Table of Contents

CopyRight Information
About the Author
Symbols and Abbreviations Used in the Book

Introduction to Practical Endgames

Bishops of Opposite Colour
Theoretical Positions
Typical Ideas
Two Connected Passed Pawns
Test yourself
Disconnected passed pawns
Test yourself
Positions with Rooks on the Board
Targeting a Weak Pawn
Endgame Skill as a Decisive Factor
Weak King as a Target
Test yourself
Exchange Sacrifice
Test yourself
Active Piece Placement
Test yourself
Conclusion

Swipe left for next chapter

2
 Bishop Endgames: Do Opposites Attract?

By Roman Jiganchine

The right of Roman Jiganchine 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 from the author.

Jiganchine, Roman. Bishop Endgames: Do Opposites Attract? Electronic Edition.

For questions, comments, or more information on this book, contact: Roman Jiganchine at
roman.jiganchine@outlook.com.

Copyright © 2013 by Roman Jiganchine.

3
About the Author

Roman Jiganchine has been a chess coach of several Canadian junior players. His students in the early
2000s won many Canadian championship youth titles in various age groups. Roman has contributed to
«Chess Life», Russian «64» magazine, and for several years had an endgame column in Canadian chess
magazine «En Passant» (later renamed into «Chess Canada»). He received his early chess education in
the Moscow Petrosian Chess school, which brought to the chess world grandmasters such as
Morozevich, Riazantsev, and the Women’s World Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk. Roman moved to
Vancouver, BC in 1998, and represented Canada in the 2000 World Youth Under 18 Championship in
Spain. His main occupation today is software development.

4
Symbols and Abbreviations Used in the Book

Position Evaluation
∞ – Unclear: It is unclear who (if anyone) has an advantage.
= – Even position: White and Black have more or less equal chances.
+= – White has slightly better chances.
+/− – White has much better chances.
+− – White has a clear advantage.
=+ – Black has slightly better chances.
−/+ – Black has much better chances.
−+ – Black has a clear advantage.
Move Evaluation
?? - Blunder
? - Mistake
?! - Dubious move
!? - Interesting move
! - Good move
‼ - Brilliant move

5
 Show in Quiz Mode

Introduction to Practical Endgames

Chess improvement is multifaceted, and every author brings their own perspective to the table. What
always fascinated me about studying chess is finding patterns and coming up with examples that
illustrated those patterns best. This ebook focuses on patterns based on material left on the board. The
level of a reader who could benefit from this book the most is between 1600 and 2200 ELO, even
though other chess players should also be able to learn from it. The format was specifically designed
for e-readers, and combines instructional analysis with puzzles for the reader to solve. That should
reinforce newly learned concepts and help get a better sense of the combination of pieces (bishops and
rooks) discussed throughout the book.
When people talk about endgames, they are often not sure what exactly is meant by this term.
Sometimes any position without queens is called an endgame. A more sophisticated approach is to look
at the role of kings. If the king can play an active role in the game without serious risk, usually this is
called an endgame. And yet there are exceptions to this definition. To clarify the terminology, a famous
coach Mark Dvoretsky introduced the concept of ‘simple positions’, where one of the type of pieces is
absent - either rooks, queens or minor pieces. Understanding simple positions is often more important
than knowing precise theoretical positions. The most common type of simple positions is rook+minor
piece vs. rook+minor piece. I would like to mainly deal with one type of such positions, where each
side has a rook + bishop, with the bishops of opposite colours. We will also need to explore the endings
with only bishops of opposite colours.
Carlsen, Magnus - Karjakin, Sergey
Tata Steel Chess 2013, 2013.01.20

6
This game has drawn a lot of attention due to the manner in which Carlsen outplayed his opponent.
53.f4 Carlsen wisely advances pawns on the dark squares to restrict Black's bishop - something we'll
see very often in these endgames. 53...Bd6 54.Re8 Rb7 55.Ra8 Be7 56.Kg2 Rb1

57.e5 Re1 58.Kf2 Rb1 59.Re8 Bf8 60.Rc8 Be7

7
61.Ra8 Rb2+ 62.Kf3 Rb1 63.Bd5 Re1 64.Kf2 Rd1 65.Re8 Bf8 66.Bc4 Rb1

Question: How can White make progress?

Show/Hide Solution

Answer: by undermining Black's pawn chain and trying to advance f4-f5-f6, even if that involves some
sacrifices. 67.g4 After some manoeuvring, Carlsen begins a major pawn breakthrough that aims against
Black bishop and king that have been boxed on the kingside. Due to his active rook Black had his
chances, but they were extremely difficult to exploit in the time trouble that Karjakin was in. 67...hxg4

8
68.h5 Rh1
68...gxh5! 69.f5 h4 70.f6+ Kg6 71.Rxf8

71...Kf5 White won the bishop, but Black gets enough counterplay due to his active pawns, king and
rook. 72.Rh8 Rb2+ 73.Kg1 Rb1+ with a perpetual check.
69.hxg6 fxg6 70.Re6

Temporarily Black has an extra pawn, but his pawns are now vulnerable, and Black's bishop still has no
moves. 70...Kh6 71.Bd5 Rh2+ 72.Kg3 Rh3+ 73.Kxg4 Rxd3

9
74.f5
74.Be4!? was also possible.
74...Re3 75.Rxg6+ Kh7 76.Bg8+ Kh8

77.Kf4 White's pawns are further advanced and better supported by his pieces. 77...Rc3 78.f6 d3
79.Ke3 c4 80.Be6 Kh7 81.Bf5 Rc2

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The black king is still a vulnerable piece that Carlsen keeps exploiting. Now he utilizes the discovered
check to transpose into a winning bishop endgame. His two connected passed pawns will be enough for
a win because they are still placed on dark squares and cannot be blocked by the black bishop. 82.Rg2+
Kh6 83.Rxc2 dxc2 84.Bxc2

84...Kg5 85.Kd4 Ba3 86.Kxc4 Bb2 87.Kd5 Kf4 88.f7 Ba3 89.e6 Kg5 90.Kc6 Kf6 91.Kd7 Kg7

11
92.e7 Black resigned, as White inevitably promotes a pawn. 1-0

Carlsen won a simple and objectively drawn endgame with the confidence that impressed the chess
world. He made it look easy against one of his major alleged competitors (even though Carlsen does
seem to be in a league of his own on many occasions). However the principles he used in this endgame
are indeed not mysterious, and after going through the examples, you should be able to outplay your
opponents in a manner similar to that of Magnus! Keeping your pieces active, proper pawn placement
and precise evaluation of simplified positions are all skills that can be acquired! The benefits for your
playing strength can be enormous: three days later, Carlsen produced another win in the endgame with
the same material balance:
Carlsen, Magnus - L'Ami, Erwin
Tata Steel Chess 2013, 2013.01.23

12
White has good winning chances because of his extra pawn and good piece placement. 41.Rc6 a5
42.Bc5 Rad7 43.Be3 R7d6 44.Rc4 With 4 rooks on the board, White will have better chances of
exploiting the weakness of the 'a' pawn. Also, he might be able to create additional threats by doubling
rooks along the 7th rank. 44...Re6 45.Kf2

45...Rde5 Black insists on exchanging at least one pair of rooks. 46.Rc3 Be8 47.Bd2 a4 48.Rxe5 Rxe5
49.b4 Bb5 50.Be3 h5 51.Rc7 Kg6 52.Ra7 Rd5 53.Kg3 Rd3 54.Bc5 Ra3 55.Bf8 Rxa2

13
56.Kf4! Suddenly White created serious mating threats to the black king.
Of course not 56.Rxg7+?! Kf5 and the black king gets activated.
56...Kh7 57.Rxg7+ Kh8

58.Kf5 The white king is playing an active role in attacking, while the black one is a target. 58...Rc2
59.Kxf6 a3 60.Ra7 a2 61.g3 Rc6+ 62.Kg5 Kg8 63.Bc5 Ba6 64.Bd4 Rd6 65.Ba1

14
Black resigned, perhaps a bit prematurely, as even though he is 2 pawns down, the 'a2' pawn requires a
lot of accuracy from White. Still - a great example of technique by Carlsen who converted his extra
pawn advantage into attack against the black king. 1-0
To contrast with the great technique of the world's number one player, here is the game of typical 'class
A' juniors:
Jiganchine, Roman - Baryshev
Moscow team championship, 1998.02.15

Here I naively expected either a draw offer, or a simplification of the position. In fact, Black has some
advantage: his rooks have open files against my pawns; his bishop is more active than mine. 28.Rb1

15
Rfc8 29.Be4 Rc5 30.Ra1 Ra5 31.a4?
31.Rd3!= followed by Rb3, and then a2-a3 - was the correct implementation of the same idea. That
would have given White a reasonable game. For example: 31...Rb6 32.Rb3 Rab5 33.a3 bxa3 34.Raxa3
Rxb3 35.Rxb3 Rxb3 36.cxb3 and an endgame with opposite coloured bishops without rooks is easily
drawn. In the game I ended up with similar pawn weaknesses, but there was still a pair of rooks on the
board, giving Black good winning chances.
31...bxa3 32.Rxa3 Rxa3 33.bxa3³ Now the pawn on a3 is vulnerable and the black rook controls the
only open file. 33...Rb1+ 34.Kg2 Ra1 35.Rd3 Ra2 36.Rb3 a5

I failed to find any plan, and allowed my opponent to invade with his rook. My pieces are so
uncoordinated that I cannot save a pawn. 37.Rb8+ Kg7 38.Rb3 a4 39.Rf3

16
39...Bf4 The black bishop is going to attack the a3 pawn while the white bishop is tied up to the
defence of the c2 pawn and can't target a4. 40.h4 f6
40...Kf6-+
41.hxg5 hxg5 42.Rf1
42.Kf1 Bc1 43.Rd3 Bb2µ42.Rd3 Rxc2+ 43.Kf1 Rc1+ 44.Kg2 Be3µ
42...Rxa3 43.Bd3 Rc3 44.Ra1 a3 45.Kf3 Kf7

The black king begins the march to the kingside. 46.Ke2 Ke7 47.Kf3 Kd8 48.Ke2 Kc7 49.Kd1 Kb6
50.Rb1+ Ka5

17
The king has arrived, and White has to activate the rook. 51.Rb8 Rc5 52.Ra8+ Kb4 53.Rb8+ Ka4

54.c4 Trading off rooks in this situation cannot save White: the 'a' pawn would cost me a bishop.
54.Ra8+ Ra5 55.Rxa5+ Kxa5 56.Bc4 Kb4 57.Ba2 Kc3-+

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54...dxc3 55.Bc2+ Ka5 56.Ra8+ Kb6 57.Rxa3 Rxd5+ 58.Ke1 Bd2+ 59.Kf1

59...Rb5?? Just as I was considering a timely resignation, here comes the amnesty.
After 59...Re5 60.Ra8 Re1+ 61.Kf2 Rc1 62.Bb3 Bf4 63.Rf8 Be5 White's counterplay against 'f6' is
eliminated, and Black can start invading with his king.
60.Rb3! Of course! After the exchange of rooks I can block the black pawns. 60...Rxb3 61.Bxb3 Kc5
62.Ke2 Kd4 63.Bc2 d5 64.Bd3 Ke5

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65.Kf3 Ke5-f4 was threatened; Black's only hope is to win my g4 pawn, but this is impossible. 65...Bf4
66.Bb1 Kd4 67.Ke2 White established a fortress that is typical for endgames with bishops of opposite
colour. 67...Kc4 68.Bc2 Kb4 69.Kd3 Be5 Black tried to win for another 30 moves, as I was low on
time, but finally my claim for a draw was accepted. 1/2-1/2
A very instructive game. I remember being surprised twice: 1) when my opponent did not offer me a
draw and then outplayed me. 2) when he allowed me to trade off rooks and then still thought he had a
win.

