PrrACTICAL

BTSsHOP
^ENDII\TGS
(

GM EE;dmor Nlednis
 I

Practical
Bishop
Endings

Grandmaster
EdmarMednis

1,990

Coraopolis,Pennsylvania

ChessEnterprises

oCopywritelgg0byEdmarMednis.Allrightsreserved.
rsBN0-945470-04-5
Editor:B. G.DudleY
CoverDesign:E. F. Witalis,Jr'
Typographyand Diagrams:Bob Dudley
Proofreading:Frank Cunliffe
SecondCorrectedPrinting
Preface
As a result of my training and teachingwork I have
learnedthat lessexperiencedplayerstend to gre-atryunderrate
the Bishop,.It apparentJy seem.ssucha simpl-epiele as it jusi
movesback and forth along a diagonal. C<imparethis toihe
tricky Knight which alwayslandson a squaredifferent in color
from where it camefr-op and is capabldof the nastiestKnight
forks! As a matter of fact, many iamateurs"tend to jump at
any chanceto exchangeoff a Biihop for a Knigtrt. y6t niore
experiencedplayersrEalizethe inhbrentpoweisof a Bishop.
However,.to propcrly.handle a Bishop a rirgchmore sophisti-
catedunderstandingis required than for the Knight. this is
particularlytrue for pure Bishopendgames.
. For qgi_tesome time I have been wanting to write a
treatiseon Bishopendgamessothat I couldpreseintthe prin-
ciples clearly eriough-to.enable everyoneto significintly
lnprove their play of suchendings. Recentlynavid McKay
Co. allowed rj, fiist endgamebo-ok,Practicil EndgameLei-
so.ns,.to
go out of print. For aboutten yearsit was the', book
which dealt with understandingthe whole field of endgame
play. The fact that the material in this book again became
availableto me was the impetusfor doing PracticalBishop
Endingsnow. Of course,everythinghas Seensubstantially
redoneto make it clearer ancibettEr. Other sourceshav6
beenmVendgamewritinss.mostlvfrom mv svndicatedcolumn
The Practicil Endgameias welias fresh"niaterial from my
extensivefiles. As appropriate,direct credit is given in the
text. Of course,any erron remain my responsibility.I would
appreciateyour callingthem to my atti:ntioh.
The book consistsof two parts:pure samecolor Bishop
endingsand pure oppositecolorBistrof endings.The veryladt
cnaptersummarizesall the previouschaptersaqq compares
samecolor Bishop endgamesto oppositecolor Bishop end-
qames. The obiective of this book is the same as for Practical Contents
kook Endings:to presentmaterial sufficiently clearly so that
the reader will have at least 95Voof the knowledgerequired to Preface 2
play suchendgamessuccessfully.
Introduction 5
To ensurethat the reader and the author are on the
samewavelengthregardingthe meaningof the questionand Part I: SameColor BishopEndgames 8
exclamationmarks as they are used in the characterizationof
moves,theseare the presentlyacceptedmeanings: Chapter1: MaterialAdvantage
- 8
Section1. Introduction 8
! : astrongmove Section2. Material Advantageof One Pawn
!! = & V€Ustrongmove; a fantasticmove - Pawnson One SideOnlv 8
? = a bad move; a weak move Section3. Material Advantageof Onti Pawn
?? : a horrible move;ablunder - Pawnson Both Sides 19
!? : an enterprisingmove; a move worthy of
consideration Chapter 2: PositionalAdvantages 38
?! : a dubiousmove,for theoreticalor practi- Section1. Introduction 38
cal reasons Section2. Better King 39
Section3. Better Bishop 43
This is mv fourth book for B. G. Dudlet's ChessEnter- Section4. Better Pawns 50
prises. I am graiified that the earlier Practicdl RookEn/ings, Section5. SmallAdvantagesin BishopEndgames60
Questionsand Answen on PracticalEndgamePlay, and Strate-
gicThemesin Endgameshave been well receivedby the public. Part II: OppositeColor BishopEndgames 75
I am very happy to be associatedwith Bob Dudley. I am
hopeful of a good public receptionfor this book also. Chapter 3: Characteristicsof OppositeColor Bishop
Positions 75
Edmar Mednis Chapter4: Material Advantage- Normal Positions80
Section1: One PawnAdvantage 80
NewYork, 1990 Section2: Two PawnAdvantage 89

Chapter5: Material Advantage- ComplexPositions

- ComplexPositions 100
Chapter6: PositionalAdvantages 120
Section1: Better Bishop 120
Section2: Better Pawns 120
Section3: Better King 125
Chapter7: Summaryand Comparisonof SameColor
vs.OppositeColor BishopEndgames 133
 and forth and can choosethe momentthat it returnsto the kev
square. This is a very important strategyin zugrwangtypi:
Introduction posltlons.
The play from Diagram 1 can be consideredto be an
Characteristicsof the BishoP principle. A more advancedapplica-
elementarycaseof this"losinga move"is shownfrorn Diagram 2,
of the Bishop in
The most important characteristics tion of the value of
endgameplay are: with Black on move. White has a decisiveadvantagebecause:
I ) he has the superior King and, 2) his Bishop can menace
(1) The Bishop is particularlygood in open positions Black'sb- and f-pawns.Bestplay is:
where there are pawnson both sidesof the board.
(2) The Bishop is effectivein copingwith far advanced
% % t
passedpawns becauseit can stop the pawn even from far
% % ' %%
away. % E{'A% t '
Diagram2 % t %^Ex %t"/h, White wins
(3) If the Bishop's'Job"is to attacka specificpoint, it lru w 1tut
can do this from anywherealong its diagonal. This allows % % %%
,%%%%a-
maximumflexibility asfar asdeterminingwhereto placeit. % t
%%
%
% %,/ru
t% % 1 ....
% A% White
Diagram 1 % % wr% captures The b-pawn must be protected,while_1...4c6?allows
% % v& Black's the decisivepdnetrationby White'sKing with 2 Ke5.
% %A% % f-pawn
2 Bd3 h5
% % %
% % % The King and Bishop - have no satisfacto-ry movesand
is also
therefore the text is forced. However, now the h-pawn
rulnerableto White'sBishop. Notice that if Black againwould
Look at Diagram 1. ClearlyBlack'svulnerablepoint is with appropri-
the f5 pawn and the help of White'sBishopis neededto cap- be on move,he would lose. Therefore, White
ture it. With White on move,there is no brute force way of ate Bishopmaneuverswantsto "givethe moveto Black".
capturinsthe pawn. Yet White wins with either 1 Bc2! or I
861!. Tle Bishop then still attacksf5 and irrespectiveof 3 Bbl! Bc8
Black'sresponse,White capturesthe f-pawn. the
If 3...8e6 4 Bc2l Bc8 (4--.8d7 5 Bd3! establishes
positionafter Black's2nd moie with Black again on move) 5
(a) The Bishopcan "losea move". What this meansis
that the Bishop can draneuveron its important diagonalback Bdl and White wins the h-pawnand the game.
 4 BaZl
PART I
White threatens5 8fl7winningthe h-pawn.
SameColor BishopEndgames
4 .... Bb7
5 Bb3! Chapter1: Material Advantage
Threatens6 Bdl winningthe h-pawn. Section1: Introduction
5.... Bc6 Material advantageobviouslyrefers to an advantagein
pawn(s). A three-pawnadvantageis routinely sufficienl for
Or 5...Bf3 6 Bc2 Bg4 7 Bd3 Kc6 8 Ke5 and White the win and so is a two-pawnadvantagein all normal cases.
wins. The winning metho!_gen'erally consists-ofcreatingand queen-
ing passedpawns. Thus only the significantcasein which one
6Bc2l Bd7 side hasthe materialadvantageof one pawn is consideredin
7 Bd3! White wins. this chapter. Basically,a player needsto know when a one-
pawn.advantageis sufficientfor a win and what the proper
The position after Black's2nd move has been estab- techniqueis for achievingit, or if he is a pawndown,wh-enand
lishedwith Black on move. Black must now lose either the f- how he can draw. His approachwill dependon whetherthere
or b-pawnand thereforethe game. are pawnson one or both sides,topics discussedin the next
two sectrons.

The generalexchangingprinciplesalso apply to same

color Bishopendgames:
-- the side up materialwantsto exchangeBishops.

-- the side down materialwantsto achieveroutine exchanges

of pawns.

Section2: Material Advantageof One Pavyn

- Pavyns0n One SideOnly

A. Bishop& Pawnvs.Bishop

As far as general defensivestrategyis concerned,the

defendercan feeisatisfied if he has achieVedthe abovesitua-
tion. He doesnot haveto worry about tosingany pawnsand
there is only one enemypawn to be concerneiiabbrit. He can
readilv afford to sacrificehis Bishopfor this last pawn. The
kev pilnciplesin knowingwhetherihe resultingpositionis a , 0 . ', ' ' ' n ' ' u
win br a dfaw are as follows: , 4 t
' L. Centurini
,/,i' $t:: ,&*u
(1) If the defendingKing is alreadyin front of the pawn and Diagram4 1856
caniot be chasedawcly,or if it cdn getto sucha squdre,thegame Draw
drawn.
is hopelessly
A t y p i c a l e xa mp l efro m p ra cti ca lplay is^shownin
::r^
Dias ra m 3 ; E. M e d n i 's- F . Gh b o rg h i u ,Gr az 1987,after % %
WhiTe's97th move. Black offered a draw here, becausehe
cannotDreventWhite's King from reaching92 and once there rBn Bez
the Kinl is unassailable. 07...g3 98 KR followedby 99 Kg2; 2 8196 Bc4
97...Ke{ 98 Kf2 followedby 99kg2; 97...Bg398 Kfl followed
by 99 Kg2.) Black can alwavsstavon one of two diagonalsto pre-
vent f7.
% % % '',.,& 3 Bh7 Bd5
% % E. Mednis- 4 Bg8 Bxg8
% % % F. Gheorghiu 5 KxgS Kxf6 Draw
Diagram3 % %s% Graz1987
% % N t After White's The above se_qugnce showsthe importanceof Black's
King location on 95, becauseWhite cairnotchaseBlack,s
'%%%g%
% % 97th move
Bishopoff the a2-SEdiagonalby playinga Bg8.

If Black is on move in Diagram4, he drawswith either

(2) If the defendingKing cannotget in front of-thepawn, the
itiaiing chdncesire not good, To be s,ure..ofthe draw, his
Bishop-mustbe mobile oi both diago.n-a.ls; -(haveaccessto dt
leastiwo squareson eachdiagonal)and hisKng must be attack-
ing thepafin from the rear wliile havingvefticalopposition.
1...896or 1...8e8.He dare not giv-eup his idealKing location.
(3\Because it is so dfficult in real life to reach thefavorable
defensiveformation of-Diagrgm4, theTefendelsBkh6p must try
t,o.preventthe.pawn fro.m bging advanceduntil the-defending
Ktng,cdn get closeenoughto it.

