After 3 KhS Black simplest way to draw is to block the pawn with 3 ... KfS!. 3... Ne8+ 4 KgS But now the king doesn't cover fS, so ... 4 ... NdS! and Black will follow up with ... Nxf7. Let's look at one or two examples from practice. The first is an easy win for White due to the far-away placing of Black's king.
Example 175 Akobian-Krush, Seattle 2003
Diagram 5 (W)
Diagram 6 (W)
White wins
White wins
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames (Diagram 5) 65 Kd6! Immediately harassing the knight. 65 ... NfS 66 Bh6 And again! 66 ... Nh7 Or 66 ... Ng6 67 Ke6 Kb7 68 Kf6 and White wins. 67Ke6 All logical stuff. The last piece in the jigsaw is to attack the knight once more with the king. 67 ...Kb7 68 Kf5 and Black resigned as there is no good defence against the impending Kg6.
Example 176 Reshevsky-Ivkov, Palma de Mallorca 1970 (Diagram 6) Black's knight, which prevents White from playing b7, is attacked by White's king. However, for the moment it's invulnerable because a capture would allow ... Kxb6. White can win, however, by using zugzwang. 83Bh3 Here Ivkov resigned. Let's just see how the game could have finished. 83 ...Ka5 The most resilient move. Naturally Black's king must stay attacking the b6pawn, but 83 ... Kc5 would walk into an immediate zugzwang after 84 Bd7!, taking away the b5-square from the king. 84 Bf5! Kb5 85 Bd3+! Kc5 Now White has a very clever move ... 86 Bc4!! (Diagram 7)
Diagram 7 (8) Zugzwang!
Diagram 8 (8) Black draws
The only winning move. Now we have a strange position, where all the pieces apart from the kings are under attack! It's easy to see that any king move (including 86 ... Kxc4) loses to 87 Kxd8, so Black must move the knight. However,
178
Bishop versus Knight Endings this only delays things for one further move. 86 ... Ne6 87 b7! Now Black is in zugzwang again. 87 ...Kxe4 88 Kxe6 and White wins. Naturally the defender's chances of a draw increase when the pawn is only on the sixth rank. I like the following example, which illustrates very resourceful defending on Black's part.
Example 177 Chernin-Sax, Subotica 1987 (Diagram 8) 60 ... Ne6 The only move, as White was threatening a6-a7. 61Bh2 Already things look difficult for Black, but there is a resource ... 61...Ne7! Another 'only move'. Now Black hangs on because 62 a7 can be met by 62 ... Nc8+! and ... Nxa7. 62Kb7 Once more a game ending early, the players calling a truce in this position. However, Black still has to find a couple of very accurate moves. 62 ... Ne6! 62 ... Nc8? loses after 63 Bg3 Kd8 64 Bf2! Kd7 (or 64 ... Nd6+ 65 Kc6 Nc8 66 Bc5! Ke8 67 Kc7) 65 Bc5! (corralling) 65 ... Kd8 66 Kc6 Ke8 67 Kc7 etc. 63 Be7! Cutting out both ... Nd8+ and ... Na5+. This move demands a very clever defence. Following 63 Bg3 Black draws in a more mundane manner with 63 ... Na5+! 64 Kb6 Nc6, reaching the initial position. 63 ... Na7!! A wonderful resource - the knight is invulnerable because of the counterattack on c7. However, White isn't quite finished yet. 64 Ba5 Ne6 65 Bb6 Now the bishop covers a7, as well as d8 and a5, but on c7 it was covering another vital square: d6! 65 ...Kd6! and White cannot make any further progress.
Knight and pawn versus bishop This ending has even more drawing tendencies than the one with bishop and pawn versus knight (as high as a 77% draw ratio). The only way to win is to block the bishop's diagonal to the square in front of the passed pawn (the stopping diagonal) with the knight supported by the king, but this is a cumbersome procedure which is difficult to arrange. Sometimes the defender can draw even without the help of his king, as in the following case.
179
Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames
Example 178 Variation on Averbakh
Diagram 9 {W} Black draws
Diagram 10 (8) A little care needed
(Diagram 9) Black can draw this position even if he keeps his king far away from the action. The two diagonals that the bishop must be on (either a4-eS or h3-cS) are too long for White to have any hope. lKeS White's king is going to the c7-square. 1...Kgl Black just sits and waits. 2 Ke7 Khl 3 KdS Kgl 4 Ke7 Bb5 5 Nd3 The only logical continuation. Now White plans Ne5-c6, blocking the path ofthe bishop. 5 ... Khl S Ne5 BeS! Finally Black has to take action. This is the only move, but a relatively easy one to find. 7Nd7 Now White will try his luck with the bishop on the other diagonal. 7 ... Kgl S KdS (Diagram 10) Now Black must be a bit careful. One out ofthe three bishop moves along eS-h5 loses. S... BgS! S... Bf7 was also okay, but S... Bh5? loses after 9 Ne5! (crucially covering g4 and thus threatening the immediate d6-d7) 9 ... Bd1 (trying to get back onto the a4eS diagonal but it's too late) 10 Kc7 Ba4 11 Nc6! and White wins. 9 Ne5 Bf5 10 Ke7 Khl 11 Nd3 A new plan emerges (Nc5-e6) but Black has it under control. 11...Kgl 12 Ne5 BeS! 13 Nd7 Khl 14 KdS BaS 15 Ke7 Bb5 IS Ne5 BeS! and we have reached the same position as the one after move six.
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Bishop versus Knight Endings NOTE: The defender draws without the help of his king if both of the stopping diagonals are at least five squares long.
In the previous example the shorter diagonal (a4-e8) consists of five squares, so Black didn't need his king.
Example 119
Diagram 11 (W) White wins
Diagram 12 (W) Where does the king go?
(Diagram 11) Here the shorter diagonal (a5-d8) consists of only four squares, so Black needs his king to participate. Unfortunately for him, it is just too far away on al. 1 Ke7 Kb2 2 Nd4! White still has to be very accurate. Before moving the king further he prevents ... Bd8 with Nd4-e6. Here the plausible 2 Kd6? (planning Nd4-e6-c7) only draws after 2 ... Kc3! 3 Ne7 Kc4 4 Nd5 Bd8! (White shouldn't have allowed this) 5 Nf4 Kb5 6 Ne6 Bh4 7 Nd4+ Kb6 8 Nf5 Bd8! and White hasn't made any progress while Black's king is right back in the thick ofthings. 2 ... Ba5!? Racing back with the king is too slow: 2 ... Kc3 3 Ne6 Kc4 4 Kd6! Ba5 5 Nc7 Bb4+ 6 Ke6 and the pawn promotes. 3 Ne6 Bb4+ A slightly awkward check. 3 ... Kc3loses after 4 Kd6! Bb4+ 5 Nc5! Ba5 6 Nb7! Bb6 7 Kc6 and Black's bishop has run out of squares on the diagonal (the king covers two while the knight covers the other two). One further square on this diagonal was all the bishop needed. 4 Kf6! Ba5 5 Ke5! Again threatening Kd6. 5 ... Bc3+ (Diagram 12) The best chance. Other moves lose in typical fashion: a) 5 ... Kb3 6 Kd6! Bb4+ 7 Nc5+!. b) 5 ... Ka3 6 Kd6 Bb4+ 7 Nc5 Ba5 8 Nb7 Bb6 9 Kc6 wins as before. 6Kf5!
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames It seems like the king is taking a very long route to the queenside, but 6 Kd5?! Bf6! ruins White's previous work.
S... Ba5 7 Ke4! Now there is no defence to Kd5-c6. 7... Ke3 8 Kd5 KM 9 KeS Ke4 10 Ne7 and d8Q.
Example 180 Rak-Sapis, Correspondence 1992
Diagram 13 (8) Black wins
Diagram 14 (W) A reciprocal zugzwang
(Diagram 13) In this game Black demonstrates the so-called 'Horwitz win' with the rook's pawn. With the bishop only having one stopping diagonal, the position looks quite simple, but nothing could be further from the truth! 58 ... Na4 The first move is obvious, as is White's reply. 59 Bal But now it gets complicated ... 59 ... Kel! White actually resigned in this position. Being a correspondence game, this is not such a surprising decision, but over the board it would certainly be worthwhile making Black 'prove' the win. The first question that must be asked is what wrong with the logical-looking 59 ... Kbl? Obviously any bishop move loses to ... Nb2, but White can draw with 60 Kdl! Nb2+ (60 ... Kxal 61 Kc2! draws) 61 Kd2! (Diagram 14) and we have another reciprocal zugzwang. Black to play, draws; White to play, loses: 6L.Na4 (or 6L.Kxal 62 Kcl!) 62 Kdl Nc5 63 Be5 Nd3 64 Bal Nb2+ 65 Kd2 - as we've seen before, the knight is not able to lose a move. 59 ... Nb2 must also be considered, but then White continues with 60 Kel! Kbl? (60 ... Kcl!) 61 Kd2!, again reaching the reciprocal zugzwang position. So finally we have 59 ... Kcl, a clever waiting move, seeing where White commits his king before acting further.