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Bishops of Opposite Colour

Everybody has heard that endgames with bishops of opposite colours are drawish, because it is very
often possible to set up a blockade on the squares of colour of one’s own bishop. Then even a 2 or 3
pawn advantage can be insufficient for a win, just as in my game against Baryshev. Positional subtleties
are usually more important than material. A defending side can sacrifice a pawn to set up a blockade or
a fortress; a stronger side can sacrifice material to create a passed pawn or to get access to the
opponent’s weakness. The next chapter has theoretical positions that illustrate setting up blockade and
the strength of connected pawns:

Theoretical Positions

Theoretical position - # 1

1.c5! Otherwise Black would come to d6 with the king, with a winning position. 1...Bxc5 2.Bb3! e5
3.Be6!

21
White can simply shuffle his bishop along the c8-h3 diagonal. This position illustrates how blockade
can compensate for huge material disadvantage. Also, we can see that a pawn can be less important
than certain positional factors, such as the colour of squares on which the enemy's pawns are located. It
is essential to setup blockade on the c8-h3 diagonal as soon as possible.
3.Ke4?

is another (erroneous) way of implementing the same idea, and it runs into a nice refutation. 3...g4! and
matters suddenly get complicated. A brief analysis shows that White cannot save himself: 4.hxg4
(4.Kf5 gxh3 5.Kg4 h2 6.Bd5 Kc7 7.Kf5 Kd6 8.Bh1 Bg1 9.Bg2 Kc5 10.Bh1 Kd4 11.Bb7 Ke3 12.Kg4
Bf2 13.Kh3 Bg3 14.Kg2 e4-+) 4...h3 5.Bd5 (5.Kf3 h2 6.Kg2 Bg1 7.Be6 Kc7-+) 5...Bf2 6.Kf5 Bh4
7.Ke4 Kc7 8.Kf5 Kd6 9.Bf3 Kc5 10.Ke4 Kc4 11.Bh1 Kc3 12.Ke3 Bg5+ 13.Ke2 Kd4-+

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1/2-1/2

Theoretical position - # 2

1.Bh4+! Controlling 'f6'. White has to prevent Black from sacrificing the bishop for two pawns.
1.Bb4+? Kf7 2.Kd4 Bb1 3.e6+ Kf6 4.e7 Kf7=
1...Kf7 2.Kd4
2.e6+?? Bxe6=
2...Kg7 3.e6 White wins as after Ke5 the pawns keep advancing. 1-0

Theoretical position - # 3

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1...Bd7! Here Black manages to make a draw. 2.Kf4 Bc8 The bishop goes back and forth, while
attacking 'f5' pawn, so that the white king cannot get to d6 in order to support e5-e6. The 'f5' pawn
being under pressure is an important defensive idea in these endings: if it advances, Black will
immediately setup a blockade on the dark squares. Thus it has to be protected by the white king and
White cannot make any progress. 1/2-1/2

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 Show in Quiz Mode

Typical Ideas

Let's look at some typical ideas. With only bishops on the board, the following themes are pretty
common:
1) The strength of connected pawns
2) Distant and disconnected passed pawns
3) Rule of one diagonal

Two Connected Passed Pawns

Smyslov, Vassily - Stein, Leonid

Ch URS, 1969

White's turn 37.Bd4! Now White effectively has two extra pawns on the kingside. 37...a6 38.Kf4 Ke6
39.Kg5 Kf7 40.Kf4 Ke6 41.Bb6 Bb3 42.g4 hxg4

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43.Kxg4! Bd1 44.Kf4 Kf7 45.Bd4 Kf8 46.Ke3 Kf7 47.Be5 Ke6 48.Bg3 Kf6 Black makes things
harder for White by attacking the 'f3' pawn. 49.Bf4 Ke6

Question: How can White create two connected passed pawns?

Show/Hide Solution

Answer: by sacrificing a pawn and removing Black's 'g' pawn from that file. 50.h5!! gxh5 51.Bg3
White's plan now is very simple: f3-f4-f5, Kf4, Bh4, etc. Despite even material Black is helpless
against the advance of the white pawns; sacrificing the bishop (as in theoretical position #3) would not

26
work, of course, as White has queenside pawns left. 1-0

With the Smyslov game in mind, it was relatively easy for me to win the following game:
DDT3000 - RocKula
ICC 15 1, 2010.04.28

Over the next few moves both sides will try to attack and capture as many pawns as possible. Whoever
manages to collect the most material will end up with a better position. 22...Bc5? This is just a waste of
tempo!

22...Bb4= 23.Bd5 Bxa5 24.Bxb7 Bb6 25.Bxa6 In the game in the same position the white king was
already on 'f2'. (25.Kf2 a5=) 25...Bxe3+ 26.Kf1 f5 Here Black also has two connected extra pawns and
is probably not worse.
23.Kf2 Bb4

27
24.Bd5 Bxa5 25.Bxb7 Bb6 The bishop frees up the pawn to move but this is done without a gain of
tempo because the white king is already defending it. 26.Bxa6 f5 27.Ke2 White has very good winning
chances because two connected extra pawns will be extremely hard for Black to block. White just has
to be careful by advancing the pawns through each rank starting with the dark squares. That way
Black's bishop would not be able to blockade them. 27...Bc5 28.c3 Kf7

29.b4! Placing pawns on dark squares first, is the key to success. 29...Bd6 Black is keeps an eye on b4
to make c4-c5 more difficult. 30.e4! f4 31.Kd3 Ke6 32.Bc8+ Ke7 33.Kc4 g5
33...h5 34.Kd5 g5 35.b5 g4 36.b6+-33...Kd8 34.Kd5 Kc7 35.Be6 Be7 36.b5 is very similar to the
game.

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34.Bg4 Black's pawn majority on the other hand is firmly blockaded by the White bishop. 34...Kd8
35.Kd5 Kc7 36.b5!

This move was tough to play, but I calculated that I either play c3-c4-c5, or win the 'e5' pawn. 36...Bf8
37.c4 Kb6 38.Kxe5 Kc5 39.Be2 Be7 40.Ke6 Bf8 41.Kf6 h6 42.e5 White has three passed pawns, so
no blockade can help stop that. 1-0

Test yourself
Kholmov, Ratmir - Negulescu, Adrian
Tirgu Mures, 1992

29
White to move

Show/Hide Solution

Solution: Exchanging rooks gives White an easily winning endgame as he has two connected passed
pawns, and can block both of Black's pawns from the same diagonal - something we'll talk about later.
40.Ra2! Rxa2
40...Re3 41.a6 Re8 42.a7 is equally hopeless as Black would have to give up the rook for the 'a' pawn.
41.Bxa2 Kf6 42.a6 Be3 43.Kc6 1-0

30
 Show in Quiz Mode

Disconnected passed pawns

As there is an increasing number of passed pawns - potentially for both sides, it becomes more
important for a bishop to be as effective as possible. That means that the bishop has to find a single
diagonal from which it can stop both of opponent’s passed pawns. For a good illustration - check the
position after 60th move in Kotov - Botvinnik.
Kotov, Alexander - Botvinnik, Mikhail
Ch URS, 1955

Black's turn 25...Be4! Black's advantage is obvious: his bishop is much better than White's as
Botvinnik wisely constrained opponent's bishop by putting pawns on 'b6' and 'f6'. 26.Qd2 Qg4 Black
exerts pressure on 'g2'; his own pawns on f6 and g7 make similar ideas by White impossible. 27.h3
Qg6 28.Qf2 h5 29.Kh2 a5

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In these positions, it is important for the stronger side to have their pawns on the squares of the same
colour as the opponent's bishop to limit its scope. 30.Ba3 b5 31.Bc5 b4 32.Rcc1 Rdc8 33.Bd4 Bc2
34.Rd2 Be4 35.Rdd1 Qf5 36.Qe2 Qg6 37.Qf2 a4!? 38.Rxc8+ Rxc8 39.bxa4 Qe8 40.Rd2 Qxa4
41.Qh4

41...Rc2 Of course, trading rooks relieves White's defensive task, but there was no other way to win the
'a2' pawn. 42.Rxc2 Qxc2 43.Qg3 Qxa2 44.Bxf6

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44...Qxg2+! 45.Qxg2 Bxg2 46.Bd4 Be4 Black won a pawn, but the position is very likely drawn. With
great ingenuity Botvinnik confuses his opponent and pulls out a study-like win. 47.Kg3 Kf7 48.h4 g6
49.Kf2 Ke6 50.Ke2 Kf5 51.Kd2 Kg4

52.Bf6 White is defending according to the general principle: the king should block the passed pawn,
while the bishop is defending his own pawns on the other flank. But he has to be very careful as both
'h4' and 'e3' require protection, and the 'b' pawn can be used to deflect one of defenders. 52...Kg3
53.Be7 Kh3 54.Bf6 Kg4 55.Be7 Bf5! The bishop is being transferred to 'e6'. Notice that in the
middlegame it would have been a passive square for it, but in the endgame the bishop is going to be
very useful on the 'a2-g8' diagonal. 56.Bf6 Kf3 57.Be7 b3 58.Kc3 Be6 59.Bc5?

33
The position is so remarkable and well-known that I chose it for the cover for the entire publication!
59.Kxb3 d4+ 60.Kc2 dxe3 61.Kd1 Kf2 62.Bc5 Bb3+ 63.Kc1 Kf3 64.Kb2 Bd1 65.Kc1 Ba4 66.Bd6
Kg4 67.Be7 Kxf4-+59.Kd2! b2 60.Kc2 Kxe3 61.Kxb2 Kxf4 62.Kc3= is given by Botvinnik as the
last chance to save the game.
59...g5!! This must have come to Kotov as shock. 60.fxg5
60.hxg5 loses very quickly: 60...h4 61.f5 Bxf5 62.Kxb3 h3 63.Bd6 Kxe3-+
60...d4+! The 'b' pawn must be saved. Material balance does not matter much as Black gets two distant
passers, 'b' and 'h' pawns. White gets two passers too, but the bishop on 'e6' is acting according to the
principle of one diagonal! It stops both White pawns and defends his own 'b3' pawn, along the a2-g8
diagonal. If White's pawn was on a4 instead of d4, he would not lose. 61.exd4 Kg3 This is why Black
played 'g6-g5' - now the 'h4' pawn cannot be protected by the bishop from e7. 62.Ba3 Kxh4 63.Kd3
Kxg5 64.Ke4

34
64...h4 With two passed pawns - Black wins easily. 65.Kf3 Bd5+ Black resigned since after 66. Kf2
Kf4 the black king marches to c2. Modern computer engines have a hard time correctly understanding
the position and finding Botvinnik's moves. A lot of his play is very conceptual and requires calculation
deeper than 10 moves ahead, but can be described verbally by a human. Botvinnik aimed for having 2
distant passed pawns that his opponent's bishop could not block from the same diagonal. At the same
time he was not concerned about giving opponent passed pawns - as long as his own bishop could stay
on the same diagonal while guarding them. 0-1
Here is another example that illustrates the power of two passed pawns:
Nakamura, Hikaru - Carlsen, Magnus
Tal Memorial 2011, 2011.11.25