The above favorable defensiveformation allows the
defenderto alwap achievethe draw, eveg i[ it is by just a hair.
One suchexampieis shownin Diagram! (L' Centurini 1856).
(SeeDiagram4 on the followingpage). Irrespectiveof who is
on moueihe positionis drawn. ,A,logicalsequencewith White
on move is:
The following two examplesfrom practicalplay will
demonstratethe corr-ectdefensivbapproach.Diagrani5 ihows
th.epositionfrom E. Mednis- F. Cheorghiu,GrIz 1987after
ElaCk's89th move. (SeeDiagram
" 5 on"the-followingpage).
The thematicgamecourseis:

10
 Now White's King gets back. But if 95...Ke4,96 Be7
%" " N% stopsthe pawn.
E. Mednis-
' t %, , A
/t F. Gheorghiu 96 Kd3! 94
Graz1987
Diagram5 e%fu,% After Black's After 96...K94,97Be7 followed by 98 Bxg5draws.
****', 89th move
97 Ke2 Draw
% % %
We havereachedDiagram3, discussed
earlier.
90 Kc4 Diagram 6 showsthe position after Black's 53rd move
in K. Regan - P. Benko, 1978USA Championship.After
A t t h e m o m e n tWh i te ,sB i sh o p sta ndswellenoughq' d Blackwill capturewhite's pawn,the pawnsituationwill be the
s i n c e t h e r e i s n o w a y t h a t W h i t e c a n h o p e t o . p r e help
venttne same as in Diagram 5. What is different is that here the
;'1fi";;;romotion oiBiack's pawnwithout'thedefensive Bishopsare on light squares.Playcontinuedasfollows:
of tn. Kiirg, it startsheadingback'
90 Bf6
9l Ba5! t, "'%,% % K. Regan-
'ZrA7,
White'sBishopmustget access as
to the c1-nQ.dlqgpnal Diagram6 , % pZ "ru, P. Benko
1978USA
quicktyasiJ.iiui". t\either"glBc7+?Ke4or 91 Bb6?Ke4do
thejob. % '/zu Z" Championshio
After Black's
A
,7.r,% 2 7M 53rd move
91 "" Ke4 2 t "%"'
pgck in time with 92 Kd3
After 91...g5,Whlqe-ge-t9
(92...Ki s {l rcezKg494 Bd2)'
i i3 Bd2+";'iz.-scr 54 Kb2!
92 Bdz Be5 As from Diagram 5, here too the King has to try to get
93 Bg5! ascloseto the queeningsquareasquicklyaspossible.

TheBishopneedsaccesstofwodiagonals,cl-h6and 54 .... Kd4

h4-d8,to prevent the g-pawnfrom advancing' 55 Kcl Ke3
56 Be6!
93 .... Kfs
94 Bh6 Bf4 *t Getting in position to preventthe advanceof Black's
E
95 Bf8 95 fl pawn-t-o-be.
Passed

11 L2
 5 6.... BB nal. The gamecourseis:
57 Bd7
7' ry"%
The g-pawncannotbe savedin anycase(57 94 Kf4 and /'2,". , A. Matanovic
58...Bxg4will come with gain of time), so that White keepsthe ' / ; 7 2 - P. Benko
statusquo. / 2
Diagram 7 7 ,4r g Portoroz
57.... Kfz %s% ffi g Interzonal
s8 Kd2! IGg3 % % % 1958
After Black's
59 Kel
60 Be6
B{2
Kh2
%" .tr%
r , W%
'r,& 69th move
%
Instead60...8h3 ilBn Kh2 is parriedby 62 Bh5.
70 Ke3 Kc3
After the text move the theme of the position is very 7l Ke2 Bh4
clear:if Blackcanget in ...g4,he will alsoget in ...g3andwill 72 KfL
win. To draw, White must prevent...g4. Therefore,quite
wrong is, for instance,61 Bfs? (the tournamentbulletin erro- A move born in frustration. After the more "normal"
neouily givesthis move as actuallyhavingbeenplayed). Black moves,Black wins as follows:
then wins as follows:61...8h3 628e4 94 63 Bd5 93 64 Be4 a)72B,a3Bg5 73 Kel Kb3
Bg2 65 Bd3 BB 66 Bfl (White has accessto only one square b\ 72 Bf4 K62 73 Be5+ Kbl 74 Bf4 Bf6 75 Kd3 Bb2 76 Bg5
on the short f1-h3 diagonaland is easilychasedoff) 66...894! Bcl 77 Be7 Bf4 78 Ba3 Bd6!
67 Kdz Bh3 and Black wins.
72 .... Kd3
6l Bg4l Draw.
Here too Black could executethe plan shownunder b)
The game was adjournedafter Black's 60th move and above:Kb3-t-bl, followedby Bf6-b2-c1,etc.
White had sealedthis, the only correctmove. Now White can
preventthe advanceof the g-pawn- 61...Bh3 62 Bh5, etc. - 74 Bh6 Bg3
and the gamewascalleda draw without resumptionof play.
The immediate73...8f6wouldsavea move.
(4) If the defendercannot achieveconditions(1) or (2) and
qecute (3), then hegenerallywill lose.
cdnnotsuccessfully 74 BgS Be5
75 Bcl
A typical lost position is shown in Diagram 7, A.
Matanovic- P. Benko,Portoroz Interzonal1958,after Black's If 75Kel Bc3+ 76Kf2Bd2.
69th move. BecauseBlack'spawn is alreadyonly one square
from queening,White's Bishop only has one long diagonal. 75 .... Bd4
Black'swinning method is to first chaseWhite'sBishopoff the 76 Kel Be3
c1-h6diagonaland then to chaseit off the short c1-a3diago- 77 Ba3 Kc3

L4
L3
 78 Ke2 Bg5
Whiteresigns.
Er r G. Stahlbers
- R. Fine
After 79 Kel Kb3 White'sBishopmustgiveup guard-
ingc1. Diagram8 / / A, f t I z Kemeri 1937
After White's
ffi,%/M 38th move
B.2Pvs.P;3Pvs.2P
Whenthe defensive King is backandthe pawnforma-
tion healthy(i.e. the "normal"situation),the abovecases
shouldbe readilydrawn. Normal goodmovesare all that are Offering a routine exchangeof pawnsin caseWhite
required.Thedefending sideshouldnor: plays39 ef6+. Also the pawn is no longer under attack by
Whjte'sBishop.
allow the opponent'sKing to penetrate
39 Kcs Bd7
weakenown pawn formation 40 Bg8 h6
put pawnson samecolor as own Bishop And not 40...h5?which seriouslyweakensthe g- and h-
pawncombinationby putting the pawnson the samecolor as
put pawnson same color as opponent'sBishop (This White'sBishop.
euidblindworksout to be the sameas the previousone, but I
Im addingit for emphasisbecauseof its importance.) 41 Kds Ba4
42 Kd4 Bd7
C. 4P v s . 3 P
Black is satisfied to keep the statusquo by playing
As the numberof pawnsremaininqon the board in- simple,healthymoves.
creases,so do the winning'chances side. It can
of the st-ronger
trv more thingswhile the defenderhasmore to defend. The 43 Bc4 Ba4
4P vs.3P case-withall pawnson the sameside is both frequent 4 Bd3 Be8! Drawagreed
and important. As long as the defenderpayscloseattentionto
the guibelinesunder Blabove, he will noi haveseriousdifficul- Black shouldnot play 44...f5?whichseriouslyweakens
tiesln drawing. A model demonstrationis shownfrom Dia- the f- and g-pawncomblnationwhile turningWhite'se-pawn
sram 8. G. Stahlbere- R. Fine, Kemeri 1937,after White's
38th move. White hls the superiorBishopand pawn forma- l!!o a protectedpassedpawn, nor play 44...Kn?which allows
White'sKing to p'enetratbwith 45 K^d5.
tion, but Black'sKing is well placedfor defenseand his pawn
formation is fundam6ntallysound. GM Fine gainedthe draw However,playableis an immediate44...95;but since it
asfollows:(SeeDiagram8 on the followingpage). c-annotbe prevehted anyway,Black can wait and see how
White plandto make pr%"res{.-A possiblecontinuationcould
38 .... t6l DC:

L6
15
 45 h4 g5! Still drawn. fxg4Bd3 10g5 jxgS+. 1I Kxg5Bxe_4! and Black draws. This
line r evealsa detens l v er es our c eBl ac k has i n D i agr am9:
N o w t h a t Wh i te h a sco mmi tte d h i sKingsidepawns,it- is white's Bishopis the.wrongcolor for his h-pawnand tfierefore
logical ror stact to stop potential play-there. Notice the Black.has.opportunitiesfor the draw by sa-crificing his Bishop
i,-rhonious placementof filack's forces:the King and Bishop for White'snext-to-lastpawn.
iir."."l-p*Etration by White's King and,-by being on dark
Squares, the pawnsdepriveWhite'sBishopof opportunltres. 4 Kn Bbs
"my gyidelines",then an 5 e4 Be8
Yet, if the defenderignores 6 Ke3 Ke5?!
unwelcomblossis quite posfible. That this can befall very
ttionl plivio it shownbv the courseof play from DiqgIaT ?' TtrSSilg has.nothingto go here. The correcrset-up
V. H6ti f'M. gertok,Zagreb 1969,White 6n move' Black is for Blackis 6...Ke7
followedbv...f6.
somewhathandicappbO trErebecausehis h-pawnis alreadyon
h5 and blocked. Ttius,togetherwith the g-pawn,lt can even- 7 Bb3
tuallv becomean obje6t fdr anack by Whfte'sBishop. Other- 8 Ba2
wise-Black'sposition is soundand there is no oblectlvereason
why - with bestplay - he shouldnot draw. A waiting move,giving Black an opportunityto blun-
der.
% 8 .... f5??
t%.9
i, / '%f% V. Hort -
/,2 % M. Bertok
^ _. _Criminallyhorr.ible.Requiredis 8...Kd6followedby
Diagram9 A% % %t Zagreb 1969 9...Ke7and Black'spositionremainsdefensible.
2 % ';ftA,ft
% : f t White on
move 9 f4+ Kf6
2., 10 e5+ Ke7
i , % , f t € lt Kd4
The differencebetweenthis positionand the final one
1 Bds l<97 from Diagram 8 is like night and day. Here White has the
2 W Be2 better King, better Bishop,6etterpawis and the extrapawn as
a.protectedpassedone. Thereforeit shouldnot be surprising
Starting here, out gf carelessness or ignorance'Black that White h'asa forcedwin.
unOertitces a"series'of inferior, time-wastinf move,s.Black
Jh*td piuv followed
2...Kf6, by -..Ke7, .'.f6an-d -..Be8,thereby 11 .... Ba4
a
establishin-g stable,drawn formatlql. 12 Kcs Be8
3R Kf6 13 Kb6 Ba4
14 Kc7 Bb5
GM Hort gives the followjn-ginte^res-tingvariation: 15 Bb3! Black resigns.
3...f6! 4 Kr2 Bb5 5 e4 Kf8 6 Ke3 KeI t Kf4 Kf8 t ga hxga 9