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Bishop versus Knight Endings 60Ke1 Mter 60 Ke3 Black can now continue with 60 ... Kb1! as Kd1 is no longer an option for White: 61 Kd2 Nb2! reaches the position after move 63 in the main text. 60 .. _Nc5! Black goes backwards before going forwards. Mer 60 ... Nb2 61 Ke2! Kb1? 62 Kd2! it's Black who's in zugzwang. 61 Ke2 Mter 61 Bf6 we see a problem with White's king being on e1: Black gains a crucial tempo and wins after 61...Nd3+! 62 Ke2 Nb2!. 61...Kb1 62 Kd1 Mer 62 Kd2 we see another point of 60 ... Nc5: Black plays 62 ... Nb3+! (not 62 ... Kxa1?? 63 Kc1!) 63 Kd1 Nxa1!. Meanwhile, 62 Bf6 is met by 62 ... Na4! and White's king cannot get back in time. 62 ... Na4! 63 Kd2 Nb2! Now we have the same position as in Diagram 14, but with White to move so Black wins. Somehow Black has managed to 'lose a move'! 64 Kc3 Kxa1 65 Kc2 Nd3! 66 Kxd3 Kb2 and finally Black wins. A deceptively difficult, but instructive, example.
Bishop and two pawns versus knight If the pawns are connected the attacker normally wins (there was a 74% win ratio on my database).
Example 181 Reeh-Goetz, Bundesliga 1997
Diagram 15 (8) Black should win
Diagram 16 (W) White to play and draw!
(Diagram 15) Here Black should win, but his task is complicated somewhat because he has a rook's pawn with a wrong-coloured bishop. He has to be careful not to allow White to sacrifice his knight for the g-pawn. 62 ... g4 63 Kg2 h5 64 Nd1 Be5 65 Nf2 Bd4 Threatening simply to exchange minor pieces. 65 ... h4? 66 Nxg4! is an illustra-
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames tion ofthe care that Black needs to take. 66 Nh3!? Of course the knight is invulnerable here. Another possible continuation is 66 Nd3 h4 67 Ncl h3+ 68 Khl Ke4 (not 68 ... g3?? 69 Ne2! Bf2 - 69 ... g2+ 70 Kh270 Nxg3+!) 69 Ne2 Bf2 70 Kh2 Kf3 71 Ncl g3+ 72 Kxh3 g2 and the pawn promotes. 66 ... Be3! Another example ofthe bishop corralling the knight. 67 Kg3 Ke4 68 Kg2 Or 68 Kh4 Kf3!. 68 ...h4! 69 KhI Kf3 70 Kh2 Bf4+?! Black is still winning after this move, but it's a step in the wrong direction. The easiest route to victory is 70 ... g3+ 71 Khl g2+ 72 Kh2 and now something like 72 ... Bh6! (White will run out of moves) 73 Kgl Bcl 74 Kh2 Be3 (zugzwang) 75 Ngl+ Bxgl+ 76 Kxgl h3 77 Kh2 Kf2. 71 KhI Kg311 (Diagram 16) Of course 71...gxh3?? still only draws, but after the text White also has an unlikely escape. Black can still win by moving his bishop; for example, 7l ... Bh6 72 Ngl + Kf2 73 Nh3+ Kfl 74 Nf4! g3! (74 ... Bxf4?? is stalemate!) 75 Nh3 g2+ 76 Kh2 Bf4+ 77 Nxf4 glQ+ 78 Kh3 Qg3 mate. 72 Nf2!! An incredible defence. Now the threat is Nxg4!, so ... 72 ... Kxf2 stalemate (%-%) The main drawing chance for the defender is if he can set up a blockade on the different colour complex to the bishop.
Example 182 C.Graf-Koenig, Bad Wiessee 1997
Diagram 17 (W) None shall pass!
Diagram 18 (W) Black wins
(Diagram 17) Here White has managed to blockade the pawns on the light
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Bishop versus Knight Endings squares and Black cannot make any progress. White simply keeps his king on g2 and oscillates his knight between f3 and any dark square available where it protects f3. Black would be able to win if he could control all these dark squares, but this is not quite possible. 68 Ng5 Bd6 69 Nf3 Be7 70 Ngl Bf6 71 Nf3 and a draw was agreed. The bishop prevents the knight going to d4, e5, g5 and h4 and with 71...Ke2 the e1-square is covered, but this still leaves the g1square available to the knight: 72 Ng1+! Ke3 73 Nf3 etc.
Example 183 Mestel-Beliavsky, Lucerne 1985 (Diagram 18) Here White has a kind of blockade, but Black wins with a pleasing piece sacrifice. 77 Nf2+ Kh2 78 Ng4+ Kgl! 79 Nf2 Be3!! The only way to make progress! 80 Kxe3 Refusing the sacrifice doesn't help: 80 Ng4 Bb6 (now the knight no longer has access to f2) 81 Ke4 h3 82 Kf5 Bd8 followed by ...h2; or 80 Nh3+ Kh2 81 Kg4 Kg2 and White is in zugzwang. 80 ... Kg2! 81 Ng4 Kg3! 0-1 White resigned on account of 82 Nf2 h3! (but not 82 ... g4 83 Nxg4! Kxg4 84 Kf2) 83 Ke2 Kg2 84 Ke3 h2 85 Ke2 g4 86 Ke3 g3. Note that 81...h3? only draws after 82 Ke4! h2 83 Nxh2 Kxh2 84 Kf5. There's even greater winning chances if the pawns are split (an 83% winning ratio on my database). Once more, the greater the gap between the two pawns, the more difficult the defence is for the knight.
Example 184 Mikhaletz-Voitsekhovsky, Barlinek 2001
Diagram 19 (8) Black should win
Diagram 20 (8) Black wins easily
(Diagram 19) The only reason White has any drawing chances here is because ofthe presence of the rook's pawn and the wrong-coloured bishop. However,
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames with accurate play Black can prevent White from sacrificing his knight for the g-pawn. 52 ... Bd7? But not like this! Hecht suggests 52 ... Bc6, which seems to do the business; for example, 53 Ne6 a4! 54 Kd4 g4 55 Nf4 g3 56 Kc4 Ka5 57 Kc3 Be4 58 Ne2 (otherwise White's king has to give way; the knight will have to move eventually) 58 ... g2 59 Ng1 Bf5! 60 Nf3 Bg4! 61 Ng1 (now the knight is corralled) 61...Kb5 62 Kb2 Kb4 63 Kc2 Kc4 64 Kd2 a3 (White's king is overloaded) 65 Kc2 Kd4 66 Kb3 Ke3 and ... Kf2. 53 Kd3? Missing a big chance. White can draw with 53 Nf3! and now: a) 53 ... g4 54 Ne5 Bc8 (or 54 ... g3 55 Nc4+! Kb5 56 Nxa5! Kxa5 57 Kf3) 55 Nxg4! Bxg4 56 Kd3 Kb5 57 Kc3 Ka4 58 Kb2. b) 53 ... a4 54 Kd2! (but not 54 Nxg5? a3! and the a-pawn promotes) 54 ... g4 55 Ne5 a3 56 Kc3! (56 Nxd7+? loses to 56 ... Kc7 57 Nc5 a2 58 Nb3 g3 59 Ke2 Kb6 60 Kf3 Kb5 61 Kxg3 Kb4 62 Na1 Kc3 - Hecht) 56 ... g3 57 Nxd7+ Kb5 58 Ne5 g2 59 Nf3 Ka4 60 Ng1 with a draw. 53 ... g4 Now everything is under control again. 54 Ke3 g3 55 Nf3 g2 0-1 Following 56 Kd2 Bg4 57 Ng1 a4 58 Kc3 Kc5 Black wins in a similar way to the note to his 52nd move.
Knight and two pawns versus bishop When the pawns are connected the defender only draws in really exceptional circumstances (there was an 87% win ratio on my database). The following example is typical of how the attacker gradually improves his position. Note that with the knight there is no need to worry about being left with a rook's pawn.