35
There is a decision to be made for Black - whether to keep rooks on the board, or to exchange them.
32...Rxe1+
An alternative was to keep rooks on with 32...Be2 With rooks on the board Black can slowly improve
his position, while the white rook is tied up to the defence of the first rank. This was a more practical
decision.
33.Bxe1 The world's highest rated chess player almost voluntarily exchanged rooks. The game was
commented on live by top grandmasters Alexander Grischuk and Emil Sutovsky, and Emil was
particularly surprised by Magnus' decision and by how fast he committed to it. 33...Be2

Now the only chance White has to get his king out of the cage is to play 'f4' giving up a pawn. 34.f4

36
Not waiting for Black to activate his king, Nakamura gives up the pawn immediately. Otherwise Black
has a simple plan of bringing his king to 'c2'. 34...gxf3 35.Bf2 Forcing Black to advance the pawns to
light squares gives White a chance to setup a blockade. 35...d3 36.Be1 Kg7 37.Kf2 Kf6 38.Ke3

38...Kf5 Black threatens to attack the h2 pawn. 39.h3 h5 40.Bd2 Bf1

41.Be1 Keeping the 'h' pawn alive was not going to save White as Carlsen would then have used his
doubled pawn to create another passer.
41.h4 Kg4 42.Be1 f5 43.Bf2 Be2 44.Be1 Kh3 45.Kf2 f4 46.gxf4 Kxh4 47.Ke3+ Kg4 48.Ke4 Black
was threatening to advance the 'h' pawn. 48...d2 49.Bxd2 f2-+
41...Bxh3 42.Kxd3

37
42.Kxf3 Bg4+ 43.Ke3 Be2 44.Bf2 Kg4 45.Be1 f5 46.Bf2 f4+ 47.gxf4 h4 48.Be1 h3 49.Kf2 Kxf4
50.Kg1 Ke3-+ The black pawns are too far apart for White to able to control them.
42...Bf1+ 43.Ke3

A pair of pawns has been exchanged, but it is all following Carlsen's plan for creating two passed
pawns on the kingside. 43...Kg4 44.Kf2 Carlsen now transfers the bishop to a more active square.
44...Bb5 45.Bc3 Bc6 46.Be5 b5 It is important to open the second front. 47.Bb8 a6 48.Bc7 f5 49.b3
Bd5 White's queenside pawns are targets for Black because White is completely tied up on the
kingside. 50.Bd6

50...f4 51.gxf4 h4 52.f5 Kxf5 53.Ke3 Kg4 54.Kf2 h3 55.Ke3 Be4

38
56.Kf2
Alternative was 56.a4 Bc2 57.axb5 axb5 58.b4 Bg6 with Black following the same plan as in the game.
56...Bb1 57.a3 Ba2 58.b4

58...Bf7 This is a great illustration of the principle of two weaknesses - White has to guard the kingside
pawns with both bishop and king, unable to defend 'a3'. The pawns are advanced far enough so the
bishop can't contain them alone. Black on the other hand can defend both f3 and h3 pawns with his
bishop from 'g4'. In anticipation of Bf7-h5-g4, and the transfer of the black king to b2 - White resigned.
0-1
The following example weaves several themes together. It also shows that even online games can be

39
very rewarding, if both players put serious effort into playing. Deep analysis of such games is
beneficial.
TonAmour - UBO-SATLAH
ICC 10 30, 2002.05.13

My opponent in this game was Belgian IM Marc Dutreeuw. Here I made a costly the mistake of not
evaluating the bishop endgame properly and it took a lot of work and luck to save the game. 42.Nxb4?
This natural looking capture just loses.
Correct was 42.Bxb4!? Bxb4 43.Nxb4 Bf1 44.Nxc6 Bxg2 45.b4 Bf1 46.Kc3 and White's OK here.
42...Bxb4! 43.Bxb4 It is Black's turn and he wants to attack all the weak pawns that White has on the
kingside. The game shows that even in lost positions, one can still create counter chances. 43...Bf1
44.h4 White has no way of protecting the pawns, so he at least tries to exchange some of them or make
Black's pawn structure worse. 44...Bxg2
Also winning was 44...gxh4 45.Be7 (45.d5!? cxd5 46.Be7 Bxg2 47.Bxh4 Bxf3 48.b4 Kf5-+)
45...Bxg2 46.Bxh4 Bxf3-+
45.hxg5

40
45...h4? Black assumed that this pawn would be really hard to stop, but this gives me a chance to stir
up some really interesting complications.
45...Bxf3! wins easily
46.Bd6! The bishop can only stop the 'h' pawn by capturing on 'f4'. But it was important to attack it
from an active square.
46.Bd2? Kxg5-+ - compare to 46.Bd6 Kxg5 47. Be7+ : there is no such check here
46...Kf5! White has to distract the black king from defending f4 pawn by pushing the 'g' pawn.
However if he pushes the pawn immediately, the black king does not have to move, as the bishop from
f3 would be able to move to d5 and cover up g8. White's next move sacrifices the pawn and takes the
square away from the bishop.
46...Kxg5 47.Be7+ Kh5 48.Bd6 Bxf3 49.Bxf4 with similar position as in the game, but my 'd' pawn is
alive 49...Kg4 50.Bc7 Kh3 51.Kc3 Kg2 52.Kc4 h3 53.Kc5 h2 54.Bxh2 Kxh2 55.b4 with an
elementary draw46...h3? 47.Bxf4= Allows Black to stop the pawn.
47.d5!! A mysterious move, the purpose of which is to deprive the black bishop of an important square.
47.Bxf4?? Kxf4 48.g6 Bxf3 49.g7 (49.d5 Bxd5-+) 49...Bd5-+47.g6 Bxf3 48.g7 Bd5-+

41
The black bishop is blocking the 'g' pawn and Black's 'h' pawn is unstoppable.
47...Bxf3? This probably lets the win out.
As analysis shows - still winning was 47...cxd5! 48.g6 (48.Bxf4?? Kxf4 49.g6 Bh3) 48...Kxg6 49.Bxf4
Bxf3 50.Kc3 Kf5 51.Bc7 Ke4 52.Kd2 Bg4 53.b4 h3 (Black has to be careful though 53...Bd7? 54.Ke2
d4 55.Bd8 d3+ 56.Kf2 h3 57.Bg5 Kd4 58.Bd2 Kc4 59.Kg3 Kb3 60.b5=) 54.b5 Kf3 55.b6 Bc8-+
From b7 the bishop will both stop the white pawn and defend his own pawn on d5.
48.Bxf4!

48...Bxd5

42
Best chance was 48...Kxf4! 49.d6 Bg4 50.g6 h3 51.g7 h2 52.g8=Q h1=Q 53.Qg7µ White has good
chances for a draw, but in the game it was much easier for him to achieve it.
49.Bd6 Kxg5 50.Kc3 White's goal is to give up the bishop for the 'h' pawn and exchange the 'b' pawn
for the 'c' pawn. 50...Kg4

51.Kb4!
It is still not too late to go wrong and let the black bishop get on the diagonal from which it can defend
the 'c' pawn and block the 'b' pawn: 51.b4? Kf3 52.Kd4 Bb3 53.Kc5 Ba4-+

51...Bf7

43
Other moves also lead to a draw: 51...Kf3 52.Kc5 h3 53.b4 Kg2 54.b5=
52.Kc5 Be8 53.Be5 Kf5 54.Kd6 Ke4 55.Bh2 Kd4
Also possible was 55...Kf3 56.Ke7 Bg6 57.Kd6 Kg2 58.Be5 Be4 59.b4 h3 60.Kc5 h2 61.Bxh2 Kxh2
62.b5 with a draw.

56.Be5+ Kd3 57.Ke7 Bh5 58.Kd6 Bf3

59.Kc5 White will exchange the 'c6' pawn by playing b4-b5, and give up the bishop for the 'h' pawn.
Black won't have enough material to win, so we agreed to a draw. 1/2-1/2

Test yourself
Khalifman, Alexander - Donchenko, Anatoly G
Moscow Tal mem, 1992

44
Black's turn 62...Kf4?

White to move

Show/Hide Solution

Solution: he must exploit opponent's inaccuracy and take advantage of the pressure he built up on both
flanks.
62...Be7 had allowed to hold the fortress. 63.Kb5 Bf8 64.Kc6 Be7 65.Kd5 Kf6!=

45
63.h6! gxh6 64.g7 Bxg7 65.Kxb4 Kxe4 66.Kc4 Kf5 67.a4

The power of White's position is in having two connected passed pawns, while the white bishop holds
both black pawns along the 'd1-h5' diagonal. 67...Ke6 68.a5 Kd6 69.b4 e4 70.b5 h5 71.Bxh5 Kc7
72.b6+ Kb7 73.Kb5 Bd4 74.a6+ Kb8 75.Be8

46
1-0

Kiviharju - Ehrnrooth
Finnland, 1982

Black to move

Show/Hide Solution

47
Solution: he must initiate a breakthrough on the queenside to create a second passed pawn.1...b5
2.axb5
2.Bxb5 Kxb3-+ would give Black a passed 'c' pawn.
2...f3+! It is essential to open up the bishop to control 'b8' square, so that White does not get
counterplay by advancing his own pawn. Material considerations are less important than strategic
values!
2...a4? 3.Kf3 a3 4.b6 a2 5.b7 a1=Q 6.b8=Q+=
3.Kxf3 a4 4.Bd3 Kxb3 White resigned because he will have to give up the bishop for 'a' pawn. 0-1

Voitsekhovsky, Stanislav - Yevseev, Denis

Tula, 1999

White to move

Show/Hide Solution

Solution: it is imperative to advance the pawn as far as possible. 58.a5!

58.Kxf5 Be1 59.Kf6 Bc3+ gives Black a draw.
58...Bf2 59.Kxf5 h4 60.Kf6 Bd4+ 61.Kf7 h3 62.a6

48
The black bishop will now never be able to leave the 'a7-g1' diagonal and White can simply advance
his own 'f' pawn. 62...h2 63.Bc6 Be3 64.f5 Kg5 65.Ke6 Kh6 66.f6 Kh7 67.Kf7 Bd4 68.Ke8

1-0

Romanishin, Oleg - Anand, Viswanathan

New York (match), 1994

49
Black to move

Show/Hide Solution

Solution: 31...c3! 32.bxc3 b3!