L7 18
 -- Be careful.
% w g ,' %
' ' r%
% V. Hort - Never be in a hurry, either with respectto time or
%'%
"%A%:" M. Bertok numberof moves.
Diagram10 ,fut%t Zagreb 7969
'",&r,& After
';,,M White's
% % 7fu, 15Bb3! -- Hold on to materialadvantage.
%a% % ,tu
' % % % % -- When aheadin material,exchangepieces(here Bishops),
not pawns.
% ' % " %%
-- Aim for the basicpositionsknownastheoreticalwins.
Black'schoicesare to either lose his Kingsideor to
allow a lost K + P endgame- which is no choiceat all. The To the above principlesmust be addedthe specific
two main variationsare: te.chniquesapplicableto samecolor BishopendgameS.The
( 1) 15...8e216 Bg8 Kf8 17 Bh7 Kg7 18e6 KxhT 19 e7 Bb5 winningstrateg]consistsof thesesteps:
20 Kd8 Kg7 21e8:Q BxeS 221fte8 Kf6 23 Kf8.
(1) Centralizethe King.
(2) 15...Be817 Bg8 Ba4 17 e6l Be8 (17...8b518 Bf7 Kf6 19
Kd8 Ba4 20 Be8!) 18 Bf7! Bf7 19 edT ICdT 20Kd7lKf6 21 (2) Put the Bishopon a usefuldiagonal.
Ke8 Kg7 22Ke7 Kh8 23 Kf8 Kh7 24Kf7 Kh6 25 Kg8.
(3) Create a passedpawn on the sidewith the pawn advantage.
Section3: Material Advantageof One Pawn'
Pawnson Both Sides (4) Advancethe pawn as far as possible.This will tie down the
opponent'sBishopor King.
With pawns on both sides,under normal conditions,a
onepawn advantageis sufficientto win. This is a strong state-
ment,yet is borne out by practicalexperience.All the exam- S). tf ttr.e^Bishop
is the blockader,offer to exchangeBishops.
Thiswill free the queeningsquareor win the Bishopl
ples in this sectionare theoreticalwins. They may look quite
different from each other, yet are sufficiently"normal"to fit (6) If the King is the blockader,marchyour King to the other
the aboveconclusion. sideof the board and pick up enoughpawnsto wi"n.
Sincewe are dealingwith a won endgame,it is impor- Alwavs rememberthat won endgamesiust don't win
tant to first becomefamiliar with the generalprinciplesof how -You
themselves. need lots of care and discipline. tf a player-
to win a won endgame.Theseare: no matter how strong - starts disregardingthe principles
enumeratedabove,the win can vanishquickly. I will start off
-- Establishand follow a clearplan. with suchan example.Diagram1l showsthe positionfrom K.
-
-- Don't allowcounterplay. l.*gl S. Gligoric, Hastingi lg73-74,after White's 23rd move.
White had jult beiore errdneouslyailowedthe exchangeof all
Rooksand"because of Black'sniore activeKing, Wh-itenow
-- Avoid unclearor unnecessary
complications. f indshimselfin a lostB * P endgame:

l-9 20
 30 Bfl Kg4?!
"'re,"T
"ru ''*i'tt
".f,r,,4%'f% K. PWel-
S.Giigoric
Pointless. The correctplan is still 30...h6followed bv
31...g5.
Diagram11 %%fr%% Hastings
%t% ,,.& 1973174
After White's
31 Ke3
%%A%% 23rdmove This voluntaryde-activation of the King is incompre-
fr7,&% %r hensible.W ith 31.. .8a2or 31...h6Bl ac kc oul ds ti l l ac hi ev e
% % 9 , % winningpositions.
23 .... 32 Be2 Kf6
u Bfl 33 h4! h5
The K + P endgameafter 24Kd2?lBxd3 25 Kxd3Kfs Undesir able,but al l ow i ng34 94 w oul d be equal l y
26Ke3Kg4t! 27 Ke4 f5+! 28 Ke3 is evenmovelost because undesirable.
assoonasWhiterunsout of pawnmoveson the Queenside,
he mustlosea Kingsidepawn. 34 g3 Bf5
35 Kd4 Bd7
24 .... Bbl 36 Bd3
25 Kd2l?
What a differencea few movescan make! lt isWhite
Worseis 25 a3?!Kf5 26 93 Ke4 followedby ...Kd4 who now hasthe activeKing and the superiorKingsidepawn
and...Ba2. formation. These factors are sufficient - with correct play - to
25.... Kf5! neutralizeBlack'sextraQueensidepawn.
26 Ke3 Bxa2
27 Bd3+ Kg4! 36 .... c5+
28 Be2+ Kh4! 37 dxc6 e.p.
Black haswon an importantpawnrhasthe activeKing It is in the interestof the defendingside to exchange
and no deficiencieswhatever. It shbuldbe duck'ssoup for I pawns,not to mentionretaininghis King oh d4. Black would
famousGM, yet strangethingsstart to happennow. win afier 37 Kc3? a6 38 b3 b5-39 8c264+ 40Kbz a5, with
Black then moving his King to a6 and breakingdecisively
29 Kd4 Bbl?! with ...a4(Pytel).
37 .... Bxcf
The Bishopstood well enoush. Accuratewasto start 38 Bc2 BB
m o b i l i z i n gt h e K i n g s i d ew i t h 2 9 : . h 6 a n d i f t h e n 3 0 K e 3 , 39 Bd3 Ke6
30...b5!is decisive. 4 Bcz a5
41 Bd3 f5

2L
22
 Blackwantsto preventa potentialf5 !y White qnd.pa4 "rnarchyour King to the other side o.ftle
board and pick up
the cleir costof creafinga weakg-pawn.The superiorityof eqougf pawns,.towin." After 28...Kh4!Black had his ft,ng on
Wt ii.tr Kingsidepawn f6rmation i-sh very importantfactor in "theother side",but then unaccountablymarchedback!
his achievingthe draw.
I will start the demonstrationof the^properw_inning
42 Bcz Bc6 upure"position,asshown
techniquewith a in Diagram12. ThE
43 Bdl d5 position.isessentially Wh.ite's"only'Y
symmetrica.l; advantageii
a clear,healthyextrapawn. With White on move,this is-how
All pawn exchangesare in White's interest,though to achievethe win:
Black has no other way ib try to make progress.It would be
wrons now for White tb be greedyand play 44-Bl3?!because
ift.r"44...Kd6 45 cxd5 Bd7-followedbi 46...b5'Black would
s.t u mobile Queensidepawn majority,while White'sd-pawn A won
frould only be an impotentfigurehead. position for
Diagram 72 '/1 '1, White
Bxd' White is on
xlffif.' tv'/ , .
/' ,,
, 7
fr
move
White's Bishopnow is active,can get to Black'sg-pawn ftft A tft/
and keep back Black'sb-pawn. White alsohasretainedthe
more aciive King. Black ian't hope to make progressand the
positionis drawn. 1 Bc3
45 .... Baz Puttingthe Bishopon a usefuldiagonal:it bearsdown
46 Be8 Kf6 on Black'sKingsideand prevents...Bes.At the moment1 Be3
47 Kc3 Be6 rsratner potnfless.
48 B>d7l<fr7 49 Kc4givesWhitea won K +
47...Blf7?? 1 .... 96
P endgame. 2 Kfl Kf8
3 Ke2 Ke7
la Kd4 Bg8 4 Kd3 Kd6
49 Kc3 Bh7?!Draw. 5 Kc4
After managingto stalematehis Bishop on the least The King is centralizedon an active,usefulsquare.
activesquareon thE bbard,Blackoffereda draw. He canjust
hold on'after50 Kc4 Ke7 51 Bc6 Kd6 52 Kb5 Kc7 53 Bd5 5 .... Kc6
Kd6 54 Bf7 Kc7. 6b4 Bb6
7 B Bc7
Black'ssinglegreatesterror wasthat he "forgot"_
that to 8a4 Bb6
win he needsthe"he"lp of his King. Our last priniiple said: 9 Bd4

23 24
 The Bishop controls two important diagonalsfrom The type of positionshownin Diagram 12 doesoccur
here. frequenttyeno.ugh..
frequentlY9no.ugn.. However,tne
the practlcal
ical playermust learn
to cope with situationswhich are lessroutine. An excellent
9 .... Bc7 cxampl^e,isshownfrom.D.iagram13, H. Donner - A. Bisguier,
10 b5+ axbS Bled 1961,after Black's48th move. As will
" how to w i nbe seen,Wf,ite'd
11 axbS+ play m akes.useof al l the k ey a w on Bi s hop
cndgamePrlnclPles.
A passedpa\,ynhasbeen created.

11 .... Kb7
A
/ , 2 % i H. Donner-
If Black plays 11...Kd7,so as to blockadethe pawnwith p % % A. Bisguier
the Bishop,White wins after 12b6 Bg3 13 Kd5 Bf4 14 b7 Bb8 Diagram13 %t:rtZtZ Bled1961
15Be5. E ftt,4z After Black's
g' fr. fu. 48thmove
12 Kds Bb8
13 b6 / , A f t J
Advancing the pawn as far as possibleto tie down
Black'sKing. White is a pawn up in Diagram 13. At the moment
both Kings are rather active. BecauseWhite's pawnsare safe
13 .... BM from attack by Black's Bishop, whereasBlack's pawnsare
14 Be5 Bg1 potentiallyvulnerableto White's Bishop,White has some
15 Kd6 longer term prospectsthereby. However, at this point White's
only significant advantageis the extra pawn, which gives
The King penetrates. White a 2P vs.P Queensidemajority. White'sfirst objective,
therefore,is to createa passedQueensidepawn:
15 .... Kxb6
16 Ke7 Kcs 49 Bd1!
17t<frl
With the idea of 50 a4 bxa4+ 51 Ka3 followed bv 52
Winning by pickingup the pawns. Bxa4. Black cannotpreventthis.

17 .... Kds 49 .... Bf7

18 Bg7 h5 50 a4 Be8
19 Kxg6 White wins. 51 Ka3

He will alsocapturethe h-pawn. The positionwould be 51 axb5is alsofine. But 51 a5+?! is dubiousbecause
won evenwithout that. White may not be able to penetratethe resultingrather block-
adedposiiion.

25 26
 51 Bf7 bestthat Black has.
52 axb5 Be8
53 g4l 60 Kd2 h4
6l KeZ Be6
Preparing to placethe Bishopon a usefuldiagonal. 62 R!
is forcedsince53...96?54gxfsgxf5saddles
Black'sres'ponsd
Blackwith hnotherlongtermpawnweakness - thef5 pawn. This breakstartsclearingthe wayfor White'sKing.