Example 185 Sutovsky-Illeseas Cordoba, Pamplona 2003 (Diagram 20) 70 ... Ne7 71 Bd6 Nd5 72 Ba3 Nf4 73 Be7 g5 74 Bf6 h4 75 Be7 Kf5 76 Bd8 Ng6! Defending the h4-pawn so that Black can play ... g4 and keep the pawns abreast. There's no need to give White any undeserved counterplay with 76 ... h3 77 Kg3. 77 Be7 g4 78 Bd6 Ke4 79 Be7 Or 79 Bh2 Nf4 and White is in zugzwang and must allow ... g3. 79 ... Nf4! Blocking the bishop's path in preparation of ... g3+. The rest is easy. 80 Bb6 g3+ 81 Kg1 Kf3 82 Kh1 h3 83 Ba5 Nd3 0-1 Black's next move is ... Nf2+. The drawing chances increase if the pawns are split, but only very slightly. Again the knight and pawns should win unless there are exceptional circumstances.
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Bishop versus Knight Endings
Example 186 Ljubojevic-Spassky, Thessaloniki 1988 (Diagram 21) 80 c4 Bh2 81 c5 Bg3 82 Ne3 The knight is re-routing to the d6-square, after which the a-pawn will run up the board. The more direct 82 c6+ also wins: 82 ... Kb8 83 a5 Bh2 84 a6 Bg3 85 Nb6! (heading for c5) 85 ... Bf4 86 Nd7+ Ka7 87 Nc5 Kb8 88 Ne6! Bh2 89 Kb6 Bg1 + 90 Nc5 etc.
Diagram 21 (W) White wins
Diagram 22 (8) No need to be flash
82 ... Bf4 83 Ne4 Bg3 84 Nd6+ Ke7 85 a5 BM 86 a6 Kb8 87 Ke6 Bf2 Or 87 ... Ka7 88 Kd7! Bf2 89 c6 Bb6 90 Nc8+!. 88 Nb5 Bh4 89 a7+ White is not restricted to one winning line. 89 Kd7 Bg3 90 c6 Ka8 91 c7 Bxc7 92 Nxc7+ is another way to victory. 89 ... Ka8 90 Kb6 Threatening mate with Nc7. 90 ... Bd8+ 91 Ka6 Bb6!? It's worth a try! 92 e6 1-0 After 92 ... Bxa7 (Diagram 22) White wins with 93 Nxa7, but not the flashy 93 c7??, which is met by the even more flashy 93 ... Bb8!! and Black draws!
Exploiting Material Advantages For the second part of this chapter we're moving on to endgames containing more pawns. We'll begin with the bishop having the extra pawn and with all the pawns on one side ofthe board. As you would expect, the greater the number of pawns, the greater the winning chances (i.e. 4v3 gives greater prospects than 3v2 and 2v1). We've seen before that the knight is especially effective when play is restricted to a limited front and that fact is reflected here. The winning ratio for pawns that are connected but without a passed pawn is only 41 %. Compare this to 57% winning ratio for knight and four pawns versus
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames bishop and three on one side and it's easy to see that the knight prefers all the action on one side ofthe board. The following well-known example is often shown as an exemplary way of defending with the knight and three pawns.
Example 187 Korchnoi-Averbakh, Moscow 1955
Diagram 23 (W) White holds
Diagram 24 (W) White sacrifices
(Diagram 23) 48 h31 Note White's typical anti-bishop strategy of putting all pawns on light squares. 48 ...Kf7 49 Kf2 e5 50 Ke3 Ke6 51 Ke2 f5 Black can wait around for a while longer, but at some point he has to play this move, the only way to make progress. However, now White can exchange one of the pawns. 52 gxf5+ gxf5 53 Kf2 Kf6 More testing is 53 ... Kd5, but White should still hold relatively comfortably. Averbakh gives the following possible continuation: 54 Ke3 Bc5+ 55 Ke2 (but not 55 Nxc5?? Kxc5 - remember, most pawn endings a pawn up are winning) 55 ... Kd4 56 Ne1 e4 57 Ng2 Ke5 58 fxe4 fxe4 (now White only needs to eliminate the e-pawn as it's a rook's pawn with a wrong-coloured bishop; 58 ... Kxe4 59 Nh4 - threatening Nxf5! - 59 .. .f4 60 Nf3 with a secure light-squared blockade on f3) 59 Kd2 Be7 60 Ke2 Bg5 61 Kf2 Kd4 62 Ke2 and Black is not making any progress (... e3 will be met by Nxe3). 54 Kg2 Kg5 (Diagram 24) 55 f4+1 Simplifying the situation by giving Black doubled f-pawns. Play moves onto an even smaller area and White blockades successfully with Nf3. 55 ... exf4 56 Nell Bc7 57 Nf3+ Kf6 58 Nh2 Ke5 59 Nf3+ Ke4 60 Ng5+ Ke3 61 Nf3 h6 62 Ng1 Black cannot cover all the knight moves from f3 and so White can simply keep oscillating with his knight. A draw was agreed just a few moves later. However, as you could imagine, it's not always so easy for the defence as the following case demonstrates
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Bishop versus Knight Endings
Example 188 Mestel-Beliavsky, Lucerne 1985
Diagram 25 (8) Good winning chances
Diagram 26 (W) White can draw
(Diagram 25) In many ways this is similar to the previous example, but there are two major differences. The first is that White's pawn is still on g2 whilst Black has already achieved .. .£5. Now when Black creates a passed with the inevitable ... e4 and an exchange on this square, Black will still be left with three pawns rather than the two in the notes of the previous example. The second difference is that White's knight is restricted (the pawn on h4 does a good job) and is in danger of running out of useful squares. 48 ... Kd5 49 Nfl Bb6 50 Nd2 Bd8 51 Nb3 51 Nfl Bg5 (threatening a corralling with ... Bf4) 52 g3 hxg3 53 Nxg3 in order to exchange a pawn, is a possibility, but it's understandable that White didn't wish to weaken his own pawn structure. 51...Bg5! The knight is running out of places to go. 52 Na5 Ke5 53 Nb7+? I believe White's only chance is 53 Nb3+ Kb4 54 Nal!' Now Beliavsky gives 54 ... e4+ 55 fxe4 fxe4+ 56 Kxe4 Kc3 as winning for Black, but is this really the case? 57 Kf3! Kb2 (or 57 ... Bd2 58 Ke2 Bf4 59 Kdl! and Nc2) 58 g3! Kxal 59 Kg4! (59 gxh4? Bxh4 60 Kg4 g5 and White cannot exchange Black's final pawn) 59 ... hxg3 60 Kxg3 Kb2 61 h4! Bh6 (or 6l...BfG 62 h5!) 62 Kf3! (62 h5? loses to 62 ... g5 63 Kg4 Kc3 64 Kf5 Kd3 65 Kg6 g4 66 Kxh6 g3 67 Kg7 g2 68 h6 g1Q+ etc.) 62 ... Kc3 63 Ke4 Bg7 64 Kf4! Bf6 65 h5! (offering Black a rook's pawn with a wrong-coloured bishop) 65 ... g5+ 66 Kf5 Be7 67 h6 and White draws. 53 ... Kd5? Black misses a big chance: 53 ... Kb4! 54 Nd6 Bf6 55 Ne8 Be7 56 Nc7 Kc5 (Mestel) and slowly but surely the knight is being trapped. One continuation is 57 Kc3 Kc6 58 Na6 Kb7 59 Nb4 Bxb4+ 60 Kxb4 Kb6 61 Kc4 Kc6 62 Kd3 Kd5 63 Ke3 e4 with a winning pawn ending for Black. 54 Na5 Be7 55 Nb3 BM 56 Na1 e4+
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames Finally Black goes for the most obvious wining try. 57 fxe4+ fxe4+ 58 Ke2 Ke5 59 Nb3 Be3 60 Ke3 Kd5 61 Nc1 Bg7 62 Nb3 BfS 63 Ke2 BM 64 Nal Ke5 65 Nb3 Kf4 The idea now is to move the king to g3 and then use the e-pawn as a deflector. 66 Nd4! Against 66 Kf2 Beliavsky gives the following winning line for Black: 66 ... Bd2! 67 Ke2 Bc3 68 Nc5 Bb2! 69 Nb3 Kg3 70 Kfl e3 71 Nc5 e2+ 72 Kxe2 Kxg2 73 Nd3! Kxh3! 74 Nxb2 Kg2 and the pawns run home. 66 ... Ba5 (Diagralll 26) 67 Nb3? A losing mistake. White can draw with 67 Ne6+ Kg3 68 Nf8 g5 69 Ne6 g4 70 hxg4 Kxg2 and now: a) 71 Ke3? (Beliavsky gives this as drawing) 71 ... Bb6+! 72 Kxe4 (or 72 Ke2 h3 73 Nf4+ Kg3 74 Nxh3 Kxh3 75 g5 Kg4 76 g6 Bd4) 72 ... Kg3! 73 Nf4 Kxg4 74 Nd5 h3 and White cannot prevent the pawn from promoting. b) 71 g5! (this does draw) 71...Bc3 72 g6 h3 73 Nf4+ Kg3 74 Nxh3! Kxh3 75 Ke3 and Kxe4. 67 ... Be3 68 Ne5 Bb2 69 Nd7 Kg3 70 NfS g5 71 Kf1 Or 71 Nh7 g4 72 hxg4 Kxg2 73 Ng5 Bel! (Beliavsky) and Black wins after 74 Nxe4 h3 75 Nf2 h2 76 Kel Be3. 71...e3 72 Nh7 Bel! 73 Nf6 73 Nxg5 loses to 73 ... e2+!. 73 ... e2+! The final piece of the jigsaw. 74 Kxe2 Kxg2 75 Ng4 Kxh3 76 Kf3 Bf4 and Black is winning (see Example 183 for the rest of the game). When the attacker has an extra outside passed pawn there are excellent winning chances, especially if the outside pawn is far away from the main action. The king and knight can often find it difficult to cover both sides of the board.