32...bxc3 is weaker because the 'c' pawn is easier for White to contain.
33.Bd3 Bxc3 34.Kg2 f5 35.Kf3 Bb4 36.Bc4 b2

50
Like in the Voitsekhovsky game, the white bishop is completely tied down to prevent the 'b' pawn from
promotion. 37.Ba2 Bxd6 38.Ke3 Kg7 39.Bb1 Kh6 40.Kf3

White resigned since it became clear that Black wins by advancing the king to eventually win the 'h3'
pawn. 0-1

Topalov, Veselin - Shirov, Alexei

Linares, 1998.03.04

51
Black to move

Show/Hide Solution

Solution: Alexei Shirov cam up with an amazing move, which initially does not seem to make any
sense. 47...Bh3!! Black's king needs to support the 'd' and 'a' pawns as soon as possible and the bishop
on 'f5' was on its way. By going to h3, Black attacks the 'g2' pawn, so he wins a tempo. He is not afraid
to lose the bishop, because this bishop would not help him to advance the queenside pawns anyways.
48.gxh3 Kf5 49.Kf2 Ke4 50.Bxf6 d4

51.Be7 Kd3 52.Bc5 Kc4 53.Be7 Kb3 The king comes to c2 to support the 'd' pawn's advance. 0-1

Dao Thien Hai - Freijedo Alvarez, Salvador

Oviedo rapid, 1993

52
White to move

Show/Hide Solution

Solution: 39.Bxf7! White wins the crucial pawn since now he will have a decisive 3 vs. 1 advantage on
the kingside. 39...g5
39...Kxf7 40.c7+-
40.a4 Bb6 41.Bc4 Kd6 42.Bb5 Ke5 43.g3 Kf5 44.Kg2 Bc7 45.Kf3 Bb6 46.Bd3+ Ke6 47.h4 gxh4
48.gxh4

53
48...Kf6 49.Kg3 Bc7+ 50.Kg4 Bd6 51.h5 Bc7 52.h6 Bd6 53.h7

1-0

Pezelj, Novak - Martic, Ivan

SRB-chT Cup 50th, 2007.05.22

54
White to move

Show/Hide Solution

Solution: 40.Bxg5 By eliminating Black's only counter play with h5-h4, White wins in the most
comfortable way. The game could have continued:
40.Bxg5 Kxg5 41.b7 Bxb7+ 42.Kxb7+-
1-0

55
 Show in Quiz Mode

Positions with Rooks on the Board

The following games have rooks on the board in the beginning. With rooks it is often hard to give a
definitive evaluation of a position, one can just talk about winning or drawing chances. The exchange
of rooks is never entirely off the table, so it is very important to correctly evaluate the simplified pure
ending with bishops of opposite colours, in order to make a right decision at the critical moment.
Berry, Jonathan - Yoos, Jack
B.C. championship, 2000.04.23

42...Bc6 White's up two pawns, so he is probably winning. 43.Bd8! Bxe4 44.Bxc7 Bc6 45.g5 White
intends to play Bc7-d8-f6, and Rh4, creating mating threats. Black's response seems to be forced...
45...f5? But is it?
45...Re1+!? 46.Kh2 Re2! 47.Rg4 Kf8 was certainly better. White would be tied up to the defence of g2,
and Black would have good drawing chances.
46.gxf6+ Kxf6 47.Rf4+ Kg7 48.Bb6 Re2 49.Rf2!

56
Note that White would not have this option if Black had activated the rook on move 45. Also now that
the doubled 'g5' pawn is traded off, the endgame without rooks is easier to win for White. 49...Re1+
Both players assessed the position without rooks as winning for White. 50.Kh2 Be4 51.Bd4+ Kg8
52.Kg3 Bd3 53.Kh4 Re7 54.Kg5

54...Rf7 Otherwise Rf2-f6xg6 was going to be unpleasant. 55.Rxf7 Kxf7 56.g4

57
56...Bc2 57.h4 Bd3 58.h5 gxh5 59.gxh5 Ke6 60.h6 Bh7 61.c4 Bd3
61...Kf7 62.b5 Bd3 (62...Kg8 63.c5 Be4 64.c6+-) 63.c5 Kg8 64.c6+-
62.c5 Kf7

Black seems to have blocked everything. Question: how can White initiate a breakthrough?

Show/Hide Solution

Answer: 63.b5! axb5

58
63...Be4 64.c6!+-
64.c6! bxc6 65.a6 c5 66.a7
Black resigned because at least one of the pawns becomes a queen: 66.a7 Be4 67.h7+-

1-0

Topalov, Veselin - Anand, Viswanathan

World Chess Championship, 2010.05.04

59
White's turn 32.Bd2 Black has no hope of saving the 'f4' pawn, but he takes an opportunity to exchange
rooks, greatly increasing his drawing chances. 32...Rd8 33.Bxf4 Rxd6 34.exd6

The resulting endgame became the center of attention of thousands of spectators who tried to determine
if White can win it. Among them was Garry Kasparov. Their conclusion was that the 'd' pawn requires
constant attention, and White can target Black's kingside pawns with the king, but nonetheless Black
can hold. 34...Kd7 In the initial setup - black king blocks the 'd' pawn, while the bishop stays on the b1-
h7 diagonal. This is a reasonable idea, but Black has to be flexible and switch the roles of pieces if
White tries to attack 'h7' pawn - the main current weakness in Black's position. 35.Ke3 Bc2 36.Kd4
Ke8 37.Ke5 Kf7 38.Be3

38...Ba4 The bishop is ready to cover 'd7'. 39.Kf4 Bb5 40.Bc5 Kf6 41.Bd4+ Kf7 42.Kg5 Bc6 43.Kh6

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Kg8

44.h5 White has no other way of making progress. 44...Be8 45.Kg5 Kf7 46.Kh6 Kg8 47.Bc5 gxh5!?
48.Kg5 Kg7 49.Bd4+ Kf7 50.Be5 h4 51.Kxh4

51...Kg6 With the exchange 'g' and 'h' of pawns - the situation changed. The kingside has some open
diagonals, and White has more freedom to penetrate with his king, but it is also easier for Black to
defend because 'h7' can be guarded with the bishop from b1-h7 diagonal. To setup the fortress Black
only had to switch the roles of pieces, but all of a sudden he made a step in the wrong direction. 52.Kg4
Bb5 53.Kf4 Kf7 54.Kg5

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54...Bc6?? After a long and skillful defence, Anand makes a big blunder. Since the bishop can't come
to e4, by attacking h7 immediately - White forces Black pieces to be uncoordinated:
54...Ke8! 55.Kh6 Bd3 was a relatively easy way to maintain balance.
55.Kh6! Kg8 56.g4 Here Anand resigned, not waiting for Topalov to demonstrate his winning plan.
This bishop endgame is a good illustration of thinking in schemes. Black had to keep track of the
functions of each of his pieces - in the final position the king had to block the pawn 'd', and the bishop -
defend the 'h7' pawn. Because they reversed the roles after Anand's mistake, White had an option of
breaking through to the 'd' pawn and winning a piece. The game could have continued (with White
exploiting multiple zugzwangs):
56.g4 Be8 57.g5 Bc6 58.Bg7! Be8 59.f4 Bc6 60.g6 hxg6 61.Kxg6 Be8+ 62.Kf6 Bc6

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63.Bh6 followed by Ke7 and White wins
1-0

Umanskaya, Irina - Lesiege, Alexandre

Cappelle-la-Grande op, 2000.02.20

22.Rhd1 c5
The greedy 22...Rxc4? loses a piece after 23.Re1! Kf7 24.Bd2 Ra4 25.Ree8+-
23.h4 h6 24.R1d3 g5 25.hxg5 hxg5 26.Bd2 b6 27.Re3 Rxe3 28.Bxe3

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With only one pair of rooks left, the pin along the 8th rank is not so dangerous. The 'c4' pawn is weak,
however, and later it can be a good target for Black's bishop. 28...Kg6 29.Kd2 Bb7 30.Rxa8 Bxa8
31.f4 g4

32.Bf2
32.f5+!? Kxf5 33.Bf4 deserved attention; then the bishop would be able to protect g3 from the entire
'b8-h2' diagonal. 33...Ke4 34.Ke2 Bb7 35.Bb8 Ba6 (White should also be able to hold after 35...a5
36.Bc7 Ba6 37.Bxb6 Bxc4+ 38.Kf2) 36.Bxa7 Bxc4+ 37.Kf2 Bxa2 38.Bxb6=
32...Kf5 33.Ke3 Bg2 34.a3 Bf1 35.Be1 Bxc4 Now White is down a pawn and the white pawns on g3
and a3 are very weak. 36.Bf2 Ke6 37.Ke4 f5+ 38.Ke3 Kd5 39.Kd2

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39...Bf1 The black king threatens to penetrate both to a3 and to g3. The white king cannot keep the
opposition because the black bishop controls crucial squares. Thus White's fortress collapses before it
was built. 40.Ke3
40.Kc2 Ke4 41.Kd2 Kf3 42.Be1 c4 43.Kd1 Bd3 44.Kd2 Be2

Zugzwang! 45.Kc2 Ke3 46.Kc1 Bf3 47.Kc2 Ke2-+

40...Kc4 41.Kd2 Kb3 42.Be3 Kxa3

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43.Kc2 Bc4 44.Bd2 Ka4 45.Kb2 Kb5 46.Be3 Kc6 47.Kc2 Kd5 48.Bd2 Ke4 49.Kc1 Kf3 50.Be1
Ke2 0-1
Now we have some sense of what to expect from pure endings with bishops of opposite colours. With
rooks remaining on the board during the entire game, things are different. In «Basic Chess Endings»
Reuben Fine noticed that with the presence of rooks, first of all, an attack against the enemy’s king is
possible; secondly, it facilitates attacking the enemy’s weak pawns. Several previous examples
illustrate his point, but is there anything else that is different? In fact, for the stronger side it is not
necessary to be attacking the king directly. More active and better coordinated pieces can promise
serious winning chances even if the opponent’s pawn structure is undamaged and provides relatively
good shelter for the king. We have already seen how Botvinnik against Kotov managed to win a pawn
by just using better placement of his heavy pieces.
To review - the principles we talked about before - are still relevant:
1) The strength of connected pawns
2) Distant and disconnected passed pawns
3) Rule of one diagonal
With the addition of rooks - we also need to pay increasing attention to:
4) Pawn weaknesses
5) Vulnerable king
Shariyazdanov, Andrey - Ruck, Robert
European U-20 Championship, 1996

66
White has several very important advantages: 1) his pieces are much more active 2) as a result of this -
Black's a7 and f7 pawns can become targets 3) White has a kingside pawn majority that he can
advance, while Black's queenside majority is useless. Examples of winning such positions can be found
in the games of Keres, Boleslavsky and others. For young modern Grandmasters this has become just a
part of their technique. 30...Bf8 31.Kf3 Ba3
It was worth trying 31...h5!? fighting against g4, although then White could play h3, and continue with
same plan as in the game. Still, the reduction of material would have benefited black.
32.g4 Kg7 33.Rd3 Threatening Ba4 with a double attack. 33...Bc5 34.Ke4 Kf8 35.f5 gxf5+ 36.gxf5
White is threatening to play f5-f6, followed by Rd7, and Black can no longer play Re7. 36...f6

67
36...Bb4 37.f6 Bc5 38.Rd7+-
37.Be6 This move is typical for positions with rooks + bishops of opposite colours: the bishop
'physically' limits the range of opponent's rook. 37...fxe5 38.Kxe5 Kg7 39.f6+ Kg6 40.Rg3+

40...Kh5 Now the black king may be in danger. Also, White threatens to promote his 'f' pawn 41.f7 Rf8
42.a4 a6 43.Rg8 Kh6 44.Kd5 a5 45.Kc6 Kh5 46.Kd7 Kh6 47.h4 Bb4

48.h5! Kxh5
48...Bc5 49.Rxf8 Bxf8 50.Ke8 Kg7 51.h6+!+- This is the idea behind advancing the 'h' pawn.
49.Rxf8 Bxf8 50.Ke8 Bc5

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51.f8=Q Bxf8 52.Kxf8+- White won the piece, and later - the game. 52...Kg5 53.Ke7 h5 54.Kd6 Kf6
55.Bd5 h4 56.Kc6 Ke5 57.Bh1 1-0

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Targeting a Weak Pawn

Jiganchine, Roman - Seel, Christian

World Youth U-18, 2000.10.13

True, there are still rooks on the board, but it seems to me that with precise play from both sides, this
endgame is objectively drawn. Due to limited material, it is hard for Black to create a passed pawn.
26.f3?! By this stage in the game I was quite low on time. Some of the moves that I played in this
endgame before move 40 are typical "time trouble" moves - the ones that don't have any particular goal
and are just made for the sake of making a move and not dropping material.
Better was 26.Rg1!? with the idea of later playing g2-g3.26.Rd1? would drop a pawn after 26...Rc8+
27.Kb2 Bxg2
26...f6 27.Rd1 Kf7 28.Kb2
28.h4!?
28...g5 29.Be3 b6 30.Rd2 Kg6 31.Bd4 h5 32.Bc3 h4

70
33.g3
33.h3!? was suggested by the Canadian team's captain Irwin Lipnowski; this was probably a better
chance. Nonetheless, I don't think that with my pawns on the dark squares I should necessarily lose; the
decisive mistake must have been made somewhere later.
33...h3 34.Rd4 Rd7 35.f4

35...a5?! Black tries to restrict the white bishop, but this also voluntarily weakens his 'b6' pawn. What's
worse though is that this move ignores White's attempt at simplification.
It was better to continue the expansion on the kingside with 35...g4!?