53 .... Bxg4 62 .... erf3+

54 Bu44 Kxb5 63 IGtr3 Kb6
55 Kb3 64 e4'!,
from 55...Kc4.White, '//%t
potentialcounterplay
Preventing l
of course,wants"tdleavehis Bishof aitive ratherthanretreat
itto e2. ,,fu
% % % H. Donner-
55 .... Bf7 Diagram14 %* % t
A%A% '%'"ru, A. Bisguier
Bled1961
56 Bd7+ Kb6 % l&t % After 64 e4l
57 b5 % %s%
Advancing the passedpawn as far as possibleto tie
% % %
down Black'sKing. % %
57 .... 95 And this break continuesthe clearingprocess. Do note
58 Kc3 that all of this is worthwhile only becauseBlack's King -
chainedto White'sb-pawn- will not be able to help in defend-
T h e K i n g n o w mo ve sto th e K i ngsideto see what ing his pawns.
damageit can do there.
64 ... g4+
58 .... 65 Kf4 dxe4
59 Bc6 66 Kxe4 Bc4
67 Kf4 Be2
An ideal location for the Bishop since it continues
of theO-OtU".:tthattack"ilr,.|,.d-pawn.
defense - TheK + P endgame after67...e368 hxg3hxg_3 _6!
Kxg3Bxb5 70 Bxb5xius is losrby onEtempoifter 7t rcr+
Kc6l2 Ke5Kd7 73Kd5.
In unpleasantpositions,pawn pushescom.eeasily,but
senerallvshbuldbe fesisted.Here alsothis makesit easier 68 Bd7! Kc7
Ior Whiie's King to get at Black's Kingside. Keeping the 69 Bxg4 Bxb5
statusquo with 59...BE6followed by ...Kb6,...Kc7etc. is the 70 Kgs Kd6

27 28
 % %
A two-paw::.ffie winsheretoo.Blackdecides
to ''Ng%% %
% E. Paoli-
go after the d-pawn,but this leaveshim without defense 'ft, %t H. Liebert
againstthe h-pawn. Diagram15 % %tr,ffi Debrecen
1968
7l .... Kd5
t %.rzMg%
fr% % White on
72 Kgs Kxd4 % move
73 h4 % % % r
As we already learned in Section 2, Part A, if the
defendingKing cannotget back very quickly,he will lose. This Thoughapparentlyunprotected,the pawn is immuneto
exampleshowsthe bleaknessof the situation againsta Rook capture.If now_l...Bxc5?!2 Bxa5and the impotentc-pawn
"transformed"into an outsidepasseda-pawn,
pawnstill on the 4th rank. ha's been ena-
b l i n g t h e W h i t e K i n g t o s o o n i n f i l t r a t et h e K i n g s i d e . I f
73 .... Be8 l...Kxc5?,Black landsin a lost K + P endgamebecauseafter2
74 Bfs! Kes Bd4+ Kc6 3 Bxb6 Kxb6 4 Kc4! Kc6 5 93 White has the
75 B196 Bbs opposition.Also 1...Bd8is nothingsinceWhite has2B,t6.
76 h5 Bc4
77 h6 Bg8 1 .... Bc7
78 Bfs! Black resigns. 2 Kc4

There is no defenseto the coming79 Kg6 followedby Thanksto tacticsWhite's King and c-pawnhavebeen
80 Kg7. ableto move one step forward. White's next step is to prepare
the invasionof his King into Black'sKingside.
Often enough the passedpawn that we have been able
to create (or inherit from previousplay) looks too sickly to be 2 .... Bd8
able to offer real prospectsfor progress. No matter. A passed 3 Bf6 Bc7
pawn is a passedpawn and it is up to us to use our creativity to 4 Bc3 Bd8
mobilize it so as to transform it into a power. 5 Bd2 Bc7
6 Kd4t Bd8
A marvelousexampleof the successof such an attitude 7 Bf4t Be7
is shownfrom Diagram 15 (on the next page),E. Paoli - H. 8 Ke5! Kxd
Liebert, Debrecen1968,with White on move. White's passed
c-pawn looks like a non-starter,while the doubled g-pawnsare This losesthe Bishop,but 8...Bxc59 Kf6 allowsWhite's
King to devourthe pawns.
no beautiesand the forward one is vulnerableto Black's
Bishop. Routine play will not be enough,e.g. after 1 Bd4,
1...8d8!is adequate.Yet there is a creativeway: 9 Ke6 Bd8
10 Kd7!
I c5!!

30
29
 The fine tacticalpoint of White'spreviousmaneuvers. 47 BB
The Bishopis trapped,since10...Bb6failsto 11Be3+.
Before the King headsfor the.eu.eenside,the g_pawn"
10 Bxg5 must protected.The principle:don't allow.outit..pliyi-
be
1 1 Bxg5 Kb4
t2 Ke6 Blackresigns. 47 .... Bg8
48 Kd3 Ba2
There also are times when the passedpawn looks very 49 Be2 Bd5
nice. It may be, for instance,alreadya well advancedprotect- 50 Bdl
ed passedpawn. But if the defender can readily prevent its
further advance,the win may be difficult to achieve. This is This and the following six to sevenmovesare a holding
the situationin Diagram 16,-M.Tal - Giterman,USSR 1951, operationto-gain time on fhe clock to preparethe wrnnrns
after White's 4Lst move. White's protectedpassedf-pawn is mane.uver.In practical.p.lay it is.always-a
gbod idea to havE
stopped and the g-pawn is vulnerable to Black's Bishop. sufticienttime when decidingcrucialstrategy-.
Obviously,without the a-pawnsthe position is a dead draw.
Thanks to the presenceof these pawns,White, if he can get 50 .... Bg8
into Black'sQueenside,will win. The job is far from easy,but 51 Kc3 Bf7
the 14 year old Tal gets it done thanksto some fine Bishop
maneuvers: Black is forcedto move only the Bishop,sinceif the
King leavesits ideallocationon e5,White'sKing will quickly
penetrate.
% %
%,,%Afu,
%'% M. Tal - 52 Bb3 Be8
t"4r,
% Giterman 53 Bdl Bn
Diagram 16 % %fr'"&, USSR1951 54 BR Ba2
,%% % % r After White's
41stmove
55 Bcf
56 Bbs
Bg8
Bds
% % $ , 57 Be2 Bf7
* % %a%
58 Bc4! Be8
59 Kb3!
4l .... Ke5 White has finally set up the optimum King and Bishop
42 Bc8 Bc4 placement.The Kine sbtsreaiJvto sd to either a{or c4. Sinc'e
43 a3 a5 Black'sBishopcaqn6iguard both if tnosesquaressimultane-
ously,nor can the King-helpout, White'sKing is sureto get at
Bl a c k ' s Bi sh o p
ca n n o t remain
on the actived1-94 tne a-pawn.
diagonarbecauseH]ffi*'
44Bb7la5Whitehas45BB.
BN 59 Bctr
Bg8 60 Be2l a4+?!
BN

31 32
 try is 60"'Kd4 6l
qtllypractical
Totallyhopeless.-T!t.
f6 Bd5l- Akiqk.S- OSKxasIAd6thoughaiter64.a4White t r g E. Mednis-
Jin"JearifyenoughsinceBlack'sKing cannotguardbothsides /'A
/ , ^ t i1t
A. Lein
of the board. Diagram 17 ' New York
Kf6 t2, i. g 1977
61 Kb4 After Black's
62 Kcs Be8 ft,a7 ' / 34th move
tft t:
'/,
If 61...8b7,62Kb5winsthe pawnfor nothing' /

63 Bbs Black resigns. the time control at move40.

The aboveexampleillustratesso well the needfor the Black must immediatelydecideon his "clearwinning
stronsei iiO.'r King to 6e able to effectivelypenetrateinto the plan". He must recognizethat in integralpart of it must be t5
;i|;|i;il; bo.rO 'ioiO.fended by the weiker side'sKing. .lf "normal,'
ienetrate into WhitevsQueenside.(AI is true for the
iitir Cunnotbe achieved,the chancesare excellentthat the cases,so here too White's King can cope with the e>rtrapassed
iu*.ir-Oi"*n. The very first of my generalprinciples.stated: pawnon the Kingside.)How-canBlack get into the Queen-
PleriiUfirtr ind follow a clear plari.". In samecolor Bishop
side? The chancesare poor that he will bt able to usethe c4
"nOg"r.*, a cardinalpart of any plan mustbe to ensurethat square becaus-eWhite's Bishop_cancontrol that readily
the kine can penetrat'e into the ehemyposition.This impor- enough. Thereforethe spingboariifor the invasionrru$t be thb
tant rea-lizatibn shouldbe the guid.in_g light when there ls a
This-concept is d4 square.Black's_^clgqplan mustensurethat his King can get
choicebetweenfwo or more poTentialpaths. to that square._If Blaik usesthis logical decisiorimaki-ng
Diagrhm 77,E. Mednis - A.
*.filif urtraredby rhe play frbm ploggsl: he will cgrye up with the colrect recapture. Is it
f;i;;N;; Vork (nl1atdt "it) Internati-onal.197.7, after Black's 35...Kff6or 35...ef6?
S+ttt'*ou.. e qdick look Showsthat White is.missing his f-
ou*n and hasnd discerniblecompensation for it. Therefore, A) 3s .... K}f6?
Wt ii-. *"rii*p..t that the likelih|od of beingin a theoretical-
lv lost position is very high. White'sonly advantageat present This is the gamecontinuationand is wrong. The cor-
ii that'hisKing is m6re activethan Black's.The chancesare rect35...ef6will bEdiscussed
underB).
planthatI had
iffi;hiJ t6*fif pJo. I didnotseea defensive
confidencein and thereforeplayed: The text move must have looked attractiveto Black
becausehe can quicklyactivatehis King to e5. Yet there is no
(SeeDiagramon the nextPage) wln,becausethe King can't get further. In a momentwe shall
seewhy.
35 exf6+!?
36 93 g5+
F r o m a th e o re ti ca lsta n d p o i n ta move that m akes 37 Ke3 Ke5
Black'stask easier,but I felt that most likely I wouldiave to 38 Be4 h6
plttii G;.i o. iti.t. Yet my overridingreison for playingit 39 Bc6
hofi *as to force Black to makea verymajor decision before

34
33
 A l r e a d y no w w e se e th e p ro b l em with 35...Kxf6?. 36 h4 h6
White's King on e3 fulfills two defensivefunctions:stopsthe 37 g3 Kf/!
passede-pawnand, most importantly,deniesaccessto d4 for
Blaqk'gKing, And, like the Rock of Gibraltar,the King cannot Before advancingthe Kingside pawns and therebv
Fp {.rlodged from e3. All that White needsto do islo keep creatingsome holeson the light squares,Black centralizesth6
his Bishopactiveand this is easyenough. King.
38 Ke4 Ke6
39 Be8 f5+
13;;, 5ou 40 Kf4 Kf6
4t 86 g5+
Since the prospectsare so poor for a King invasionvia 42 hry5 hxgs+
t h is s q u a r e , R l a ck g e ts re a d y to u s e the pawn for a 43 Ke3 Ke5
potential ...c3break. Yet this break never offers the chance 4 Bb7 f4+
for an advantage. 4s sfi4 gd4+
6 Kez Bd5
41 Bbs Kcs 47 Ba6 Kd4!
42 Be8 e5
43 Ke4 Kd6 Compare this position with those after 35...Kxf6?:
44 Ke3 Kd5 Black'sKing is readyto infiltrate and there is nothingWhite
45 Bfl+ Kc5 cando about it.
46 Be8 Bc2
47 Bd7 e4 /t8 Kfz
48 Kd2 Bb3
49 Ke3 Or 48 Kd2 B! followedbv 49...Bc4.