Example 189 Ward-Arkell, Swansea 1995
Diagram 27 (W) White wins
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Diagram 28 (B) Weak on the light squares
Bishop versus Knight Endings (Diagram 27) Here is a typical exploitation of the extra outside passed pawn. 34f4 A good start. White opens the way for his king to enter the game and takes control of some dark squares with this pawn. As usual, White sticks to the ideal of putting his pawns on different coloured squares to the bishop. 34 ...Kf6 35 Kf2 Ke6 36 Ke3 h6 37 Kd4 Kd6 38 Bd5 f6 The most resilient defence, keeping the pawns on dark squares so they cannot be attacked by the bishop. Alternatives lose more quickly: a) 3S .. .f5 39 h4! (preventing ... g5 and preparing Bf7) 39 ... NfS 40 b6 (the deflector) 40 ... Nd7 41 b7 Kc7 42 Bf7 Kxb7 (or 42 ... NfS 43 Ke5) 43 Bxg6 Nf6 44 Ke5 Ne4 45 g4 and White wins. b) 3S ... Ke7 39 Bc6! Nb6 40 Kc5 Na4+ 41 Kb4 Nb6 42 Ka5 Nc4+ 43 Ka6 and b5b6 etc. 39 Bf7 g5 40 Ke4! (Diagram 28) Even though the pawns cannot be attacked by the bishop, the light-squared weaknesses enable White's king to infiltrate. 40 ... Ke7 41 Ba2 Kd6 Given that Black cannot prevent the white king from penetrating, he decides that he may as well go after the b-pawn. 42 Kf5 Ke5 43 Bf7 gxf4 44 gxf4 Nb6 44 ... Kxb5 loses to 45 BeS! (the point of Bf7) 45 ... Kc6 46 Ke6. 45 Be8 Nd5 46 Be6 Ne3+ 47 Kg6 Ng4 48 h3 Nf2 49 h4 1-0 A crucial kingside pawns drops off following 49 ... Ng4 50 h5 Kb6 51 Kf5. As I mentioned earlier, the ending with knight and four pawns versus bishop and three (all on the same side of the board) in general gives the attacker good chances of winning because the knight is such an effective piece when play is on a limited front.
Example 190 Ftaenik-Kovalev, Hamburg 1995
Diagram 29 (W) Winning for White
Diagram 30 (8) White plans f4-f5
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames (Diagram 29) In this example White has the added advantage that he can fix Black's pawns on the same colour as the bishop. This means that White's king can penetrate on the dark squares. 34 Ng4 Kf8 Or 34 ... Kg7 35 e5! and Nf6. 35 Nf6 h5 36 Kg2 Be6 37 Kf3 Ke7 38 Nd5+! White uses the fact that Black cannot exchange off into a pawn-down pawn ending with 38 ... Bxd5 39 exd5 Kd6 40 Ke4. 38 ... Ke639 Nb4 Bb7 40 Kf4 f6 41 h4! A crucial move, preventing ... g5 and fixing the black pawns on light squares. 41...Ba8 42 Nd3 Be6 43 e5! Exchanging a pair of pawns to give White's king access to the g5-square. 43 ... fxe5+ 44 Nxe5 BeS 45 Nf3 Ba4 Black can prevent Kg5 with 45 ... Kf6 but this is only temporary: 46 Nd2! Bc6 47 f3 Bd5 48 Ne4+ Ke6 49 Kg5 Kf7 50 Nd2 Bc6 51 f4 with a same winning plan as in the game. 46 Kg5 Bdl 47 Nel! (Diagram 30) Commencing the final stage of the plan. White plans to push with f4-f5, leaving Black with a decisive weakness on h5. 47 ... Kf7 4S f4 Bg4 Preventing f5 for the moment, but now White brings in the knight. 49 Ne2 Bdl 50 Ne3 Bf3 51 f5! gxf5 52 Nxf5 Bdl 53 Nd6+ 1-0 After 53 ... Ke6 54 Ne4! Bf3 55 Nf6 the h-pawn drops off. When the team with the knight has an extra outside passed pawn, the success rate is still very high. I guess one reason it's so high (a 77% win ratio) is that in some instances the knight supports the passed pawn by itself and forces the bishop to sacrifice itself if the defending king cannot reach the action in time.
Example 191 Tseshkovsky-Timoshenko, Sverdlovsk 1987
Diagram 31 (W) White should win
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Diagram 32 (8) White plans Ne5
Bishop versus Knight Endings
(Diagram 31) In this example Black's king is well placed to cover the advance of the a-pawn so White's winning plan again consists of the using the a-pawn as a deflector while trying to make inroads into the kingside. 43 Kf1 KeS 44 Ke2 Kd5 45 Kd3 Bel 46 f3 h5 47 a5 BM 48 as Bc5 49 f4! (Diagram 32)
An important move. With the pawn on f4 White supports the move Ne5, which in turn forces Black to make some kind of concession on the kingside. 49 ... g6 Or: a) 49 .. .f6 50 Ne3+ Kc6 51 f5! (now g7 and h5 are very weak) 51...Kb6 52 Nd5+ Kxa6 53 Nf4 (Tseshkovsky) and White wins after 53 ... h4 54 Ne6 Bd6 55 Nxg7 followed by moving the king to g4 etc. b) 49 .. .f5 50 Ne3+ Ke6 51 Nc2 Kd5 52 Nb4+! Kd6 53 Kc4 h4 (or 53 ... Be3 54 Nc2 and Nd4) 54 Nc2 g6 55 Nd4 Bb6 56 a7!. 50 Ne5 g5 Suddenly it's all over. After 50 ... Ke6 White wins with 51 Nc6 Kf5 52 g3 h4 53 Nd4+! (the simplest) 53 ... Kf6 54 g4 followed by Nc6 and a6-a7. 51 Nd7 Ba7 52 Nf6+ 1-0 White wins a second pawn.
Exploiting Positional Advantages
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We'll begin by looking at a couple of example that clearly favour the bishop: ones where the board is open with pawns on both sides of the board. NOTE: The bishop can be very effective in positions where there are pawns on both the queenside and kingside because, being a long-range piece, it can influence both sides of the board at the same time.
Example 192 Karpov- Su.Polgar, Madrid 1992
Diagram 33 (W) The bishop rules
Diagram 34 (W) Another corralling?