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36.fxg5 fxg5 37.Rd2?
37.Bd2! was sufficient for a draw: 37...Kf5 (37...Kh5 38.g4+ Kh4?? 39.Be1#) 38.g4+ Kg6 39.Rd3!
Be6 40.Rxd7 Bxd7 41.Be3 b5 42.Bb6 a4 43.Kc3 Bxg4

44.Bc7= White easily holds this typical endgame with bishops of opposite colors since he has blockade
on dark squares. Getting rid of the 'g' pawn only worked to his advantage since now 'h2' is easier to
protect. This also illustrates why we first spent time on studying bishop endgames without rooks -
understanding more basic positions allows to better evaluate simplifications in seemingly
overwhelming tactical positions.
37...Kf5 38.Rd4 Ke6

72
39.Rd2?! Another waiting move in time trouble.
It was better to immediately attack the 'g' pawn: 39.Bd2!? g4!? 40.Be3 (40.Rxg4?? Bf3-+) 40...Rg7
41.Kc3 Bf3 42.Rd8 and White's pieces are active enough to hold the game.
39...Rf7 40.Re2+ Kd6 41.Be5+

It is becoming increasingly difficult for White to coordinate his pieces: 41.Bd2? Bc4! 42.Re1 Rf2
43.Kc3

43...Rxh2-+
41...Kc5 42.Rd2 Rf3 43.Rc2+ Kb5

73
44.Rc3 Rf2+ 45.Rc2 Rf5 46.Bd4 Bf3 47.Rc3
I think by this point my position has deteriorated too much and cannot be saved: 47.Rf2 g4 48.Be3 Rd5
49.Bf4 (49.Kc2 Be4+ (49...Rd1?? 50.Rxf3) 50.Kb2 Rd3 51.Bf4 Ka4-+ suddenly Black wins the 'a'
pawn) 49...Rd1 50.Rd2 Rh1 51.Be3

51...Bg2 This position illustrates Black's major winning plan in this endgame; I knew about this idea of
bringing the rook to h1 and blocking the 2nd rank with the bishop and yet could do nothing about it.
52.Rd6 Rxh2-+
47...Bd1 48.Rd3 Rf1 49.Be3
Last chance to protect 'h2' with the bishop required playing 49.g4!?³
49...g4 50.Rd5+ Kc6 51.Rd2 Re1 52.Bd4 Rh1 53.Rf2 Bf3-+

74
54.Kc3 b5 55.Be5 Bg2 56.Rf4 Bf3 57.Kd4 Rxh2

58.Rf6+ Kd7 It is interesting that Black won not because of his extra pawn on the queenside, but rather
because he created a weakness on 'h2', even though the initial pawn structure on the kingside had been
symmetric. 0-1

Bologan, Viktor - Gurevich, Mikhail

Gurevich-Bologan Match, 2000.09.08

75
White has an advantage due to his superior pawn structure; his bishop also has more potential - if it gets
transferred to the 'a2-g8' diagonal. 23...Rc8 24.Ra4 Qb6 25.b3 Qc6 26.Rc1 Qc3 27.Qxc3 Rxc3 28.Bf1
Bh6 29.Rca1 Rxc2 30.Bc4 Bd2 31.Rxa7

31...Rf8 Black maintained material balance despite losing the weak 'a7' pawn, but he has to remain
passive as White has built up the pressure against 'f7'. 32.Bd5 Bb4 33.R1a2 Rxa2 34.Rxa2 Bc5

76
35.Kf1 Kg7 36.Ke2 f5 37.f3 Kf6 38.Kd3 Rb8 39.h4 h6 40.g4 fxg4 41.fxg4

41...g5?? This move is a mistake because it makes it impossible in the long run to protect the pawn on
'h6' with the bishop along the c1-h6 diagonal. After any neutral waiting move Black would have
retained excellent drawing chances. 42.h5! Of course, White avoids exchanges of pawns and
emphasizes Black's backward pawn as a weakness. 42...Ke7 43.Ra8! Bologan correctly judged that
even the pure bishop endgame gives him great winning chances here because Black would have to
defend on two fronts - against the white 'b' pawn advancing and against the threat of the white king
marching to win the 'h6' pawn. 43...Rxa8 44.Bxa8

77
44...d5 The black pawn wasn't going anywhere and Gurevich gives it up to increase the scope of his
bishop and king. If Black tries to hold on to his material, then White would exchange the 'b' pawn for
the 'd' pawn and march with the king to g7.
44...Ke6 45.Kc4 Bf2 46.Bd5+ Ke7 47.Bg8 Bb6 48.b4 Bf2 49.Kd5 Kd7 50.b5 Kc7 51.Bh7 Kb6
52.Kxd6 Kxb5 53.Ke6 Kc6 54.Kf7 Kd7

55.Kg7 White is winning; the weakness of the 'h6' pawn mirrors the problems that White had with the
'a3' pawn in Nakamura-Carlsen.
45.exd5 e4+ Black desperately gives up all of his material, but now White will simply win by
advancing his two queenside pawns. 46.Kxe4 Kf6 47.Bb7 Bd6 48.Kd4 Ba3 49.Bc8 Bd6 50.Bf5 Ba3

78
51.Be6 Bd6 52.Kc4

52...Ke7 53.b4 Bg3 54.Kc5 Bd6+ 55.Kb5 Kd8 56.Kc4 Ke7 57.b5 Be5 58.Kc5 Bd6+ 59.Kc6 Bf4
60.b6 Be5 61.Kb7 Kd8

62.Ka8 The white pawn will cost Black a bishop. There never really was any hope of blockade,
because 'h6' remained another potential target throughout the endgame. 1-0

Chiburdanidze, Maia - Hoffmann, Michael

It, 1995

79
White has a potential advantage, as the black bishop is in a cage of white and black pawns. In the game
Black chose an erroneous plan of freeing up the bishop with 'g6-g5', significantly weakening his pawn
structure while doing little to actually activate the bishop. 31.Kg2
Also possible was 31.Kf1!? planning Kf1-e2-d3, then 31...Bf6 32.Ke2 Bh4²
31...Bf6 32.Kg3 h6?! It was better to activate the bishop through play on the queenside:
32...a4!? 33.Rc2!? (33.a3? c2) 33...a3 34.Kf3 Kd7 35.Ke2 Bd8 36.Kd3 Ba5 37.f3 Rb8 38.Bb3=
33.Bb3 g5 34.Bc2 Ke6 35.Rb1

80
35...gxf4+? Simply expanding on the kingside was unnecessary, but not fatal. However this exchange
ruins Black's pawn structure without a clear benefit. It was still not too late to play
35...Bd8 36.Rb7 Bc7=
36.Kxf4 Notice how many 'pawn islands' Black has. White's pawns in the center are forming one chain
and are placed on dark squares, restricting Black's bishop. 36...Bg5+ 37.Kf3 Bd8 38.Rb5 d5 39.Ke2
Rc4 40.Kd3 a4 41.Rb8 Be7

42.Rh8 All 5 Black's weak pawns start to fall down like leaves from a tree in fall. 42...f4 43.Rxh6+ Bf6
44.Rh7 a3 45.Bb3 c2 46.Bxc2 Rb4 47.Bb3 f3 48.Ra7

Black is about to lose a third pawn, so he resigned. 1-0

81
 Kasparov, Garry - Karpov, Anatoly
World Championship Match, 1986.08.11

Black has a significant advantage due to better pawn structure on the kingside. 29.Rd1 Rd6 30.Rd3 h5
31.Kf1 Rd7 32.Kg2 Bc5 33.Kf1 h4 34.Bc4 Re7 35.Rf3 Bd6 36.Kg2 Rc7 37.Bb3 f5 38.Rd3 Bc5
39.Rc3 Kf6 40.Rc4 g5 41.Rc2 Ke5

42.Bc4 The game was adjourned and Kasparov's team made a careful analysis of the position - to
determine that passive defence here is not sufficient. In such positions - thinking in terms of plans is
best. If White was to stick to a passive defence, with bishop on b5, and rook on e2, Black's plan would
have been to put the king on 'f4', and rook on 'c3' - followed by g5-g4. Instead - White would have to

82
create tactical counter chances, without guarantee of success. Kasparov was surprised to learn that
Karpov offered a draw without trying to win - a rare decision for the 12th World Champion who was
known for exploiting even the smallest winning chances in endgames. 1/2-1/2

83
Endgame Skill as a Decisive Factor

Since in position with rooks there are two pieces on the board for each side - there is more room to
outplay your opponent, especially if you have a better sense of how to place your pieces.
Alexander, Conel Hugh - Smyslov, Vassily
London, 1954

21.g3 White's dark squares are a bit weak on the kingside, so he decides to spend a tempo on 'fixing the
holes'. Even though Black is slightly better, draw seems to be the only possible result here.
21.Re1 Bf2 must have felt unpleasant for White.
21...Rb8!? 22.b3 Re8 23.Bb5 Re6 24.Rd1 c6

84
25.f5? This active move turns out to be a serious mistake. White occupies the 'e' file, but as there are no
invasion squares, the file has little importance. However, the pawn on 'f5' is a weakness, and limits
White's own bishop. 25...Rd6 26.Bd3 Kf8 27.Kg2 Bb4 28.Rf1 Ke7 29.Rf2 Rd8 30.Kf3 Kd6

31.Re2 Bc3 32.Kf4 Rb8 33.h4 a5

85
34.Kg4? White aims to create counterplay on the kingside, but he instead achieves nothing, while
putting his king into a very awkward position.
34.a4! was more resilient.
34...c5 35.Kh5 a4 36.g4 Be5

37.g5? This only helps Black to surround the white king - either on the newly opened 'h' file, or along
the 4th rank. 37...hxg5 38.hxg5 Rb4 39.Re3 Rf4