Draw 48 .... Bc4

49 Bb7 Kd3
Offered by Black. There is no way to progressby 50 Bctr Bb3
normal meansand the ...c3break just neverworks. For in- 51 KB Kc2
stance,49...c3 50 bxc3 Kc4 51 Kxe4 Bc2+ 52 Ke5! Kb3 53 52 t<fr4 Kxb2
94! Kxa3 54 Kf6 Kb2 55 Bxa4Bxa4 56 Kg6 etc. 53 Ke3 c4l
54 Kd4 c3
B) 35 .... erf6! 55 Be4 c2
56 Bxc2 Bxc2
Now Black will be able to executehis "classicalstrate- 57 Kc4 Kxa3
g/': createa viable passedpawn on the Kingside(the f-pawn), 58 Kc3 Bb3
advanceit to f4 to dislodgeWhite's King from e3 and while 59 Kd2 Kb2
White's King is busycopingwith it, Blackt King will penetrate
i nto White'iQueen-side. Blackwins.

35 36
 And so, despiteWhite'sbestdefenseand Black'shandi-
pawn for his Bishop,after the
cap of triving'ttrewrong Rook"routine". Chapter2: PositionalAdvantages
coi'rect35...eff6tBlack'swin is
Section1: Introduction
A more active King, a potentiallymore productive
Bishop,an over-allsuperiorpawnformationor a specifically
\ery powerfulpawn - theseare the specificsof what is called
'positionaladvantage".Often it is a combinationof these
t'hctorsthat allowsthe positionaladvantageto be a meaning-
fulone.
In making a j udgm ent about a pos i ti on a tw o s tep
processis required: firstly, who is better, and, secondly,how
iargeis the advantage.Thoughseeminglyobvious,it must be
emphasizedthat the first step is an absoluteprerequisitefor a
successful result. If you evaluateyour positionto be superior,
when in fact you stand worse, and proceed to play to win
when you should be scratchingfor a draw, is it any surprise
that you lose? Once we havethe correctqualitativeevalua-
tion, then we need to considerthe quantitativeside. In a
superiorposition, do we have good, some or no practical
winningchances?The defenderneedsto askthe sameques-
tions in reverse. The theoretician alwavswants to know
whethera position is a forced win or draw. But in real life
often only a lot of postgameanalysiscan help to answerthat.
W hat the pr actica l pl ay er needsto k now i s the r el ati v e
"goodness" br "badness" oi the positionthat he finds himselfin
and the correct strategyin aiming for the most that he can
expectto get. It is thesetechniquesthat I will be presenting
in the sectionsthat follow.

a positionaladvantageis e.xpeltedto yield a

.N_ormally
materialadvantag-e -- in our casepawn(s). Once material
advantageis achfu v edthe w i n i s us ual l ys i m pl e,s i nc ethe
attributesof positional advantagegenerallyremain. The
examplesthat-followdeal only with positionswith pawnson
both lides becauseonly this situationgivesmeaningfulwin-
ningchances.

37 38
Section2: Better King and Karpov immediatelystartsto prove that White has a won
The examplesin Chapter 1, Section3, have alreadv
demonstratedthe power and destructivecapabilityof the
King in Bishopendgames.The sourceof this power is three-
fold: (1) the Bishop is, after all, only a minof piece; (2) the % %g A% % t A. Karpov -
Bishop cannot protect pawnsnot of his color; and (3) if the t,t t V. Hort
[ing occrrpiesan important.postnot of the Bishop'scolor, Diagram18 t/ z t
7 z t %'% Budapest
then the Bishopcannotchasehim away.
v& ,.ru t973
After Black's
We can makg the following importantgeneralizations %%%e% 37th move
regardingKing location: fr"%% %n
(1) If the Kng is on thefourth rank and cannot be chased
awcty,thk is a tangibleadvantage. 38 Ke3!
(2) If the King is on the fifth rank and cannot be chased White is nowsureto havethe activeKing.
awa.y,this givesgood winningchances.Only whenthe opponenfs
p,ositionshowsno fundamental weaknesses can he be sureof a 38 .... Bg4
draw. 39 Bd3 Be6
40 Kd4
Let us now add meaningto the aboveprinciplesby
lookingat actualpositions. White's King now has a securepositionon the fourth
rank and thereby a "tangible"advantage.This when addedto
A. King on Fourth Rank the followingfactorsgivesWhite a won position:
That a King on the four rank is the activeKing is easy -- Black'sKing not only is relegatedto its third rank but
"on
to see graphically:put a King on the fourth rank your cannotmove,becauseWhite's King would then infiltrate via
board. You will see that the oppositeKing is therebyreli:gat- c5or e5.
ed to his third rank. Thereforeit makeslense that-anunas-
sailable King on_thefourth rank is a tangible advantage. -- All of Black's pawnsare on the samecolor as White's
However, by itself, this advantageis insufficientfor the iin. Bishop,and becadsethey are stuck on that color they are
You must also be able to successfullyattackthe enemypawns readilyvulnerable. The piimary target is the d-pawn;second-
with your Rishop. Thesefactorswer6 alreadydemonst?aledin ary targetsare a6 and h7.
the evaluationof Diagram2 andthe play thereof.
-- White will be able to createa passedpaw! on-the f-file.
Most examplesfrom practical play are of somewhat Note that White'sdoubledg-pawns'areno liandicaphere,since
more complicatednature. Characteristicis Diagram 18, A. theyhold back Black'sg- inb h-pawns,the_r_ebyensuringthat
Karpov - V. Hort, Budapest7973,after Black's-37thmove. the-f-pawnis an effectiv6extrapawnon the Kingside.
Black had just before wronglyexchangeda pair of knights

39 40
 40 .... Bg4
4l Bczl Be6
t"%,,g"Nt%i
lf 4t...8e2,White's f-pawnshowsits power with 42 f5!,
Diagram19
% % % %
winning. t%e%ft%fr Drawn

42 Bb3!
% % %
% ' , . , N%
Forcingthe Bishopto remainon the e6-g8diagonal. % % %
% % %
42 .... Bn But a slight worseningof this position and chancesare
43 Bdl! Be6
excellentthat Black is lost. Considernow Diagram?n. White
Forced threatof 44B,94. on the move wins rather effortlesslvafter:

T:Xthe '%
%@ry%t
B l a c k n o w i s i n zu g zw a n ga n d m ust allow either
White's King or Bishop to penetrate. Notice how efficiently
% %'"'/P''%
Karpov set up this position,,withouthavingto utilize the two
Diagram20 %t%e% %t White wins
existingtempo moves,a3 and g3. % %"",,w
/ & %
fr% %
4.... Bf7 % %'%
45 Bg4 Black resigns % % %
White threatens46 Bc8 and 45...Be6 46Bxe6Y,'xe647 1 Bcs!
94 Kd6 48 f5 leads to an easily won K & P endgamefor
White. Firstthe Bishopis chased
back.
B. King on Fifth Rank I .... Bd8
2 f5!
A King on the fifth rank is a very substantialadvan-
tage because"thisrelegatesthe opponenl'sKing to its second ThenBlack'sf-pawnis fixedon the colorof White's
rafik. The defensivesi6e must havba troublefret positionnot Bishop.
to be lost. One such position is shownin Diagram 19. It is
drawn becauseWhitd's Bishopcannotattacklnything and ) Bc7
Black'sKing can preventany further penetrationby White's 3 Bd4 Bd8
King. (SeeDiagram19on the followingpage.)
And now White wins Black's b-pawnand the game

42
4I
with... i t s e l f a n d m u s t b e a b l e t o a t t a c k t h e v u l n e r a b l ep o i n t s
(pawns!)by itself.
4 Kcs
With the abovebackground,we can now formulate the
White wins. followingtwo key principles:
The plav from Diagram 20 demonstrateshow cramped (l) !" normal simationsthe "good'Bishopwins againstthe,,bad,
the defender'sjlieces are 6n the last two rank. Moreover,all BishoP.
suchK & P enciingsare invariablylost for the defensiveside.
A typical ex am pl efr om pr ac ti c alpl ay i s s how n i n
Section3: Better Bishop Diagram12, H. N. Pillsbury- Billecard,Munilh 1900,after
Black's46th move. All of Black'spawnsare on the samecolor
In evaluatinethe qualitv of a Bishop,the first need to
"good" as his Bishopand moreover,the Bishopis caughtbehindhis
know is what is a'6ad" gishoi and what i-sa Bishop. own lines. On the other hand, Whitets_ Bishop is obviously
The "bad" Bishopis one which is lockedin by his own.pawns good. With his next move White makeshis Bishopeven ',bet1
and has therefor'elittle scopeto maneuver. Of necessity,-this ter",therebydrivingthe lastnail into Black'scoffin:
definition also sals that suchBishop'spawnsare wlnerable to
an attack by the 6nemyBishop. An-e>itreme caseof the "bad"
Bis h o pi s d h o wni n D i a g ra mZ t. Wh i te' sextr a piece - his
Bishop- is like a pawnan-dthereis no win in the position. 4 ," ,Kt H. Pillsburv-
Billecard
Diagram 22
4t'@r,,t,
t7t,ft Munich1900
% % % % After Black's
%'tfu.t
%'"1f,
% ft €r 46thmove
%',rru.
.,rm,fr.,rut "%veD%%%
Diagram21 "1ft.n%fr%fr% Draw
% ,z
fr%A%
'2e%% 47 g5! Be8
ft% 48 Bfi Bf7
This is the main line. In the qame Black allowed a
For a Bishop to be "good",two factors must be present: ftgpelessK & P endgameafter 48...Bd7-49Bh3+ Ke7 50 BxdT
(1) the Bishopmay not be Encumberedby his pawns,-and (2) 5*97 and lost quiEkly after 51 Ke3 Ke6 52 Kd4 Kf5 53
ini: nisnop must aiso be able to attack the eremy pawns, i.e. Kc5.
the pawnsmust be on the samecolor as the Bishop. In open-
in s ' a n d m i d d l eg a mep l a y th e fi rst p a rt of the definitionis 49 Bh3+ Ke7
sulficientsincei-fthe Bisliop hasa gieat open diagonalit can 50 Ke3 Be8
combinewith anotherpiece'(in -color particularthe Queen)to wreak 51 Kd4 Kd8
havoc. But in a same Bishopendgame,the Bishopis by 52 KcS Kc7

43 44
 14 b7+ Kb8
15 Kb6 White wins
Jd:q^il:ffi:.
Jh.r1b?e,, and
B,ack,s
King
must allow Kd6 with decisiveeffect. The moral of thesetwo examplesis simply:bewareof
t,oluntarilyacceptingthe truly bad Bishop. It almost always
If the "bad"Bishop is Qgdenough,evenbeing at the loses'
Itart a payn qp may be insufficient to prevent the loss. In
Diagram 23, White's Bishop is "perfect'i,Black'sworse than e) The betterBishopalway givessomewinningchances.
bad. Even with Black on moveheloses:
To be clearlv sufficient for a win, however,additional
A% -A are reqdired. Thesecan be a better King or better
advantages
Dawns. combinationof all three usuallygivesa sure win,
% %t *1, %t hr *e alreadysawfrom Diagram2.
t % %t % i
Diagram23 t& v&
%trffi.,'& Whitewins White's advantagesin Diagram 24, B. Pytel -. Hojdaro-
Tru A%
'rr,r.M va, Hungary 1969,White on move,are the better Bishop an_d
betterQuetinsidepawns. Black hasthe better King, bul the d5
% % %
Dawnis weak anil the a6 pawn potentiallyso. His Bishop,
% % % tfrouehinferior to White's,hasgood scopeand the Kingside
% % % pawn-formationis healthy. White hassomewinningchances,
but Black shoulddraw with correctplay. But soon Black goes
1 Kd8 astray:
2 Bb7 Kc7
3 Bxa6 Kcf
4 a4l bxa4
5 b5+ Kc7 %%a%% B. Pytel-
6 b6+ Kctr t % % %'" Hoidarova
7 Bbs+! Kb7 Diagram24 %t"%,t.fu,
,% 4 Huhgary1969
8 Bxa4 vM. % White on
move
White hashis pawn back and the open Queensidewill
TMB%A7ru
allow his King to penetrate. Black'sBisho:pmust continueits % % %
"modest"role.