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames (Diagram 33) Black's problem is not so much that the pawn on e6 is weak (although of course that doesn't help) but the fact that the position is wide open and there are pawns on both sides of the board. In particular, the black pawns on the queenside may become targets as they do not have the protection of Black's king. 37 Kf3 Kf7 38 Ke4 Ke7 39 a4! Stretching Black's defensive resources on the queenside. Now 39 ... bxa4 40 Bxa6 leaves the advanced pawn on a4 extremely vulnerable. 39 ... Na740 axb5 axb5 41 f4 Kd6 42 Bd3 42 f5! may be even stronger; for example, 42 ... e5!? (42 ... exf5+ reaches variations very similar to the main game) 43 g4 b4 44 h4 Nc8 45 g5 hxg5 46 hxg5 Nb6 47 Bb5 Nd5 48 Bc4! Nb6 49 f6! gxf6 50 g6! (Karpov) and Black has to give up his knight. 42 ...Kd7 43 Be2 Kd6 44 Bfl Kd7 45 f5! Despite the fact that the e6-pawn is a weakness, White eliminates it because it prevents White's king from infiltrating to g6 via f5. 45 ... Kd6 46 fxe6 Kxe6 47 Bh3+ Now Black must let White's king in one way or the other. 47 ... Kd6 After 47 ... Ke7 48 Kd5! Kd8 49 Kc5 Kc7 50 Bf1 White wins a crucial pawn. 48 Kf5 g5 Giving up the h-pawn in the hope of imprisoning White's king on the side of the board. The alternative was 48 ... Ke7 49 Kg6 Kf8 50 Bf1 (zugzwang) 50 ... b4 51 Kf5 Nc6 52 Ke4 (Karpov) when the b-pawn is a goner: 52 ... Ke7 53 Kd5 Na5 54 Kc5 b3 55 Kb6!. 49 Kg6 Ke7 50 Kxh6 Kf6 (Diagram 34) Now White comes up with a concept that we've seen before. 51 Bd7! Once again a knight is corralled. 51...Ke7 Or 51...b4 52 h4 gxh4 53 gxh4 Ke7 54 h5! Kxd7 55 Kg7 and the h-pawn promotes. 52 Bxb5! Nxb5 53 Kxg5 The three pawns are too much for the king and knight. 53 ...Kf7 54 Kh6! Nd4 55 g4 Nf3 56 h3 Kf6 57 b4 1-0 One possible finish is 57 ... Ng5 58 b5! Nf7+ 59 Kh5 Nd6 60 b6 Kg7 61 g5 Kh7 62 Kg4 Kg7 63 h4 Kh7 64 h5 Kg7 65 h6+ Kg6 66 Kf3 Kh7 67 Ke2 Kg6 68 Kd3 Kh7 69 Kd4 Kg6 70 Kd5 etc.
Example 193 Heyken-Buhr, Hamburg 1999 (Diagram 35) Black's problem in this position is the fact that his pawns can be attacked by White's bishop. The one on b7 is particularly vulnerable and this really restricts the knight. White eventually wins using zugzwang. 43 Bf3 Ne6 43 ... Nd5 allows White to exchange and then make a breakthrough on the
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Bishop versus Knight Endings queenside: 44 Bxd5! cxd5 45 b5! axb5 46 c6 Kd6 (46 ... bxc6 47 a6 and the apawn promotes) 47 cxb7 Kc7 48 a6 b4 49 Kd4 Kb8 50 Kc5 b3 51 Kb6 and a7 mate.
Diagram 35 (W) b7 is weak
Diagram 36 (8) Getting round the back
44 Ke4 f6 Or 44 ... Kd7 45 Ke5 Ke7 46 Bg4! Nc7 (46 ... Nd8 47 Bc8! and Black is in zugzwang) 47 Bc8! Nd5 48 b5! axb5 49 Bxb7 Kd7 50 a6 Kc7 51 Ba8! Ne7 52 a7 b4 53 Kf6 Nc8 54 Bxc6 Nxa7 55 Bd5 followed by Kxf7 etc. 45 gxf6+ Kxf6 46 Bg4 Ke7 47 Ke5 Nd8 47 ... Nc7 48 Bc8 wins in a similar way to the previous note. 48 Be8 Nf7+ 49 Kf4 Nd8 50 Kg5 Kf7 51 Kh6 Kf6 52 Kh7! (Diagram 36) Black's position is beginning to creak, as White threatens Kg8-f8-e8 etc. 52 ... Kf7 53 Bh3 Kf6 54 Bd7 54 Kg8 (Tsesarsky) also wins after 54 ... Ne6 (or 54 ... Ke7 55 Kg7 and the g-pawn goes) 55 Bxe6! Kxe6 56 Kg7 Kf5 57 Kf7 Kg4 58 Kxg6 Kxh4 59 Kf5 Kg3 60 Ke5 Kf3 61 Kd6 Ke4 62 Kc7 Kd4 63 Kxb7. 54 ... Ke7 55 Bg4 Kf7 55 ... Kf6 56 Bh3! Kf7 57 Bc8! reaches the same position. 56 Be8 Now Black really is in zugzwang and must allow Kg8. 56 ... Kf6 57 Kg8 1-0 White wins after 57 ... g5 58 hxg5+ Kxg5 59 Kg7! Kf4 60 Kf6 Ke3 61 Ke7.
Good knights versus bad bishops We've already seen some of examples of 'good bishops' versus 'bad bishops' (see Chapter 2). However, there have also been many games involving a 'good knight' versus a 'bad bishop'. The bishop is stuck defending its pawns while the knight can hop around, attacking pawns and using outposts. Also, the attacking king often has chances to infiltrate on the different colour complex to the bishop.
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames
Example 194 Dzindziehashvili-Radashkovieh, Netanya 1977
Diagram 37 (W) It's goodnight for Black
Diagram 38 (W) A classic pawn sacrifice
(Diagram 37) The first step is to sink the white king into the e5-square. 42 Kf4 Kf6 43 Nf3 Bb5 44 g5+! Ke7 45 Ke5 Now e6 and g6 are real weaknesses. 45 ... Bd3 46 Ng1! Preparing Nh3-f4. 46 ... Bfl47 a3 b5 48 b4 Bd3 49 Nh3 Be2 50 Nf4 Bf5 51 f3! Putting Black in zugzwang and forcing him to play his pawn to a6, creating a further target for the knight. 51...a6 52 Ne2 Bd3 53 Ne1 Be2 It's true that Black can corral the knight with 53 ... Bc4, but then 54 f4 puts Black in zugzwang: he must either let White's king infiltrate or let the knight into c5. 54 f4 Kd7 Now a very classy idea. 55 f5!! (Diagram 38) Whichever way Black captures, White finds a way through. For example: a) 55 ... exf5 (now g6 is incredibly weak) 56 NeZ Ke7 57 Nf4 Kf7 58 Kxd5 Be4+ 59 Kd6 Bf3 60 d5 etc. b) 55 ... gxf5 (now the g-pawn is a killer) 56 NeZ Ke7 57 Nf4 Kf7 58 g6+ Kg7 59 Kxe6 Be4 60 Ke5. 55 ... Bxf5 Now the a6-pawn drops off. 56 Nb3 Ke7 57 Ne5 Bg4 58 Nxa6 Kd7 59 Ne5+ Ke7 60 a4! The final stage: White creates a passed pawn. 60 ... bxa4 61 Nxa4 Kd7 62 Ne5+ KeG 63 Nxe6 Bf3 64 Nf4 Be4 65 Nxd5! 1-0 White wins after 65 ... Bxd5 66 b5+!.
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Bishop versus Knight Endings
Example 195 Khalifinan-Barua, FIDE World Championship, Las Vegas 1999
Diagram 39 (W) Another sorry bishop
Diagram 40 (W) What now?
(Diagram 39) This example is very similar to the previous one and White wins in a very similar way! 69 f5!! A brilliant pawn sacrifice to give the white king access to Black's dark squares. 69 ... gxf5 70 Kf4 Kf6 Forced, as White was threatening to penetrate via g5 or e5. But now White has a simple plan of relocating his knight to c5. 71 Ne2 Bd7 72 Ne1 Be8 73 Nd3 Be6 (Diagram 40) Now White performs a neat triangulation to put Black into zugzwang. 74 Kf3! Ke7 Or 74 ... Kg7 75 Kg3! Kf6 (75 ... Kf7 76 Nf4!) 76 Nc5 Bc8 77 Kf4 (Donev) reaching the game continuation. 75 Kg3! Kf6 76 Ne5 Be8 77 Kf4 Now it's Black to move and something must give. Black sacrifices the f-pawn. 77 ... Kg6 78 Ke5 f4 79 Kxf4 Kf6 Now some neat footwork by the white king puts Black in trouble. 80 Kg3! Kg7 81 Kf3 Kg6 Or 81 ... Kf7 82 Nd3 Bg4+ 83 Kf2 Ke7 84 Nc5 Bc8 85 Ke3! (obtaining distant opposition to the black king) 85 ... Kf7 (85 ...Kf6 86 Kf4) 86 Nd3! Kf6 87 Nf4 Kf5 88 Nxh5 Kg4 89 Nf6+ Kxh4 90 Kf4 Bb7 91 Ke5 and White wins. 82 Nd3! Bg4+ 83 Ke3 Nf4+ is coming and Black must lose a pawn. 83 ...Be6 84 Nf4+ Kf5 85 Nxh5 Kg4 86 Nf4 Bf7 87 Nd3! Be6 88 Ne5 Be8 89 h5! 1-0 The h-pawn is used as a deflector and the king gets in. After 89 h5 Kg5 90 h6! Kxh6 91 Kf4 Kg6 92 Ke5 Kf7 93 Kxd5 Ke7 94 Kc6 White continues d5-d6 etc.