86
40.c4? Bd4 41.Rg3 a3

Black resigned as his pieces are very disorganized, the king is trapped on h5, and the 'a2' pawn is
another weakness that is increasingly difficult to defend. This game shows that superior technique in
simple positions can bring a lot of extra points to a player. My analysis shows that the resignation was
fully justified as Black combines threats against two weaknesses - pawn on 'a2' and king on 'h5', and
getting to either one of them is sufficient to win.
41...a3 42.Rg2 preventing 42... Rf2 42...Bf2 43.Rh2 White has to defend his king against checkmate
after Rh4. 43...d4 44.g6 f6 45.Rh3 Be1

87
White is essentially running out of moves as his pieces are stalemated here. 46.Bb1 Ke5 47.Rh2 Bg3
48.Rh1 (48.Re2+ Kd6-+) 48...d3! 49.Bxd3 Rd4 50.Bf1 Kf4 Rd4-d8-h8 now is suddenly another threat.
51.Be2 Rd2 52.Rf1+ Ke3 53.Bf3 Rxa2 54.Kg4 Be5-+
0-1
The next game is instructive due to how Kramnik used his bishop to constrain opponent's rook:
Kramnik, Vladimir - Radjabov, Teimour
World Championship Candidates, 2011.05.09

This game was deciding the fate of the quarterfinal in the world championship candidates match, and

88
Kramnik had to win this blitz game to equalize the score. With an extra pawn in the endgame - it
seemed like he had decent chances. 28...Rd2 29.Rf4+ Ke7 30.a4 Rd4 31.Rf3 Rd6 32.Rf4 Rf6 33.Re4+
Re6 34.Rg4 Of course the exchange of rooks would make a draw almost inevitable. 34...g6 35.Kg2 h5
36.Rc4 Kf6 37.Rf4+ Kg7 38.Rc4 Kf6 39.h4 Re5 40.Rc3 Rd5 41.Rc2 Re5 42.Rd2 Kg7 43.Bc4 Kf6
44.Rd8 Kg7 45.Bd3 Re6 46.Bc4 Rd6 47.Rg8+ Kh7 48.Re8 Rd2 49.Be2

After a prolonged shuffle of pieces it became clear that not only Kramnik was having difficulties
creating any threats, but he also had a hard time maintaining his material advantage as now the 'b3'
pawn is falling. 49...Kg7 50.Re6 Rb2 51.f4 Rxb3 52.Bb5 Re3 53.Rc6 Kh7 54.Rc7+ Re7 55.Rc8 Kg7
56.Bd3 Rd7 57.Be4 Rd2+ 58.Kh3 Rd7 59.Rc6 Rd6 60.Rc7+ Kf6

At this particular moment the clocks stopped due to a malfunction and the game was interrupted for

89
about 15 minutes. It is amazing to see that when the play resumed, the game changed entirely. Instead
of Kramnik being unable to break through and Radjabov very confidently defending - the spectators of
the broadcast saw Kramnik outplaying his younger opponent move by move. 61.Bc2 Rd4 62.Bb3 Be7
63.Bc4 Rd6 64.Kg2 Rd2+ 65.Kf3 Rd6 66.Ke4 Now comes the decisive moment as Black has to
decide where to keep his rook. 66...Rd8? Black had to keep his rook active while also watching out for
White's threats.
66...Rd2! 67.Bd5 Rg2 68.Kf3 Rd2 69.Rc6+ Kg7 70.Be4 Rd6
67.Bd5! This move is designed to restrict the black rook. 67...Rd6 68.Rb7

All of a sudden, with both players having about 15 seconds on their clocks it turns out that Kramnik has
constructed an amazing position of zugzwang. The black bishop is unable to move because of
checkmate on 'f7'. At the same time the black rook needs to protect the 'b' pawn. The black king is also
tied up defending the bishop. 68...Rd8 69.Rxb6+ Rd6 70.Rb5 The 'b' pawn has fallen, but Black's
problems don't end here. 70...Bd8 71.Rb7 Be7 72.Ra7 Rb6 73.Rxa5

90
White has recaptured both queenside pawns and now has great winning chances since Black has to
watch for the advance of the 'a' pawn, as well as defend 'g6'. 73...Rb4+ 74.Kf3 Rd4 75.Ra6+ Kg7
76.Be4

White's centralized bishop continues to terrorize Black's position. 76...Rd6 77.Rxd6! It took Kramnik
about 5 seconds out of his remaining 26 to evaluate this pure bishop endgame as winning. 77...Bxd6
78.a5 Bc5 79.a6 Kf6

91
80.Ke2 White wins easily by advancing his king to the queenside to support the passed pawn. Black
has no counterplay as his king has to guard the 'g' pawn, and the bishop has to stay on the a7-g1
diagonal to prevent the white pawn from queening. Kramnik went on to win the match by winning
another endgame in the next blitz game. 1-0

92
 Show in Quiz Mode

Weak King as a Target

With pure endings with bishops of opposite colour - a king is a powerful piece and is rarely in danger.
With rooks on the board - this can all suddenly change, and many players are caught off guard. The two
previous games by Kramnik and Smyslov showed that the king can end up in danger very
unexpectedly. Here are a couple more examples:
Suetin, Alexey - Botvinnik, Mikhail
Ch URS, 1952

45...Bxe4?! With two bishops and an extra pawn Black is clearly winning; now things become more
complicated. After being removed from the USSR Olympic team in 1952 ''for poor results", the World
Champion Mikhail Botvinnik was anxious to win the 1952 USSR Championship, to prove that "he
could still play chess". In the final round he needed a win to catch up with Mark Taimanov; as a result,
this endgame becomes the struggle of nerves. To begin, Black unnecessarily gives up one of this two
bishops.
45...Rf3µ
46.Bxe4 d5 47.Bd3 Be5?!
Botvinnik recommends: 47...e5 48.Rb6 e4 49.Rxb7+ Kd6 50.Bxa6 Rxc2³

93
In positions with rooks + bishops of opposite colours, it is important to have a strong pawn center that
reduces the scope of opponent's pieces, in particular - the bishop (note a similar idea in Alexander-
Smyslov) . Here, despite reduced material, White's pieces are disorganized.
48.Rg8 Kd7 49.b4 Bf6 50.Rg1

50...Rh2 Again, Botvinnik notes that the 'e5' pawn should have been pushed as soon as possible.
51.Kb3 Kd6 52.Rd1 Ke7 53.c4 Rb2+ 54.Ka3 dxc4 55.Bxc4

94
55...Rc2 56.Bb3 Bb2+ 57.Ka2 Rf2 58.Bc4 a5 59.bxa5 Bc3+ 60.Kb3 Bxa5 61.Bb5 b6

By now the position has simplified too much, and most spectators expected a draw. 62.Kc4 Kf6
63.Kd4 Rf4+ 64.Ke3 Ke5 65.Rh1 Re4+ 66.Kd3 Rg4 67.Rh5+ Kd6 68.Rh8 Ke5 69.Rh5+ Kf4

95
70.Rh3 Rg8 71.Rh4+ Ke5 72.Rh5+ Kd6 73.Rh4 Rg3+ 74.Ke4
74.Kd4!=
74...Bd2

75.Bd3? Now a small miracle happens. 75...Bg5! 76.Rh5 Kc5!

96
White has to give up material to avoid mate, so he resigned. Inspired by such a finish, Botvinnik went
on to win his 7th national title in the tie-break match against Taimanov. 0-1

Test yourself
Rodriguez Vila, Andres - Scarella, Enrique Alejandro
Santiago op, 1992

White to move

97
 Show/Hide Solution

Solution: 37.Bf6 Threatening mate with Bg5! 37...Rxf6 38.g5+ Kh5 39.gxf6 Bxd5 40.Rg7 Kh6

With the extra exchange White wins quite easily because the black king is still cut off along the 'g' file.
41.h4 b5 42.Rg5 Bc4 43.Kf3 b4 44.Ke4 b3 45.Ke5 b2 46.Rg1 Ba2 47.Kd6 b1=Q 48.Rxb1 Kg6
49.Ke7 1-0

Nguyen Hoang - Marquardt, Alexander

JBL NW 9596, 1995

98
White to move

Show/Hide Solution

Solution: 32.Be3+ This forces Black to give up a rook to save the king. 32...Rxe3 33.Rc4+ Kd5
34.Kxe3 Bxa2 35.Rxc7+-

35...Bxb3 36.Rxg7 Bc2 37.Ra7 f5 38.g5 Ke5 39.f4+ Ke6 40.Rxa6+ Kf7 41.Kd4 Kg7 42.Ke5 Kf7
43.Ra7+ 1-0

99
 Ledger, Stephen - Vega, Edwin
Gibraltar Masters, 2003.01.31

White to move

Show/Hide Solution

Solution: 37.Bxe7 Be2+

37...Rxe7 38.Rf6# is the idea.

38.Kxe2 Rxe7 39.Kf3 Rf7 40.Rf6+ 1-0

100
 Show in Quiz Mode

Exchange Sacrifice

What else is different when one pair of rooks is on the board? A very important idea is that the stronger
side can sacrifice an exchange in order to break through the blockade. This is very logical, as by giving
up a rook for a bishop, we eliminate the drawish factor of the position - opposite colour bishops. The
following endgame is a bit reminiscent of Nakamura - Carlsen in how the light squares around the
black king are weak:
Moore, Harry - Herder, David
1994 B.C. championship, 1994

White is suffering from weakness of light squares around his king, with potential back rank problems.
This, in addition to Black's extra pawn is more than decisive. 33...Bd5 34.exf6 Kxf6 35.a3 a4 36.h3
36.Rc1!? Bc4 37.f3 b5 38.Ba5 Rc6 39.Rd1 Be2
36...Rc2 37.Bb4 h5 38.Ba5 Kf5 39.Bb4 Rb2

101
40.Re3?! Of course, it was necessary to prevent Rxb4. Then Black would have to transfer his king to
b3 or a2, with the idea of still sacrificing the exchange on a3. The complex of weak light squares on the
kingside would make it very hard for the white king or rook to prevent this invasion.
40.Bd6!? gave White much better chances to save the game.
40...g4
Immediate 40...Rb1+ 41.Re1 Rxb4 42.axb4 a3 was also possible, but compared to the game - at least
allowed White to free up his king with 43.f3!
41.h4?!
41.hxg4+ hxg4 42.Kf1 Rb1+ 43.Ke2 was still more resilient.
41...Rb1+!