8 .... Ka6 1 Bhs Bfs+

9 Kc3 Kb7 2 Ke3 Bd7
10 Kb4 Ka6 3 h4! 94??
11 Bbs+ Kb7
12 KaS Kb8 A mammoth strategicerror. Better is 3"'gxh4 which
13 Ka6 Ka8 off a pawn at th"ecostof weakeningthe f4 square.
exchanges

45 46
However,best is leavingthe Kingsidepawns- llone-and Pl.ay- 18 Bfs! BF/
i,in S...gdOl.lf q Be8 Bi8 5 ec6-fOOi and White's.position 19 Bh7 Be8
iii36"i.i, but I don't seewherehe can pene^trate- After the 20 Bg8 Blackresigns
1!*1;Wirlfi'i nirhop becomes very good and Black'svery.bad.
bV ,."ni of by-now-familiar tem-po maneuvers, White wins a To protectthe d-pawnwith 20...Bc6meanslosingthe h-
pawnand the game. pawnafter 21B,n.

In samecolorBishopendings,never,neuer,,never voluntai- Diagram 25 showsthe position from V. Smyslov- L.

ly put Wur pcwns on the iame color as pur Bishop unlessthere Szabo,Zurich Candidates1953,after Black's 24th move.
dr-eveiy,very,verygoodreasonsfor it. White hasthe better Bishop,sinceBlack'sd- throughh-pawns
are on the samecolor as his Bishop. Yet Black has no funda-
4 B196 Kf6 mentalweaknesses and with careful play Szaboensuresthe
5 Bc2 Kes draw:
6 Bd3 Be8
7
8
BeZ
Bd1!
Bd7
Be6 'z '2t ,M
V. Sm'slov-
9 a4l L , 1 2 t %t L. Sza6o
Starting to undermine Black's Queenside' If .Pl.ackex- Diagram25 ,/l-, 'r,
t,& % Zurich Can-
ctranseJ.his"a-pawnwill be weak; if he allows White to ft. didates1953
then the b-pawnwill be vulnerable'
excha"nge, f t % % /& After Black's
24th move
Bd7
% % f t %^4,
9 .... % " %
10 axb5 axb5
11 Be2!
25 Kn Ba6
Black again is in zugzwang.SinceBlack'sKing must 26 K8
keephis grounii,a secondweakKingsidepawngetscreatecl.
First White centralizeshis King.
11 h5
12 ilil Bcf 26 .... h6
13 Bd3 Be8 27 BR f5
t4 Bc2 Bf7 28 erf6+ e.p. ICd6
15 Bh7! Be8 29 Kd4 g5!
t6 Bd3! Ke6
t7 Kd4 Kd6 The weaker side tries to exchangeas many pawnsas
possible.
If Black'sKinesidepawnswould still be on 95 and h6'
the positionwould bddrawn. Now it is totally lost' 30 ft95+ hxgs
31 e4

47 48
-

OtherwiseWhite canmakeno plogress.If 31 h4 gxh4 Section4: Better PavYns

32 grh4Bb7!followedby 33...e5(+)andBlackhasno worries.
Having the superiorpawn formation- or more simply,
31 .... dxe4 "berterpawns"- can mean in a positivesense,havingeffective
32 l{xe4 Bbs nassedpawn(s)or in a non-negative sense,not beingsaddled
irirh weak pawn(s). In this sectionboth of theseimportant
+?l 33 Ke3 Bf3?? 34 Kxf3 as the
And not 32...F,b7 will
categories be covered.
in K & P endings'
pawnis usuallydecisive
outsidepassed
A. PassedPawns
33 h4 g*t4
34 gxh4 a5! As the number of pieceson the board decreases, the
relative importance of pawns increases.It therefore follows
pawns
as manyQueenside
Blackalsoaimsto exchange that in an endgamewhere each side only has one Bishop,a
aspossible. viable passedpawn is a significant favorable factor. Most
import-antly, it may queenbut even if it does not the King
35 Kd4?! usually must blockade it (a blockadingBishop can often be
chased off by an offer to exchange- see Diagram 29), which
with thisandthe followingmove,white underestimates allowsthe opponent'sKing to wreak mqyh.elnon the rest of
Black'spotentialfor counterplay.In orderis 35 a3,to parry the board. Therefore - as will be recalled from Chapter 1,
bv36 b4.
35...a4?t Section3 - the key principle in positionswith a pawn advan-
tageand pawnson tioth sides,is to createa passecl pawn. The
35 .... a4 four typesof desirable passed pawns are:
36 b4?! a3!
37 Be4 Be8 1.OutsidePassedPawn
38 Bb1 Bfl
39 Kc3 e5 The outsideoassedDawrlis alwaw a simificant advan-
40 bi- Bds tagebecauseit ties down ihe defendeilfing-or Bishop).far
ariayfrom the rest of the board,enablingthE offensiveKing
this,
Now Black hasthe betterBishop. Recognizing to penetratethere. In most casesthe outsidepassedpawn is
Smplovhurriesto forcethe draw. sufTicientto win. The exceptionsoccur when the defensive
side'spawnsare few, healthyand thereforereadily defensible
- asin Smlslov - Szabo,Zurich 1953in the previoussection.
41 Kb4 e4
O l(xa3 e3
4} Bd3 BB A thematic demonstrationof the value of the outside
4 1ft4 e2 passedpawn is shownfrom Diagram26,M. TchigoriJt- H. N.
Bxe2 Pillsbuiv,London 1899,after White's33rd move. From his
45 Bxe2
6 a4 Draw Q.ueenside pawn majority Pillsbury createsa passeda-pawn
whichties down Wh"ite'sBishop and Black'sKing can then
startbotherinsWhite'sDawns:
47 a5 will exchangeoff Black'slastpawn.
(See"thediagrim at the top of the nextpage)

49 50
 1sd exploitWhite'spawnweaknesses.
"'e,"e %g'%
''&,'%' M. Tchigorin
- H. Pillsburv
N Bal!
%t'%:, 4l Bcl f5
Diagram 26 %tr.fu-;%,",&"t London1899
After White's
42
43
Ba3
erfS
Kes!
Krfs
%%fr%% 33rdmove 4 Ke3 Ke5
/ f% €/fut
.t"/w 45 f4+

The threat was45...8d4+ 46KeZ Kd5 and there is no

defenseto that. If 45 f3, then also 45...Bd4+ 46KeZ gd3+
33 .... a5! 47 K{3 Kd5 is sufficient.

Ensuringthat after ...a4Blackwill obtainan outside 45 Kd5

assedba*n. Elackmustnot tarry asotherwise34 b4l makes 6 t5 Be5!
is task-alot moredifficult. 47 Kn Ke4
Whiteresigns
34 KR Ke6
35 Ke3? As a starter he will loseboth Bishoppawns.

Now Whiteis definitelylost,asBlack'sBishopwill be 2. ProtectedPassedPawn

abletomenaceWhite'sKingsidepawns.Mandatory-is 3q.91!
.niuiing tttat White's piwns
Kings'ide canbe placedon light A protectedpassedpawn is usuallydecisive.Because
squares. neitherthe King nor Bishop is required to protect it, they
havefree hands in trying to penetratethe other side of the
35 .... g4l board. Diagram27 is quite won for White. Black'spawnsand
Bishoparebasically O.K., but the protectedf-pawn'tiesdown
F i x i n g White's pawnson the same color as Black's the King so that White gainsentry on the Queenside.With
Bishop. tslackto more the play could continue:

36 hxg4 hxg4 ' % % %

37 Kd3 a4
38 bxa4 bxa4 t % t " &'4
g%
39 Bb4 Be5 tl /l
Diagram27 Whitewins
40 Ba3
tl A ', fti,
In a senseWhite has a favorable defensiveset-up
becausehis Bishopcan successfully blockadethe pass:gP?g: 't %
%%% %%
Ho*eu.., White is still lost becalse the absenceof White's
biittop atio*r Black'sKing plus Bishopto dominatethe center

51- 52
 1 .... Bf8 and thus Black cannotc{ggtga passedpawn on that side. yet
2 Bcs! Bg7 for winning purposes,White must successfully answerthe
question:llo.* tg progrerss!The dS.pawncan b6 readilycon-
All K & P endingsfrom this positionare lost for rbined-andthe chancesfor penetratingthe Kingsideare.poor.
Black. Now Whiteprotectshis Bishopso that he canplay White's correct method is to createunderfavbrablecrcum-
Kd6. snncesconnectedpassedpawnsusing a characteristictactical
motif:
3 b4! Bf6
4 Kd6 Ke8 / 'g/
5 Kc7 d5 ./7 A .t', B. Gurgenidze
The play after 5...b5 6 a5 d5 7 Kb6 is similar to the tt 2t - A. Zaitsev
main line. Diagram28 "'1fr/ u 1969USSR
fr'rft'' t t Championship
6 KxbT d4 A 'f, € T White to
7 l{xa6 d3 move
8 Be3 Bc3 , Z,
9b5 d2
10Bxd2 Bxd2
11 b6 Kd7 1 Bd4!
l2b7 Kc7
13 Ka7 White wins White first improveshis positionall around:Bishop
centralization,King centralization,Kingsidepawnstructure.
3. ConnectedPassedPawns
In the game White jumped the gun with 1 a5? bxa5 2
Connectedpassedpawnsare better than disconnected B x a 5 ,b u t a f t e r 2 . . . f 5 1W h i t e ' s K i n g w a s o u t o f p l a y a n d
passedpawnsin Bishop eq9games.Becauseconnectedpassed Black's a-pawn (lfte outside passed-pawn)gave dufficient
pawnssupportedUy tlre Bishop and/or King can be readily counterplayto draw.
advanced,they.usuallywin. For-the defenderto hope tir
draw, he must either be able to effect a blockade(verv'diffi- 1 .... Bd8
cult to achieve)or obtain counterplaywith a far'advanced
passedpawn. This passiveretreat is forcedsinceafter 1...Bc5?2Bfzl
Blackonly has the choicebefweenthe lost K & P endgames
. . The p.r.opermethod^ofcreating connectedpassedpawns after 2...Fif2 3 Kylz or after 2...g5 3 Bxc5 bxc5 4 fxgSfxg5
and then utilizing them will be dembnstratedfrom Diasram 5 Ke4.
-
?.Q,.B.Gurgenidzf A. Zaitsev, 1969USSR Champion-ship,
White on move. Just a quick look is enoughto seettiat White 2 Ke4l Kd7
must be clearly better. His Queensidepawn majority is in the
form of a valuableprotectedpassedpawn. On the oiher hand, Black cannotafford 2...a5?becauseafter 3 c5! bxc5 4
Black'sKingsidemajority is hampeiedby the doubledpawn Bxc5the a-pawnis vulnerableto White'sBishopand White's