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames
Try it Yourself
Exercise 1
Exercise 2
Exercise 1 (White to play) How can White win? Exercise 2 (White to play) Here White erred with 62 h4? How can Black punish this mistake?
Exercise 3
Exercise 3 (White to play) White has one move here which draws. Can you see it? Exercise 4 (White to play) What's going on in this position?
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Exercise 4
Solutions to Exercises Chapter One Exercise 1 1...Ba3! (threatening ... Bc5) 2 Kd5 Bel! (now the idea is ... Be3) 3 Ke4 (or 3 Kd4 Bf4 4 a6 Bb8) 3 ...Ba3 4 Kd5 Bel etc.
Exercise 2 Ryan-Hellsten, European Team Ch., Pula 1997 50 ...f4! 50 ... b3? allows White to draw in a surprising fashion: 51 Kc4 f4 (Diagram 1)
Diagram 1 (W) White draws
52 Kc3!! (White paradoxically refrains from capturing the b-pawn - it's actually the f-pawn that the white king has in its sights and it is now in the promotion 'square' of that pawn; 52 Kxb3? loses easily to 52 .. .f3) 52 ... Ke3 (now Black's king is on an unfortunate square and White can safely capture on b3; 52 .. .f3 53 Kd2! is one point) 53 Kxb3! f3 54 Kc4 f2 55 Bd4+ and White draws.
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames 51 Kc4 £3! 51...b3? 52 Kc3!! transposes to the previous note. 52 Bd4 b3! 0-1 The bishop will be deflected by one of the pawns.
Exercise 3 AIvanov-KTan, Salekhard 2003 60 ...Kc5! Crucially shouldering off White's king. 60 ... Ke5? allows White's king into the action and permits a draw after 61 Kc6 d5 62 Kc5 d4 63 Kc4 Ke4 64 Bc8 d3 65 Kc3 Ke3 (threatening ... d2 followed by ... Ke2) 66 Bg4! d2 67 Kc2. 61 Bg4 d5 62 Kc7 It's a long way round, whichever route White's king decides to take, but 62 Ka6 forces Black to be a little more careful: 62 ... d4 63 Ka5 d3 64 Ka4 and now Black continues to shoulder with 64 ... Kc4! (64 ... d2? 65 Kb3 h3 66 Kc2 h2 67 Bf3 is a draw) 65 Ka3 Kc3!. 62 ... d4 63 Kd7 d3 64 Ke6 d2 65 Ke5 h3 0-1
Exercise 4 Raud-Korchagin, Tallin 1998 64 ...Kd5! Black must both keep control of e5 (to play ... Be5+) and also prepare to attack the g2-pawn with his king. Other moves fail in one way or the other: a) 64 ... Kd7? 65 h7 Kd6 66 Kf7 Be5 67 g4 Kd5 68 g5 Ke4 69 g6 Kf5 70 g7. b) 64 ... Be5+? (this releases the g-pawn too quickly) 65 Kf7 Kd5 66 g4 Ke4 67 g5 Kf5 68 g6 and g7. c) 64 ... Bf4? 65 h7 Be5+ 66 Kf7 Kd5 67 g4 Ke4 68 g5 Kf5 69 g6 and again White wins with g7. 65 h7 Be5+ 66 Kf5 Now Black can draw easily, although after 66 Kf7 Ke4! 67 g4 Kf4 Black's king is in time. 66 ... Kd6 All Black needs to do now is to keep the bishop on the long diagonal. 67 g3 Bh8 68 g4 Ke7 69 Kg6 Kf8 70 g5 Bal v.-v. White can make no further progress.
Exercise 5 Aseev-Bagirov, Leningrad 1989 71 Bxh6+!! This is the only way to make progress, as the opposite-coloured bishop ending is drawn; for example, 71 f6+? Kxf6 72 Bxh6 Kf7 73 Bd2 Bd3 74 g5 and White can make no further progress - any pawn advance to g6 will simply be met by a capture, while h6 allows Black to set up a light-squared blockade. 7l ... Kxh6 The three pawns are victorious, despite one ofthem being an h-pawn. In con-
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Solutions to Exercises trast with Example 17, here the defender has the 'wrong coloured' bishop (with a dark-squared bishop Black would draw). 72 f6! This is the most precise. 72 g5+ also wins but White has more chance of erring: 72 ... Kg7 73 h6+! (73 f6+? allows Black to escape with a draw after 73 ... Kf7! 74 Kg3 Bdl! 75 h6 Bc2 with a blockade on the light squares) 73 ... Kh7 74 Kg4 Bbl 75 Kf4 Bc2 76 Ke5 Bbl 77 Ke6 Bc2 78 f6 Bb3+ 79 Ke7 Kg6 80 f7! Bxf7 81 h7 Kxh7 82 Kxf7 with a winning pawn ending. 72 ... Bb3! The toughest defence, preventing f7. The actual game continued 72 ... Bd3 73 g5+ Kh7 74 f7 Kg7 75 g6 and Black resigned on account of 75 ... Bc4 76 h6+! etc. 73 g5+ Kh7 74 g6+ Kh6 75 Kg3! White's king begins a long journey to the e7-square so it can shepherd the fpawn to promotion. Note that 75 f7? carelessly throws away half-a-point after 75 ... Bxf7! 76 gxf7 Kg7!. 75 ... Ba2 Black can only sit and wait because any attacks on h5 or lose immediately: 75 ... Kxh5 76 f7; 75 ... Bdl 76 f7 Kg7 77 h6+!; and 75 ... Bc2 76 f7 Kg7 77 h6+. 76 Kf4 Bb3 77 Ke5 Ba2 78 Kd6! There is still time to ruin everything: 78 f7?? Bxf7!! 79 gxf7 Kg7 80 Ke6 Kf8 and we have a rare occasion in which a lone king draws against a king and two pawns - one is lost immediately due to stalemate ideas. WARNING: Calculate to the very end! There may be unlikely traps lurking, even in the most simple-looking positions.
78 ... Bb3 79 f7 Finally this wins. 79 ... Kg7 80 Ke7 and the pawn promotes.
Exercise 6 Jakovljevic-Savic, Kragujevac 2000 The answer is yes. 64 Kxg3! Rg2+ 65 Kxg2 Kxf4 gives White a rook's pawn and a wrong-coloured bishop, but White can prevent Black's king from reaching the corner: 66 Kh3! Ke5 67 h5! Ke6 Or 67 ... Kf6 68 h6 Kf7 69 Bh7!. 68 h6 Kf7 69 Bh7 1-0 Black resigned on account of 69 ... Kf6 70 Kg4 Kf7 71 Kf5 Kf8 72 Kf6 Ke8 73 Kg7 etc.
Exercise 7 Christiansen-Kengis, Manila Olympiad 1992 73 ... Kd5! Releasing the c-pawn is natural, but it's important where the king moves to.
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames 74 g5 c4 75 g6 c3 0-1 White resigned on account of 76 g7 Bd4+ 77 Kf7 Bxg7 78 Kxg7 c2 79 h6 c1Q 80 h7 Qc7+ 81 Kg8 (81 Kg6 Qe5!) 81...Ke6! (the point of 73 ... Kd5: the king is just near enough) 82 h8Q Qf7 mate.