102
Probably White missed this intermediate check, which forces the rook to retreat to the first rank. 42.Re1
Rxb4! 43.axb4 a3 Now the pawn gets to 'a2', giving Black the decisive advantage. 44.Kf1 Bc4+
45.Kg2 a2 46.Rc1 b6 47.Ra1 Bd5+ 48.Kf1 Ke4 49.Ke2 Bc4+ 50.Kd2 Kf3

51.Ke1
If White does not bother to defend 'f2' with the king, he loses even quicker: 51.Kc3 Bd5 52.Rf1 Ke2-+
51...b5 52.Rd1 White does not let the black king to 'b2'. Dave Herder opens the 'second front'. 52...e5
53.Ra1 e4! 54.Rc1 Bd3

103
Threatening Bb1, followed by queening the pawn. 55.Ra1 Bb1 56.Kf1 e3

Very elegant play by the master from British Columbia. 0-1

Kveinys, Aloyzas - Bagirov, Vladimir

It (open), 1995

104
40.Ke1!?
40.Rxc4?? Bb5-+
40...Bb5
40...Bxg2? 41.b5 is obviously in White's favour; the blockade cannot be lifted.
41.g4 f6 42.Kd2 g5 43.Kc3 Rd8!? White has a positional advantage, as his pieces have more space
and are more active. Black's bishop is blocked by his own pawns, and the 'c4' pawn is weak. Thus
White played the 'straightforward' 44.Rxc4??
44.fxg5! was the correct version of the same idea. Here White wins: 44...hxg5 (44...fxg5 45.Rxc4+-)
45.Rxc4 Bxc4 46.Kxc4 and the 'b ' pawn is already seeing herself at 'b8', which is so nicely covered by
the bishop. 46...Rxd6?! (46...f5 47.b5 f4 48.b6 Kd7 49.b7 f3 50.Kd3+-) 47.cxd6 Kd7 48.Kc5+-
44...Bxc4 45.Kxc4

105
and suddenly got hit by a counter blow: 45...Rxd6! 46.cxd6 gxf4 Despite his protected passed pawn
(b4) and a more active king, White loses! The problem is that Black wins the 'd6' pawn. 47.b5

47.Kd3 Kd7 48.Ke4 e5 49.Kf3 Kxd6 50.Ke4 Kc6 51.Kf3 Kd5 52.Ke2 e4-+
47...f3 White resigned, as in the pawn endgame he loses both his 'b' and 'd' pawns.
47...f3 48.Kd3 Kd7 49.Ke3 Kxd6 50.Kxf3 Kc5-+
0-1

Szczepkowska-Horowska, Karina - Pogonina, Natalija

Chess Olympiad (Women), 2012.09.04

106
Black has a more dangerous passed pawn in the center, and also her pieces are much more actively
placed. Finally, to save the match for Russia, Pogonina simply had to play for a win, and that she did!
32...Re8 33.Be4 Kb4 34.Ke2 Ka3 35.Rc2 h5 36.Kd3 Rh8 37.Bd5 hxg4 38.fxg4 Rh4 39.Bxf7 Rxg4
40.Bd5 Rg3+ 41.Bf3 Rg6 42.Be4 Rh6 43.Rf2 Rh1 44.Bd5 Rd1+ 45.Kc2 Re1 46.Bc4 Rg1 47.Kd3 f5
48.Bd5 Rd1+ 49.Kc2 Ra1 50.Kd3 f4 51.Bc4 Rd1+ 52.Kc2 Rg1 53.Bd5 Ra1 54.Kd3 Re1 55.Bc4
Re3+ 56.Kc2 Rg3 57.Bd5 Rg5 58.Bc4 Rg3 59.Bd5 Bb4 60.Rxf4 d3+ 61.Kd1 d2

In panic White decided to sacrifice the exchange, but it backfired. Up to this point she had actually
been defending well with blockade on the light squares. 62.Rxb4
62.Bf3! would have allowed White to hold as it would prevent Re3-e1. The 'a2' pawn will likely fall

107
but White still has the 'b3' pawn to stop the black passer. If rooks are exchanged White may achieve
draw even without the 'b' pawn. 62...Kxa2 63.Rg4 Rxg4 64.Bxg4 Kxb3 65.Be6+ Kc3 66.Bd7=

62...axb4 63.Kxd2 Kxa2 64.Kc2 Rg5 65.Be4 Rc5+

66.Kd3 Kxb3 67.g4 Rc3+ 68.Ke2 Kc4 69.Bf5 Kd4 70.g5 Rc5

108
White failed to setup a fortress and resigned. This example shows that an exchange sacrifice is
primarily an idea to be used by the stronger side. 0-1

Test yourself
Boizante, Yvain - Perez, Flavio
FRA-ch U20, 200604

White to move

109
 Show/Hide Solution

Solution: 40.Re1 Sacrificing the exchange is the simplest way to achieve victory. 40...Kf6
40...Bc7 41.Re8+-
41.Rxe5 Kxe5 42.c7 Rxd7 43.b8=Q 1-0

Spraggett, Kevin - Hartman, Brian

Hamilton m, 1993

Question: What is the easiest way for White to convert the advantage?

Show/Hide Solution

Answer: sacrificing the exchange allows to promote the pawns: 49.Rxb8 is the simplest, as it will be
followed by the advance of the 'c' pawn. 1-0

110
Active Piece Placement

Kasparov, Garry - Karpov, Anatoly

World Chess Championship, 1990.10.24

Despite being down a pawn, Kasparov wisely assessed this position to be advantageous to him, since
his bishop is much more active than Black's. The knight on 'f5' also puts a significant pressure on
Black's position. 31.Re3 Qc7 32.Rf3 Kh7 33.Ne3 Qe7 34.Nd5 Nxd5 35.Bxd5 Ra7 36.Qb3 f6?!

37.Qb8 Weakness of light squares here is apparent, as Black's pieces are all but one occupying dark

111
squares - as if Karpov decided to play checkers. 37...g6 38.Rc3
38.g4!? would have prevented Karpov's clever freeing manoeuvre.
38...h5! 39.g4 Kh6 40.gxh5 Kxh5 41.Rc8 Bg7 42.Re8

Here the players agreed to a draw, as Black has managed to escape the bind. Still - his extra pawn has
no impact on the evaluation. 1/2-1/2

Psakhis, Lev - Hebden, Mark

World Team Championship U26, 1983

112
Black pieces are completely tied up to the defence of 'f7'. And yet it takes a very original plan from Lev
Psakhis to win this game. 43.Kf1 Ba7 44.Ke2 Bb6 45.Kd3 Ba7 46.Kc4 Qc7+ 47.Kb3 Qe7 48.g4
Bb6 49.Kc4 Ba7 50.Kb5

What is the king doing? 50...Qe8+ 51.Bc6 Qd8 52.Kc4 Qe7 53.Qd7!

This is the point! After the exchange of queens the white king will support the advance of the 'b' pawn.
53...Qe6+ 54.Qxe6 fxe6 55.Rxf8 Kxf8

113
56.Kb5 The bishop endgame is hopeless because Black will have to give up a piece for the 'b' pawn.
56...Ke7 57.Ka6 Bxf2 58.c4 Kd8 59.Kb7 Be1 60.b5 Bf2 61.b6 Bd4 62.Ba4

62...d5 Black desperately tries to create counterplay. 63.cxd5 exd5 64.exd5 e4 65.Kc6 Kc8 66.d6

114
66...e3 Black's pawn is easy to stop, while White will win the bishop for one of this passers. 67.Bb5
Bf6 68.Ba6+ Kb8 69.Kd7 1-0
Now let's outline the key principles that perpetuate throughout these examples:
• activity of rook and bishop is very important
• a weakness very often is a backward pawn that cannot be conveniently defended by the bishop
• defending such a pawn and blocking opponent's passed pawn is what the defending side often fails to
manage over the course of the game
• passed pawns are more dangerous when there are rooks on the board, since then an exchange can be
sacrificed to clear the blockade
• in the absence of rooks - two passed pawns, ideally - connected, are needed to have winning chances

115
 Show in Quiz Mode

Test yourself

Rogers, Ian - Lejeune, Jean Pierre

Wch U16, 1976

White to move

Show/Hide Solution

Solution: 32.Rg8+ The White pawn will now inevitably promote. 1-0

Savva, Andreas - Said, Mahmoud

Dubai Olympiad, 1986.11.23

116
White to move

Show/Hide Solution

Solution: 33.Bxa6! h5
33...bxa6 34.Rxe7 Bxe7 35.b7 and pawn promotes.
34.Bxb7 Bh6 35.Bc6 e3 36.Kf1 exf2 37.Rxe7 Kxe7 38.b7 Be3 39.b8=Q 1-0

Cuijpers, Frans Andre - Stoll, Ferdinand

Bad Woerishofen op 4th, 1988

117
White to move

Show/Hide Solution

Solution: 38.Bc6 Black is unable to stop e8Q. 1-0

Tal, Mikhail - Hull, Lee

Framingham CC sim, 1988.03.08

118
White to move

Show/Hide Solution

Solution: 21.Ba6 Rxa6 22.c7 Ra8

Black resigned, but game could have continued: 22...Ra8 23.Rd1 with inevitable Rd8
1-0

Csulits, Anton - Horvath, Miklos

Szekszard op, 1989

119
White to move

Show/Hide Solution

Solution: 24.Bd5+ White noticed that winning the 'f5' is much more important than the 'c' pawn.
The check is better than capturing on c6. 24.Bxc6 Kf8
24...Kh8 25.Be6 Rc7 26.Bxf5

120
Black's pawns now are disconnected and White has an advantage which he converted into a full point.
26...c5 27.Kg2 Rc6 28.Be4 Rc7 29.Bd5 Bf6 30.f4 Kg7 31.Kf3 e5 32.e3 Kf8 33.Ke4 exf4 34.gxf4
Ke7 35.Kf5 Kd6 36.e4 Bd4 37.Ra4 1-0

Hladik, Josef - Balaz, Peter

CSR-chT 9091, 1990.11.11

White to move

Show/Hide Solution

Solution: 39.Rxc6 White wins another couple of pawns, so the bishop endgame is winning. 39...Ke7
40.Rc7+ Rd7 41.Rxd7+ Kxd7 42.Bxd5 Kd6 43.Bg8 h6 44.Kg3 g5 45.f5

121
45...Be5+ 46.Kf3 Bf4 47.Ke4 Bc1 48.b3 Bb2 49.Kd3 Ba3 50.c4 Kc5 51.cxb5 Kxb5 52.Ke4 Kc6
53.Ke5 Kd7 54.Be6+ Ke7 55.f6+ Kf8 56.Kd5 Bb2 57.f7 Ba3 58.Kc4 Ke7 59.b4 1-0

Horvath, Gyula - Juhasz, Jozsef

Budapest Spring op 06th, 1990

White to move

Show/Hide Solution

122
Solution: 40.Bxb7
40.Bxb7 Rxb7 41.c6 and the pawns supported by the rook win the game.
1-0

Naumkin, Igor - Ward, Christopher

Lloyds Bank op 14th, 1990

White to move

Show/Hide Solution

Solution: 30.Rd5 Forces Black's king to block the pawn. 30...Kd7 31.Rb5 Kc6 32.Rb6+ Another
sacrifice - the rook again cannot be captured because of d6-d7-d8. 32...Kc5 33.d7 Bh5

123
Black is setting up the last trap. 34.Bd6+! Blocking the 'd' file with yet another check.
34.d8=Q?? would allow Black to bounce back 34...Rd1+
1-0

Gomez - Herrero, Hector O

Albacete-ch, 1991

White to move

124
 Show/Hide Solution

Solution: 34.Bb7 Threatening Rc8 and exploiting the back rank. 34...Rd8 35.Bc8 Kf8 36.Rc6 e4
37.Kg1 Bd4+ 38.Kf1 Ke7 39.Rxa6+-

Black rook is trapped, so White wins quite easily. 39...f5 40.b5 f4 41.Ra4 Be5 42.Rxe4 Kd6 43.a4
Kd5 44.Rxe5+ 1-0

Pein, Malcolm - Har Zvi, Ronen

Tel Aviv, 1992

125
White to move

Show/Hide Solution

Solution: 39.Rxd5! Rc8

39...Rxd5 40.Bc4 Bd4+ 41.Kf1 h4 42.Bxd5+ Kg7 43.Ke2 is also winning for White.
40.Rg5+ Kf8 41.Rf5+ Kg7 42.Rxf4 White picks up another pawn, and his material advantage is
overwhelming. 42...hxg4 43.hxg4 Ba3 44.Rc4 Rd8 45.f4 Bd6 46.Kg2 Rb8 47.Kf3 1-0