53 54
,7

to b5.
King hasaccess cjefendersufficientlyso that he could not protect the rest of
lrisProPertY.
3 f5! g5
4. AdvancedPassedPawn
thenBlack'sh-pawnis
Worseis 3...9d5+4 #5 because
unprotectable. The further advanceda passedpawn is, the greater its
tbrce. The most importantguidelineto rememberin positions
4 a5! * ith passedpawnsis: passedpawnsmustbe pushed! A basic
5c5 demdnstratlonof this is shown in Diagram 29. Here both
sideshave advancedpassedpawns,but White's is further
Well supportedby White'spieces,the connectedpassed advancedand he wins easilyafter Bg3 - even if Black is on
pawnsmust in-due coursewin. Yet note how White through- move. In normal situations- and unlessthe King can catch
but combinesdefenseagainstthe a-pawnwith the determina- rhe passedpawn - the followingprincipleapplies:when both
tion to advancehis passedpawns. side'shave ilassedpawns,the further advancedpassedpawn
lvins.
5 .... a4
6 Kd3
7 Kc4
Bas
Bel
r y % %
8 Bc3! Bg3 %fr% %@%
9 Bb4! Be5 % ' %%
10 Ba3! Kc7 Diagram29 % %'"ru, White wins
11 c6! Bf4 %%%fr%
12 BfB
13 BxgT
Bc1
Bbz
% %e%fr
% % ' M %
BecauseBlack's King had to watch the passedpawns,
White's Bishop was able to penetrateBlack'sKingside. Now
Whi t e ' s Ki n g d oe s i ts j o b o f ma ki n g the for war d a- pawn B. Weak Pawns
harmless.
Weak pawnscan be consideredto be thosewhich are in
14 Kb4! a3 dangerof imminentcaptureby the King or Bishop. Yet such
15 Kb3 Kb6 a difinition will not help us in learnlngabout.pawnplay
16 BfB Be5 involvinginherentlVinferior pawn Structures.I nereloreIn
17 Bxa3 Kbs I witl onlVbe coniernedwith the inherentlyweak
thissecti"ion
18 Be7! a5 isolatedpawn and the inferior doublepawnstructure'
19 Brf6! White wins
l. IsolatedPawn
After 19...a4+ 2OKa2Bf4 21 Bxg5! Bg3 22Bxh4
White has five passedpawns. Also this exampleshoweda Theiso|atedpawnisonewhichhasnopa.wn-o
commonoccurrence:the viable passedpawnsparalyzedthe samecolor on an adjoiningfile. It is weakbecauseit doesnot

55 56
 -

have anotherpawn supportingit and becausethe absenceof momenr.We haveatreadylearnednor to

adjoiningpawnsmakesit more accessible to the enemyKing. ^,..__J,f-:]g:ilq
votuntantyput pawnson the colorwheretheycanbe-ittacked
When both sideshave isolatedpawns,both haveopportunities pVtne enemyB.iqhop aldLhis^p_os{igl
for counterplayand the most likely gameresultis a draw. If lutely.req.uired $ no exception.Abso_
is 2...K.c6! 3-Bg7Kd7 a Kdaket and ar-
only one side has isolatedpawn(s),the strongerside hasgood t.hgug!White has madeprogrels,I havenot fou;da win.
winning chancesbecausethe protectionof isolatedpawns Afteithe straresicblunder'2...(4+??,Blachhas; ..dd p;;;
requiresthe help of either the King or Bishop,and this gives accessible
to white'sBishopald goesunder.G;i,r" 3 on the
the strongerside'sKing or Bishop the opportunityto try to
penetrateon the other side. If this can be done,the game lsltsl nighqpl'demonstraled howwhire shourdtrandlethis.
GM Matulovic's execution is flawless.
generallyis won; otherwiseit is a draw.
3 Kd3 Kc6
This point is well illustratedby the play from Diagram 4 Bg7 Bcs
30, M. Matulovic- M. Cebalo,Yugoslavia1970,White to move. 5 Bh6! Be3
Black has four isolatedpawns,of which the b- and d-pawns
are the most vulnerableones and require continuedattention After 5...8d6?! 6 Kd4 Black is alreadyin zugzwang.
by Black'sforces. On the other handWhite'sQueensidepawns
are perfect and the Kingside pawnssafe from any attack by 6 Bf8! Kbs
Black. ThereforeWhite hassomeadvantage, but to win White 7 Bd6 Kas
will haveto penetrateinto Black'sKingside.Can it be done? 8 Be5 Kbs
9 Bd4! Bcl
10 Ba7 Kcf
rl Bn Bb2
,%7////Z
12 Bel! Kcs
% % % Matulovic- 13 c3!
%g'N % Cebalo
Diagram30 ' "%mt %
.%t %t Yugoslavia
r970
The creationof_anoutsidepassedpawn at this moment
% % leadsto a forcedwin of Black'sf-pawn.
{%e%t % * ,7\
Whiteon
move 13 .... bxc3
% f t % l4 .% 14 Bxc3 Ba3
% %
Black has no choice,sincethe outsidepassedpawn
1 Bd4 Kbs?! createsa won K & P endingafter 14...Bc115 Bd2! gxd2 16
Kxd2Kd4 17 h4l.
Black completelymisreadsthe sceneof action. Correct
is 1...Kd7 2 Ke3 Ke6 and it is doubtful whether White can 15 Bd2 Bb2
make any progress. 16 B,fr4 Bf6
l7 Bd2! Kd6
2 Ke3 f4+?? 18 Be3 Kc:6
19 f4

57 58
 Passedpawnsmustbe pushed! If white tries 1 Ke4,Bracks_iryrply
forcesthe King
1...f5+and then reavesthe Kirigiidepawnsas is] back with
over_att,
19 .... Be7 Btack'spawnsare safeandwithT.arofriur;;ilfiir.]Lsition
20 f5 Kd6 is drawn.
2l Bf4+ Kcf
22 BeSl Bc5
23 B(7 Ba3 ,%t
24 Kc3
25 Kd4
Bd6
Ba3 t '',tAgt), , 1 %
.% ,
26 Ke3 Bcl* Diagram31 % + Draw
27 KB Bd2 * % ; , t u+ , l!t
28 f6 Bc3 // €t %
29 Bh8!
*,,
The threat of 30 f7! forcesBlack'sresponse. 1z ,

29 BM The othersideof the coin is illustratedin Diaeram 32.

30 Kf4! Bd6+ Againwhite's Kingsidemajorityis staticand inciiable of
31 KI5 Blackresigns cratinga passedpawn. on tfie otherhand,gtait<'se[iensioe
malontyis a normalone and with 1...b5!Blackireatesa
After 31...Kd7 32897 White'sf-pawnis readyto roll; vlablepassedpawnandtherebygoodwinningchances.
31...d4 32Ke4 is the end of Black'scounterplay
2. Doubled Pawns
i,'tz . iZ t
Except for the caseof isolateddoubled pawns,double
pawns as part of a pawn structure are not inherentlyweak Diagram32
I rAs t % Good
winning
chancesfor
defensively. Rather, the problem with double pawnsis their
lack of ofiensive punchi It is difficult to crdate a passed
ftl fr tt % Black
pawn from a pawn majoritycontaininga doublepawn. Even &ft.,*
then a dynamic(non-symmetrical)formation is iequired. If A :
the double pawn is part of a syrnmetricalformation,-thenit is
impossibleto create by force a passedpawn just from pawn
play alone. We saw alreadyin Diagram 28 how Black'spawn Section5. SmatlAdvantagesin BishopEndgames
majority on the Kingsidewasmade impotentby the presence
of ilou6le pawns. Two additional eiamples"ares^hownin The singlemost characteristicfeatureof the contempo-
Diagrams31 and 32. rary tournamentsceneis the need to win the game that you
ar e.playing.This i s equal l ytr ue both for the gr andm as r er
In Diagram 31 White's extra pawn is of very limited and the amateur. Obviouslywhenyou are playinga match
value since hd cannot force a passedpawn on the l(ingside. for the Wortd Championship(a;d dlso of cciurietle earlier

59 60
Candidatesmatches)the stakesare high. Yet the adventof able. Therefore,obviouslythere can be no talk that the
the_Swiss sFtgm tournamentswherefirst place"is everything" rrawnis a significantweakness.Black'sisolatedd-pawnis t
a n d l o w e r p ri ze s" n o th i n g "h a sp l aceda hugepr em iumon iheadvantage thatWhiteftas. When I analyzedthis endgame
winning. This is true for the GM ("Open")Groupand alsofor rJepthshortlyafter it wasplayed,I referredto Diagram33
the lower groups. This is particularlyso for the tournaments ;r "deaddraw". But now - older and wiser - I know better.
in the United States. very strong internationalmastercan lo
the first place,if a "dead
it, how can it be a draw"? There are three importa
To win "almostall" gamesor at the very least"lots',of reasonswhy White not only shouldplay it out but is-entit
games,a certain amountof risk taking is reqiired. yet this to do that: (1) White hasno risk of losing,(2) Blackwill al
must be at a measuredlevel,sincefoblish risks iust lead to haveto move and can make error(s),and (3) becauseBla
losses. Therefore, more and more, experiencedblavers are
'advantages will alwayshave to spendsome energyin guardingthe
turningto the technique^of trying to exploitsmall pawn,this could give White somechancesof openingup al
into a win. The risk of losingsuchtindgamesis slim; ihe infiltratinginto the Kingside. Much to gain,nothingto lo
prosp€ctsof a win can be br-ightif yofhave the needed is the situationfor White. White doeswin, asfollows:
k n o w l e d gea n d d e te rmi n a ti o n -.A "[ongtim e" aso it was
thoughtpoor mannersto keepplayingouisuperioriyettheo-
retically "deaddrawn"endgamei. Yo[ weresupposeoto trust 'fu,t"ru,
% A % % 1
your opponent'sability_to alwaysdefend coriectly. Such
times are long past and the practiial tournamentprav6rbetter
,' "%r u , % % t W. Browne
J. Grefe
be awareof that. You nust-want to play out your slishtly*pr- 1975USA
ior endgameswith greatenthusiasm ahd deteniinatioi: v6u^utt
Diagram33 , %t'% % Champions
be ready to defend slightly infertor endgameswith greatcare % 7 M % ' After Black
and patience.The worst thing that you can do in a-ninferior fr%A% % 22nd move
i?{gi3: ,1.^lgq:,-uP^l:l oppongnt fo^rplaying
it our. ft/ z ftt
I n r s w l l t l ea d to n o th tnlt,your
g .b g a
! l o wer ingof your guar d
in
trying to scorethe valuablehalf point.
23 Kfl
To discussthis importantsubjectI haveselectedtwo
endgames:one where the ilefenderis iarelessand rosesdeserv- Centralizingthe King is a logicalfirst step. Black h
e d l y a n d t he o th e r w h e re th e d e fenseis up to the iob. I alreadyaccomplished this.
decidedto usesamecolor Bishopendgamesbbcauseth"ediffi-
culty of correctlyplayingsuchendgailesis often underrated 23 .... Bd7
Dyressexpenencedplayers. 24 a3!
Our first startingpoint is Diagram33, W. Browne- J. At our startingpoint Black hasthe temporarilys-t1p
Gr_efe,1975USA Cham-pionship, after"Black's'22nd
move.The or QueensG ["*n fSrination. With the perceftivetext Wh
only significantpermanbntiteriris that Black'so-pawnian be ensiresthat tliis situationcan not be mabe pe'rmanent.Aft
|jl1.k5g QV.{!iqe's Bishop,whereasWhite'sd-irawnis safe
trom tslack's i...Pidl, g l act<threitened 24...b5,fol lowedby T 'M, there
Bishop. _yef white can only attackBlack'sd-
pawn by the Bishop,whereas
alwa* be on theda
il;;i"i in"t t iJ Or.iniioe pawns-will
Black hastio defe;d;rs avail- rq"ii*lwriittr diGh;;il"?*. Ao*eu.., arter24a3!,wh