Exercise 8 Gogarasi-J.Rogers, Senec 1998 No, there is a big flaw to Black's idea. 5S ...£3+? 58 ... Kg4 would draw comfortably; for example, 59 Kf2 Kf5 60 Bc7 g4 61 Kg2 h5 62 Bd8 Ke4 etc. 59Kxf3 Kh3 It's too late to do anything else: 59 ... h5 60 Kg2 Kg4 61 Bc7 Kf5 62 Kf3 Ke6 63 Ke4 Kf6 64 Bd6 Ke6 65 Be5 and White wins easily. 60 Ke4 g4 Now it seems difficult to prevent ... h5-h4 and ... g3, but White finds way! Note that 60 ...h5 61 Kf5 g4 62 Bg3 reaches the same position in the game, while after 60 ... Kg4 White wins with 61 Bc7 (planning Ke5-f6) 61...h5 62 Ke5 h4 (or 62 ... Kh3 63 Kf5 g4 64 Bg3 as in the game) 63 Kf6 Kh5 64 Kf5 g4 65 Bd6 g3 66 h3 (or even 66 Bxg3! hxg3 67 hxg3). 61 Bg3! h5 62 Kf5 h4 63 Kf4! 1-0 The bishop sacrifice wins for White after 63 ... hxg3 64 hxg3 Kg2 65 Kxg4 etc.
a
Chapter Two Exercise 1 Kosa-Balint, Nyirsegi Torna 1998 In the game White erred with careless 64 Kg6??, after which Black could have forced an immediate draw with 64 ... Bc2!, leading to stalemate or the win of the g-pawn. Instead White should avoid this trap and prepare Kg6-h6 with 64 Bd7 (although this is not the only move); for example 64 ... Kh7 (preventing Kg6) 65 BeS (preparing Bf7 and thus forcing the black king back) 65 ...KgS 66 Kg6 Bc4 67 Kh6 (threatening Bg6-h7+) 67 ...Bd3 68 Ba4 (threatening Bb3+) 6S ...Bc4 69 Bc2 (threatening Bh7+) 69 ...Kf7 70 Kh7 Kf6 71 KhS and now White wins in typical fashion: 71...Kg5 72 Bh7 Kh6 73 BgS Bd3 74 Bd5 Bh7 75 Be4 etc.
Exercise 2 Dreev-Onischuk, Cap d'Agde 2002 This endgame is more complex than it first appears. Let's take a closer look at the moves. 53 ...Kd6? A losing move. The only move to draw is 53 ... Kd7! (obviously planning ... Kc8, bishop moves and ... Kb8-a8) 54 Kb5 Kc8 55 Kc6 (at first sight this looks like zugzwang, but Black has an amazing resource ... ) 55 ... Bf4 56 a7 (Diagram. 2)
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Solutions to Exercises
Diagram 2 (8) Black has an amazing resource
and now the fantastic move 56 ... BbS!!, when promoting to a queen or rook gives stalemate, while after 57 aSB Bg3 there's no mate - it's a draw. 54 Kb5 Kd7 55 Ke5? Returning the favour. White can win by retreating his bishop along the a7-g1 diagonal, thus eliminating stalemate tricks (the bishop would no longer cover dS); for example, 55 Bf2! Kc7 56 Be3! (zugzwang - Black must give way with his king) 56 ... Kd7 57 Kb6 KcS 5S Kc6! (the irony is that Black would actually be drawing if his bishop were taken offthe board, allowing ... KbS - it's a rook's pawn with a 'wrong-coloured' bishop) 5S ... Bc7 (or 5S ... KdS 59 Kb7) 59 a7 and now 59 ... BbS can be safely answered by 60 aSQ!. 55 ... Bd6+! 56 Kb5 Ke8 Now it's an easy draw. 57 Ke6 Or 57 Ba7 BbS 5S Be3 Bc7 and White can only prevent the black king from reaching the corner by repeating with 59 Ba7. 57 ...Kb8! 58 Kxd6 Ka8 v"-v,,
Exercise 3 Centurini 1856 To win White must force Black's bishop off the long h2-bS diagonal, so White has to manoeuvre his bishop to bS (via a7). However, things are not so easy as Black can frustrate this plan by moving his king to a6: 1 Bh4 Kb6! 2 Bf2+ Ka6 and Ba7 is prevented. Now White could try to manoeuvre the bishop to the c7square, but again the black king is too quick: 3 Bh4 Kb6! 4 BdS+ Kc6! and we are back to where we started. However, if in the initial position Black's bishop were on, say, g3 instead of h2, White's bishop could gain a crucial tempo on its way to a7 via 1 Bh4! (hitting the black bishop). After the black bishop moves, White would continue with 2 Bf2!, leaving Black with no time to move his king to a6. Thus White would be able to play Ba7-bS etc. In fact, White can force this starting position but with the black bishop on an inferior square in a very instructive way:
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames 1 Bh4 Kb6! 2 Bf2+ KaG 3 Bc5! The only move to win. With this waiting move, White forces Black to move his bishop because the black king must stay protecting a6. 3... Bg3 4 Be7 Now White comes round to threaten Bd8. White plays in a similar way against 3 ... Bf4 or 3 ... Be5. 4 ... KbS Black's king rushes back. 5 Bd8+Kc6 We've now reached the starting position, except Black's bishop is on g3 instead of h2. Thus White can gain that crucial tempo. S Bh4! Bh2 7 Bf2 Finally the win is reasonably straightforward! 7 ... Kb5 8 Ba7 Ka6 9 Bb8 Bgl 10 Bf4 Ba7 11 Be3 and White wins. Moving the bishop to c5 on move three was important because White needed to deny the black bishop access to the d6-square. Mter, say, 3 Be3 Black holds on with 3 ... Bd6! 4 Bg5 Kb6 5 Bd8+ Kc6 6 Be7 Bh2 and now of course Bc5 isn't possible, so White is back to square one.
Exercise 4 Nisipeanu-Suba, Predeal1997 The Romanian GM Nisipeanu did grab the pawn on c6, which was the right decision despite allowing Black an obvious discovered check. 55 Kxe6! d4+ The only chance. 56 Kd7 dxc3 57 c6! 57 Bc2 also wins; for example 57 ... Bh3+ 58 Kc7! (preventing ... Kb6 after c6) 58 ... Bg2 59 c6 Bf3 60 Kd7 Bg4+ 61 Kd8 Kb6 62 c7 Kb7 63 Be4+, but the text contains a neat point. 57 ... Be4 58 c7 c2 59 Bxc2 Bxc2 Now 60 c8Q?? allows 60 ... Bf5+! with a draw, but instead White played 60 Ke6! and Black resigned. Following 60 ... Bd1 61 Kf5! Bc2+ 62 Ke5 the c-pawn will promote.
Chapter Three Exercise 1 Lautier-Rublevsky, Poikovsky .2003 Mter 50 Be7 the players agreed a draw because Black has an unbreakable blockade; for example, 50 ... Be2 51 Kh6 Bd1 52 h5 Be2! and White cannot make any progress without losing his h-pawn. 50 ... Kg4? would win a pawn but, more crucially, would allow White to break the blockade: 51 h5! Kxh5 52 f5 Kg4 53 f6 Bb3 54 Bd6 and White wins.
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Solutions to Exercises
Exercise 2 Kozul-Mikhalevski, Bugojno 1999 The game concluded 79 Ka6! Bf4 (or 79 ... Bd2 80 b5 Kd6 81 b6! Kc5 - 81...Kxd5 82 Kb5, intending a6-a7-a8 - 82 b7 Bf4 83 Ka7 Kb5 84 a6 Be5 85 Bc4+! - Mikhalevski) 80 Bf3 Kd6 (80 ... Kb8 81 b5 Be3 82 b6 Bf2 83 Kb5 followed by a6-a7) 81 Kb7 and Black resigned Black to move, however, can draw with 79 ... Bd2! SO Ka4 Bel! Sl b5 (what else?) Sl...Bf2! and White can make no progress because his king cannot get to a6 to support the b6 push.
Exercise 3 Kramnik-Svidler, Wijk aan Zee 2004 In the game Black incorrectly resigned (!), but in fact White can make no progress if Black keeps his bishop on the long gl-a 7 diagonal. For example, 49 ... Be3 50 Bd5 Bf2 51 Kxa5 Bg1 52 Ka6 Kc7 53 a5 Bf2 54 Kb5 Kd6 55 a6 Bg1 56 Kb4 Bf2 57 Kc3 Bg1 58 Kd3 Ke5! 59 Kc3 Bf2 60 Kb4 Kd6 and there is no way through the fortress.
Exercise 4 Reinderman-Van der Sterren, Rotterdam 2000 (variation) Let's look at Black's three most obvious tries: a) 59 ... Kg3+?? actually loses to 60 hxg5 Kf2 (Diagram 3)
Diagram 3 (W) White wins!
and now White wins with the very unlikely move 61 Bf3!! (note that 60 ... Kxg2 also loses to 61 Ke3!). b) 59 ... Bxh4? 60 Bh3! (tying the king to the defence of f5) 60 ... Bd8 61 Ke2 Bb6 62 Kf1 Ke5 63 Ke2 f4 64 Bg2! with an ideal defensive set-up similar to Example 87. White will oscillate with Bg2-h1-g2, answering .. .f3+ with Bxf3. c) 59 ... Bh6! (now White cannot reach the ideal set-up due to the threat of ... Kg3+) 60 Ke2 (or 60 Bh3 Kg3+) 60 ... Kg3! 61 Kf1 Kh2! 62 h5 Bg5 and White is in zugzwang: 63 Kf2 e3+ 64 Kf1 e2+ and Black wins.