Petermann, Hubert - Roedel, Egmar

Oberliga Nord O 9293, 1993

126
White to move

Show/Hide Solution

Solution: 35.Bf8 Opening up the 'd' file with decisive effect! 35...Bd7 Black is trying to block the 'd'
file again. 36.Rd6+ 1-0

Hebden, Mark - Eslon, Jaan

Oviedo rapid, 1993

127
White to move

Show/Hide Solution

Solution: 40.Bxa5 Bd7

40...Rxa5 41.Rxe6 is the point.
41.Kb4 Ra6 42.e8=Q+ Bxe8 43.Re7+ Kf8 44.d7 Winning a piece and the game. 44...Bxd7 45.Rxd7
Re6 46.Kxb5 Re5+ 47.Ka6 Re6+ 48.Kb7 Re2 49.Bb4+ Kg8 50.Rd2 1-0

Galego, Luis - Ochoa de Echaguen, F Javier

Lisbon zt, 1993

128
White to move

Show/Hide Solution

Solution: 38.Bc6! The bishop is covering e8, while of course Black cannot take on 'c6'. 38...Kg7
39.Re8 1-0

Braude, Mikhail - Lapshin, Vladimir

New York op, 1993

129
White to move

Show/Hide Solution

Solution: 35.Rxb6 White wins a pawn, while 'a7' remains a weakness. Eventually White converted his
material advantage. 35...Rc1
35...axb6 36.a7 is, of course, not acceptable for Black.
36.Rb2 Bd6 37.g3 Kd7 38.Bf3 f6 39.Rb7+ Rc7 40.Rb5 Rc8 41.Bg2 Ke7 42.Bb7 Rc1 43.e4 Rd1+
44.Kc3 Kd7 45.Ba8 Rc1+ 46.Kd3 Rc8 47.Bb7 Rc1 48.e5 fxe5 49.dxe5 Bc7 50.Ke4 Rc3 51.Rb2 Ra3
52.Kd4 h6 53.Kc4 g5 54.Rd2+ Ke7 55.Bc6 Bb6 56.Rd7+ Kf8 57.f5 Ra1 58.fxe6 Rc1+ 59.Kd5 Rd1+
60.Ke4 Rxd7 61.exd7 Ke7 62.Kf5 Bg1 63.e6 Bd4 64.Kg6 Bg1 65.Bd5 Kd8 66.Kf7 Bc5 67.Bf3 Bb4
68.Kg7 Bd2 69.Bg4 Ke7 70.Kxh6 Be3 71.Kg6 Bd2 72.d8=Q+ Kxd8 73.Kf7 1-0

Pira, Davoud - Fattoumi, Heykel

Massy op, 1995

130
White to move

Show/Hide Solution

Solution: 34.Bxg7+ Black resigned since e6-e7 will follow, capturing the bishop. 1-0

Janssen, Ruud - Salters, Bart

NED-ch U20, 1995

131
White to move

Show/Hide Solution

Solution: 32.Rxf7+ Rxf7 33.Bxf7 The bishop is immune because then the 'c' pawn would become a
queen. Otherwise, the bishop endgame is winning for White as he will form another passed pawn on
the kingside. 33...Ke7 34.Kf1 Bb4 35.Ke2 Bd6 36.Bd5 Kf6 37.f4 g5 38.Kf3 h6 39.Kg4 gxf4 40.gxf4
Bc7 41.h3 Bd6 42.Bc4 Bc7 43.Ba6 Bd6 44.Bc8 Bc7 45.Bd7 Bd6 46.f5 Bc7 47.Kh5

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47...Bf4 48.Kg4 Bc7 49.Kf3 Bd6 50.Ke4 Bc7 51.Kd5 Bf4 52.Kc5 Bc7 53.Kb5 Ke7 54.Ka6 Kd6
55.Kb7 Bd8 56.f6 h5 57.h4 1-0

Mayer, Frank - Davy, Bruno

Paris op-B, 1996

White to move

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Solution: 38.Re8+ The rook is sacrificed for winning the decisive tempo to advance the pawn.
38.Rxb3 Bxb3 39.d7 Bd5+ 40.Kxd5 Kxd7 was also hopeless for Black.
38...Kxe8 39.d7+ Ke7 40.Bd6+ Ke6 1-0

De Vreugt, Dennis - Van der Weide, Karel

Donner Memorial op, 1996

133
White to move

Show/Hide Solution

Solution: 33.Bxf5 Bc5

33...Rxf5 34.Ke4 attacking both rook and bishop is the idea.
34.Kg4 Bd4 35.Re4 Bb6 36.Bd7 Kf8 37.Ra4 Rg7+ 38.Kf3 Kf7 39.Ra6 White will promote the 'b'
pawn, or win the bishop for it. 1-0

Yilmaz, Turhan - Gadjily, Raouf

Baku, 1997

134
White to move

Show/Hide Solution

Solution: 39.Rd8+ Rf8

39...Bxd8 40.e7++-
40.Rd7 The black rook is forced into a passive position and White is now winning. 40...Re8 41.Bxa6
Kf8 42.Kg2 Rd8 43.Rc7 Rd6 44.Bc4 Ke8 45.a5 Kd8 46.Rb7 Rd4 47.Bb5 1-0

Berberich, Christoph - Pinder, Marc

Leverkusen Bayer op 2nd, 1997.10.02

135
White to move

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Solution: 33.Rxd3 White is taking away the only source of counterplay. 33...Kf7 34.Rd8 g5 35.f4 gxf4
36.gxf4 f5 37.Rb8 Rg8+ 38.Kf2 Re8 39.b7 Re2+ 40.Kf3 Rb2 41.c8=Q 1-0

Blom, Gerben - Hiemstra, Sebastian

NED U20 op, 1999.08.10

136
White to move

Show/Hide Solution

Solution: 34.Bf5+ Distracting the black king from the 'd7' square. 1-0

Spraggett, Kevin - Frois, Antonio

Magistral de VRSA 3rd, 2000.05.22

137
White to move

Show/Hide Solution

Solution: 38.Rd8! Ignoring attack against his bishop, White focuses on the passed pawn. 1-0

Matnadze, Ana - Gagunashvili, Merab

GEO-ch I Liga, 2002.04.27

138
White to move

Show/Hide Solution

Solution: 37.Bxf7+ White wins the pawn and obtains the e6 square for the bishop. Either capture is met
by c8Q. 37...Kh8 38.Be6 1-0

Wirig, Anthony - Loetscher, Roland

Mitropa Cup 22nd, 2003.05.19

139
White to move

Show/Hide Solution

Solution: 40.Rxe6 Rxe6 41.Bxd5 Kf7 42.f4 White has time to put pawn on f5 and regain the rook.
42...gxf4 43.gxf4 Bd6 44.f5 Kf6 45.fxe6 h4 46.Kg2 Ke5 47.Bc4 Ke4 48.Kh3 Be7 49.Kg4 Ke5
50.Kh5 Kf5 51.e4+ 1-0

Sargissian, Gabriel - Efimenko, Zahar

Bundesliga 0607, 2007.02.03

140
White to move

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Solution: 36.Rc8 Rxc8 37.Bxe6+ This is decisive, because all of Black's pawns are also vulnerable.
37...Kf8 38.Bxc8 Ke7 39.Bb7 Ke6 40.Bc6 Bd2 41.Ba4 Bc3 42.Kf1 Bd2 43.Ke2 Bb4 44.Bc2 1-0

Kopylov, Mikhail - Kayser, Felix

Bayern-chI Bank Hofmann 10th, 2006.11.12

141
White to move

Show/Hide Solution

Solution: 39.Bxb5 d4
39...Rxb5 40.Ra7+-
40.Bc4 dxe3+ 41.Kxe3 Bb6+ 42.Ke4 Kf6 43.a4 Bg1 44.b5 Bxh2 45.Rxe6+ Kg7 46.b6 Bg1 47.a5
Rd7 48.Bd5 1-0

Olivieri, Alessandro - Primerano, Carlo

Milan Sport&Cultura op, 2010.02.14

142
White to move

Show/Hide Solution

Solution: 30.Re7 Kc8

30...Kxe7 31.c6++-
31.Rc7+ Kb8 32.Rxg7+- Ra2 33.Rg8+ Bc8 34.c6 Ra1+ 35.Ke2 Rxa3 36.b7 Ra2+ 37.Kf3 e4+
38.Kxe4 1-0

Yeap, Eng Cheam - Low, Jun Jian

Kuala Lumpur op 7th, 2010.09.04

143
White to move

Show/Hide Solution

Solution: 30.Rxb7 By now - this is a familiar theme, as White wins two pawns with the bishop fork.
30...Rxb7 31.Bxd5+ Ke7 32.Bxb7 a5 33.Kb3 Kd6 34.Ka4 Bd8 35.Kb5 h6 36.Bg2 Kd7 37.b4 Bf6
38.Kxa5 Bxc3 39.Kb5 Kc7 40.a4 Kb8 41.a5 Ka7 42.Ka4 Bd2 43.b5 h5 44.b6+ Ka6 45.Bf1+ Kb7
46.Kb5 1-0

Kozul, Zdenko - Doric, Darko

CRO-chT1A 20th, 2011.10.04

144
White to move

Show/Hide Solution

Solution: 23.Rxa6 This decisively destroys White's pawn chain. 23...Rb8 24.b4 Bd4 25.Ra5 Bb6
26.Ra3 Bg1 27.h3 e6 28.Ra5 exd5 29.exd5 Bb6 30.Bxb5+ Ke7 31.Ra4 Bc5

32.bxc5 White transposes into a winning rook endgame. 32...Rxb5 33.Ra7+ Ke8 34.cxd6 Rxd5+
35.Kc3 Rxd6 36.a4 Rf6 37.g3 g5 38.fxg5 Rf3+ 39.Kb4 Rxg3 40.a5 Rg1 41.Rc7 Rb1+ 42.Kc5 Rc1+

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43.Kb6 Rb1+ 44.Ka7 Rb3 45.a6 Rxh3 46.Kb8 1-0

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Conclusion

There is an attitude to endings with opposite coloured bishops that ‘they are all drawn’. There is
certainly a good reason for this. And yet almost all examples that I showed had a decisive result. Partly
this is because in most of them one side had a material advantage. But some endings shown had even
material in the starting position. Therefore, in a position with rooks on too, it is often possible to
outplay your opponent. If you are playing for a win, there might also exist a psychological effect that
would help you: when seeing opposite coloured bishops, even strong players may relax and expect that
even with second rate moves they will get their draw. Not necessarily!
I also hope that the readers’ thinking about types of endings will expand from «pawn endings» and
«rook endings» to more complex combinations of material. Studying ideas typical for each type of
these so called «simple» positions will lead to a better understanding of chess.

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Table of Contents
CopyRight Information 3
About the Author 4
Symbols and Abbreviations Used in the Book 5
Introduction to Practical Endgames 6
Bishops of Opposite Colour 21
Typical Ideas 25
Test yourself 2
Disconnected passed pawns 31
Positions with Rooks on the Board 56
Targeting a Weak Pawn 70
Endgame Skill as a Decisive Factor 84
Weak King as a Target 93
Exchange Sacrifice 101
Active Piece Placement 111
Conclusion 147

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