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The wrong-coloured bishop
A bishop and a rook pawn cannot win if the bishop does not control the corner.
Intermediate · Advanced endgames · 1 steps. On Chess Castles, Chess Guru reads each step aloud in English, Hindi or Marathi while the moves play on the board, and you can practise any position against the engine.
Step 1
Moves: 1.h6 Kg8 2.h7+ Kg7 3.h8=Q+ Kxh8 4.Bb1 Kg7 5.Ba2 Kh7
White is a bishop and a pawn up, yet it is a draw! The pawn queens on h8, a dark square, but White's bishop moves on light squares and can never drive the black king out of the corner. This kind of unbreakable defence is called a fortress.
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More lessons in Advanced endgames
- Queen against a pawn on the 7th: Check, come closer, check again: stop the pawn and win.
- Bishop and knight mate: The hardest basic mate: drive the king to the bishop's corner.
- Opposite-coloured bishops: Even two pawns up, a bishop endgame can be a draw.
- Queen against rook: The queen wins, but only with precise technique.
Next lesson: Opposite-coloured bishops