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames
Chapter Four Exercise 1 Stangl-Van der Sterren, Nettetal1992 Following 65 Ne6! Black resigned because White keeps his d-pawn and slowly brings his king up: 65 ... Ke4 66 Kf2 Kf5 67 Nc5 Kf4 68 Ke2 Kf5 69 Kf3 etc. In contrast, 65 Nb3? allows Black to draw after 65 ... Kd3! 66 Kf3 Kc3, when White must give up his pawn. 67 Kf4?! Kxb3 68 Ke5?? even loses after 68 ... Kc4!.
Exercise 2 The correct answer is 'c': White wins against both king retreats. L.Ka8 allows the straightforward win after 2 Kb6 Kb8 3 a7+ Ka8 4 Nd5! flQ 5 Nc7 mate. Mter L.Kb8 White has a longer mating sequence with 2 Kb6 Ka8 3 Nd5! flQ (Black queens but ... ) 4 Nc7+ Kb8 5 a7+ Kc8 6 a8Q+ Kd7 7 Qe8+ Kd6 8 Qe6 (White mates!).
Exercise 3 S.Mohr-Conquest, Gausdal1989 Black could have won with 98 ... Nd5! (luring the king onto an unfortunate square) 99 Kxd5 (or 99 g7 Ne7 100 Ke6 Ng8 101 Kf7 Ka2! 102 Kxg8 b1Q with a winning queen versus pawn ending for Black: 103 Kf7 Qf5+ 104 Ke8 Qe6+ 105 Kf8 Qf6+ - forcing the king in front of the pawn - 106 Kg8 Kb3 and Black gradually brings up the king) 99 ... Ka2 100 g7 blQ 101 g8Q and now Black wins with the skewer 101...Qb3+.
Exercise 4 Salov-Byrne, Reykjavik 1986 Black simplified into a drawn ending with 43 ... Rxf4+! 44 Rxf4 Bxf4 45 Kxf4 a4 46 Ne4 a3 47 Nc3 Kh7 48 Kg5 Kg7 49 h6+ Kg8! ';Vi2 (see Example 135)
Exercise 5 Iljushin-Nikitin, St Petersburg 2000 Instead of 72 ... Kxg7?, which gave White a crucial extra tempo, Black could have won with 72 ... Kf7!, when one of the black pawns will promote.
Exercise 6 Fuksikova-Klhnsova, Prerov 1995 No! White can draw after 53 c4! Kxb6 54 Kxf7! h5 55 Ke6 h4 56 Kd6 h3 57 c5+ Kb7 58 Kd7, when both pawns promote.
Exercise 7 Santorius-Nordhoff, Ruhrgebiet 1996 53 Nxc4?? is a blunder that loses: 53 ... Nxc4 54 b6 Nxb6! (it's easy to miss this move!) 55 axb6 axb6 and White resigned as it's a winning pawn ending for Black. Instead, 53 b6! axb6 54 Nxc4 (or 54 axb6) draws easily.
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Solutions to Exercises
Exercise 8 Kaspi-Finkel, Kfar Sava 2000 50 ... Be8!!
An astonishing move, and the only one that wins. 50 ... Kxg5? only draws following 51 Nxf7+ Kf4 52 Ne5! g5 (52 ... Be8 53 Nxg6+! Bxg6 54 Kc3 is a draw, as we saw in Chapter 1) 53 Nxc6 a4 (53 ... g4 or 54 Ne5! - threatening Nxg4 - 54 ... g3 55 Nd3+ Kf3 56 Nel + Kf2 57 Nd3+ Ke2 58 Nf4+ Kd2 59 Kc4) 54 Kc4 g4 55 Nd4 Ke4 56 Ne2 Kf3 57 Nd4+ Ke3 58 Nf5+ Kf4 59 Nh4. 51 Nxe8 Kxg5 Due to the outside a-pawn, the three pawns defeat the knight. 52 Nd6 f5 53 Nc4 Or 53 Kc4 f4 54 Kb5 f3 55 Kxa5 Kf4 56 Nc4 f2 57 Nd2 g5 58 Kb4 g4 59 Kc3 g3 60 Kd3 g2 and Black wins. 53 ... a4 54 Ne5 Kh5 55 Nd3 g5 0-1 Black wins after 56 Kc3 f4 57 Kb4 f3 58 Kxa4 g4 59 Kb4 g3.
Chapter Five Exercise 1 Cheron 1952 White can win with 1 Ng7+! Nxg7 (or 1 ... Kf7 2 Nxf5 Kf6 3 h6) 2 h6 Kf7 3 h7, when the h-pawn promotes.
Exercise 2 Variation on Mek White can harass the pawn all the way down the board and finally win it when it promotes to a queen (!): 1 Nh7! g4 2 Nf6 g3 3 Nh5 g2 4 Nf4 glQ (4 ... g1N is a draw) 5 Ne2+ and Nxgl.
Exercise 3 Piazzini-Bolbochan, Buenos Aires 1933 68 Ne2!! The only good way of dealing with the threat of ... Kc3. Now Black's king can capture the knight but it will be outside the square of the b-pawn. 68 ... Kxe2 69 b4 Ne3 70 Kxh5 Black simply cannot deal with both pawns. 70 ... Nd5 71 Kg5! Kf3 Or 71...Nxb4 72 h5 Nd3 73 h6 Ne5 74 h7 Nf7+ 75 Kf6 Nh8 76 Kg7. 72 h5 Nf4 73 h6 Ne6+ 74 Kf5 Nd4+ After 74 ... Nf8 75 b5 and the knight will be 'overloaded'. 75 Kf6 1-0
Exercise 4 Wolff-Emrns, Oakham 1986 Black was right to accept the draw; White was wrong to offer it! Following 37
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Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames Bxb6 Nxb6 38 Na7! (winning the b-pawn) 38 ... Nc4 (counterattacking against b2) 39 Nxb5 Nxb2 40 Na3! Black's knight is trapped and White simply continues with Kd2-c2xb2!
Chapter Six Exercise 1 Beliavsky-Liberzon, Baden Baden 1980 99 Be2! (corralling the knight) 99 ... Kd4 (or 99 ... Ke4 100 Kg3 Kf5 101 Bd3+) 100 Kg2 Ke3 101 f5! Kxe2 102 Kxh2 and the pawn promotes.
Exercise 2 Portisch-Kavalek, Montreal 1979 62 b4? 62 Kc4 is winning. 62 ... Nb8! 63 Kc4 The point is that 63 b5 is met by 63 ... Nc6+!. 63 ... Nc6 64 Kb5 Nxb4! 65 Kb6 Nd3! v.-v. It's a draw after 66 Bc3 Kd7! 67 a5 Kc8.
Exercise 3 Schaller-Huber, Germany 1994 77 Bc2! The game continuation was 77 Kxb4? Nd3+ and Black won, while 77 Bb1 Nd3 puts White is zugzwang. 77 ... Nd3 Or 77 ... Ne2 78 Bb1 Kc1 79 Bh7 and Kxb4. 78 Bbl Ke3 79 Kc4! and the b4-pawn is lost, leaving a drawn position.
Exercise 4 Collinson-King, British League 2004 Even though the knight cannot move on a5, it's actually a very strong piece on this occasion! In fact White is in zugzwang and must allow either the knight to escape or a crushing sacrifice. 49Bg2 Or 49 Bf5 Nc6 (threatening ... a5, and then manoeuvring the knight to e1) 50 Be4 Ne5 51 a5 Nf3 52 Bb7 Ne1 + 53 Kb1 Nxd3 54 Bxa6 Ne1 55 Bc8 d3 56 a6 d2 57 Bg4+ Nf3 and Black wins (King). 49 ... Nxb3! 50 Kxb3 Kxd3 51 Bf1+ Kd2 52 a5 d3 53 Kb2 Ke3 54 Kb3 d2 55 Kc2 Kf2! 55 ... b3+?? allows a very clever draw after 56 Kd1 b2 57 Bd3! (King). 56 Bh3 Kel 57 Bg4 b3+ 58 Kxb3 dlQ+ 59 Bxdl Kxdl 60 Kc3 Ke2! 0-1 Black has a winning pawn ending. There was one more pitfall to avoid with 60 ... Kc1?? 61 Kd3 Kb2 62 Ke4 Kb3 63 Kd5Kb4 64 Kc6 Kxc4 65 Kb6 Kb4 66 Kxa6 c4 67 Kb6 c3 68 a6 c2 69 a7 c1Q 70 a8Q with a draw.
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