61 62
is able - at his convenience- to continuewith b4, thus also 31 h3 Bd7
placingboth of his pawnson the dark squares. 32 KR KA
33 Ks3 l<97
24 .... Kf6 34 Bhs Bc6
E Ke2 Ke7 35 h4!
26 Ke3 b5??
White tries to loosenBlack'sKingsidepawn formation
This major strategicblunderdoesnot yet losethe game in the hope_of cr e.ati ng.ani nv as .i onr oute for hi s Ki ng.
but is as wrong as can be: Black needlesslyputs anotherpawn llandicappedas he is by his wlnerable b- and d-pawns,Black
on a light squarewhere it can be attackedby White'sBiihop.
- rnustdefendvery accuratelyand purposefullyto preventthis.
But how can an experiencedIM commit such an error? I \'et he neverseemsto fully graspthe seriousness of his condi-
think that the explanationinvolvesletting down one'sguard. tion.
The position appears "dead drawn" and the text helps to 35 .... Bd7
blockadethe Queenside.Yet the damagedoneis permanent. 36 BB Be6
37 Be2 Bd7
26 b4t 38 Bhs!
The refutationof Black'slast move and the point of Using the characteristicBishop tempo maneuvers,
White's 24th. Black might aswell capture,as after 27...a4?lthe rvherebythe Bishop can "lose a move",White has brought
a-pawncould go lost in casethe b-pawnis gone. aboutthe sameposition as after Black's35th move,but with
Black on move now. Yet havingto move is unpleasantfor
27 axb4 Black. For instance,his Bishophas no good moves:38...Be6?
28 axb4 g5 39 Be8 wins the b-pawnor 38...Bc6?allows39 Bg4! followed
29 t4t by Bc8and Kg4 (similarto the actualgame).

White now hasthe obviouslysuperiorBishop,but Black 38 .... KI8??

can just prevent damagefrom that source. So Wtrite must try
to get his King into Black'scamp. There are no routesopen
on the Queenside,so White's King will haveto head for-the
Kingsideto look for chancesthere.
29 .... t6
Black wantsto be in the position that after a fxg5 he
can recapturewith the f-pawnand keep a symmetricalpawn
formation. If Black would recapturewith the h-pawn,-then
White has excellentchancesfor creatinga viable outside
passedh-pawnby g3 and h4.
Sincethe Bishopcan't move,Black movesthe King. In
critical positionsa lot-moreperceptivness is required. After
the
'fhetext White's King has a iree ioad into Black'sKingside'
only correctdefense is 38...gxh4+! 39 I&h4 f5!, aspointed
out by GM Robert Byrne. Wh-ite'sKing then has no infiltra-
tion route and Black'JBishopcanjust pr-otecthis pawns. A 94
breakby White is neverfea'sibleis after ...fxg4the net result
would 6e that Black's h-pawnbecomesan-outsidepassed
pawn.
39 hxgs!

30 896 Bg4 Just at the r igh t m om entw hen Bl ac k 'sKi ng i s aw ay

53 64
from his g-pawn. rruwfland it is not clear what White can achieveon the King-
iiA.. Wtlite's advantage,of course,is hugeand yet the win is
39 .... hxg5 tot 1007ocertain. After the text move,it is.
40 ft95 ft95
41 BB 45 Bg4!
Moreaccurateis 41Bg4! (seemove45). Finallythe right idea. Becausethe exchange of Bish-
ops is not feaiible, Bishop
BTack's must allow White-'s
to pene-
4t .... Be6 trate.
42 Be2 Bd7?
45 .... Bcf
! (Seenote after Black's
The only chanceis 42...Ke7 45 Bc8! Kg7
44th). 47 Kg4 Kg6
a8 93!
4} BB
PuttingBlackin zugrwang.If now48...Be8 Whitecan
Again correctis 43 Bg4!. Whitewantedto playthe text rrina pawn 6v a9 Bb7,e.[. 49..-sal+ 50 Kf3 Be6 51 Bc6.
movequickly,soasto forceBlackto sealthenextmove. However, most likelystrdnger is - similarto the game - 49
Bf5+!Kf6 (49...Kh6-50 se6Bc6 50 Kf5)50 Bdt! Bd7+ 51
€ .... Kh5.
4 BeZ
48 Kf6
, ",%,&), 49 Khs!
50 Kh6
Be8+
t % % % W. Browne -
%'%a% '' J. Grefe White's penetrationroute is unusualbut effective.
Diagram34 ?t%t% ,, 1975U.S. Thanksto rugziang, White's King getsfurther and further in.
,&;,ft%% Champion-
% " % % w ship
After 44B,e2
50 ....
51 Kh7
Bc6
Be8
% %A%fr' % 52 Bg4l
% % % %
Enablingthe King to reachg8, since52,.8n fails to 53
Bd7and 52...Knto 53 Bh5+.
Black's
,,.r1-""" "r,., "ollL?nment
leads
to a defi- 52 .... 896+
nite losssince there is now no way to preventWhite's King 53 Kg8 Bf5
from penetrating^pl-ack's Kingside.A full night of analpis 54 BeZ Bd7
h a d c o n v i n c e dGM B ro w n e th a t B l a ck' s onlv chanceis 55 Kf8! 94
44...Ke7145 Bxb5 Kd6!. Black'sKing can then stop the b- but no desirablemovesexist,
Obviouslyundesirable,

65 66
e.g.55...Bc656 Bg4!Bb7 57 Ke8,etc. -
Orrrsrartingpoint !s p^iggrlm36,3. {"rpgy G. Kasparov,
world Championship1985,Game20,aftei Black's46th move.
56 Bfl! .T-hcchessenthusiastwho yearnsfor the romanticera is no
dogbt-disappointedthat suchpositionsexistand are played
Preparingthe final plan for z\grwang. our . Yet this is ver y muc h par t of the br eadand buttei of
iontemPorarYtournamentchess.
56 .... Bc6
57 Bg,2! Bb7
'%,, A. Karpov-
After 57...Ke6,White gets to Black'sg-pawnstarting %t'U G. Kasbarov
with 58 Kg7l. t a g
.M.'% % %t i 1985World
Diagram36 Championship
58
59
Ke8
Kd8!
Ke6
Kd6
% ' w ,% % Game20
60 Bfl! Bc6 itu%%/tuft After Black's
61 Bd3! Black resigns /& %Artu,% 46th move
% % %
% w , ' T ,% White must play out this positionbecausehe has two
% % " % "'z
% W. Browne- clearadvantages:(1) the better King, sinceby being on the
%a9,.% J. Grefe fourth rank it relegatesBlack'sKing to the third rank, and
Diagram35 i t t 1975U.S. (2) the superiorBishopbecauseit canmenaceBlack'sKingside
ft fr t; Championship pawns. The abovefactorsare not enoughto win, but more
' %%A'% /& After 61 Bd3! than enough to attempt to do so. Kasparov'squalitative
T, evaluationof the situationis perfect:"The endingis unpleas-
% ,%, ant,but it is tenable,a s tor e of pati enc ebei ng al l that i s
% required." Therefore,Black clearly has the proper attitude,
and"all" that is required is to find the proper moves- some-
The end of this most classicalendgamedeservesa thingwhich requireseternalvigilance.
diagram. Though at this moment materiafis still even,be-
gqus_eof zugrwangBlack will now start losinghis pawns:(1) 47 Bc4 Be8
61...Ke662 Kc7 followedby 63 Kb6, (2) 61.:.8d7'62 Be2n, 48 h4 f6
givingBlack a Hobson'striple choice:losethe b-pawn,losethe
g-pawnor lose the K & P endgameafrer 62...Kc6 63 Bxb5+ Both necessaryand good: Black safeguardsthe impor-
Kxb5 64Y\xd7Kxb4 65 Kd6 Kc4 66 Ke5. tant e5 square,enablix a pdtential ...g5adva-nce,
while__remov-
ing one of tne Kingside^pawns froir the vision of White's
Now let us turn to an example of perfect defense Biihop.
againstthe then reigningWorld Champion,i patient maneu- 49 Bg8!
verer who continuouslytestshis oppbnent's-skill.Yet the
Champion-to-beshows-whyhe des6rvesto wear his mantle. Already forcingBlack to start seriousthinking' The

67 68
7

attemptto activatethe Bishopwith 49...Bd7?50 Bf7 Bf5 leaCs Less flexible is 59 f4 sinceafter 59...Bf7 60 Bdi Beg
tg plgbpqsglter.s!R!:_(1)
!!..Ke7 52BdsKd6 53Be4,oi rrl f5 Black has 61...g5,and w i th the i m pr ov em entof hi s
(z),lt...pc]-s?g4.Ke7
53BdsBdl 54Be4f5 (or54...Kfi'55 lingside pxw.n formation,Black has appioximateequality
gxh5gxh5.56Kd5)55gxf5gxf5 56 Bxf5Bxf3 57 Ke5- ii it.utpou + Zaitsev)-
eachcae with a substantialadvantage
for White (analpis by
GM YuriAverbach) 59 .... hxg4
60 Bxg4
49 .... Kc6!
50 Ba2 Kd6 Here again is anothermomentof truth for Black and
51 Bds Ke7 Kasparovtook 30 minutes for his move, before correctly
52 Bg8 Kd6 deciitingthat keepingthe statusquo is the right defense.
53 Bb3!
Wlite, with his apparentlyaimlessBishop maneuvers,
'For " t 4 ,A
% % % A. Karpov -
kee.psgiving Black the-op-p^ortuniiy
to go wrong. instance, G. Kasparov
a blunder now is 53...Kc6??becau-seafter 54 g-a++b5 55 Bci i g rr 1985World
Black'sb5 pawn is a new fundamentalweakness. Diagram37 P,'%'%% Championship
€ A Game20
53 .... Ke7 After
54 Bdl Kd6 & % % % 60 Bxg4
55 Be2 Bd7 ,&%"/M%
56 Bd3 Be8! % %
57 Bc4 Ke7
58 Be2 The active 60...95? 61 h5 f5 is refuted by 62 h6l B.96
63 Bhs! Bh7 64 Kc4!. Xasparov is satisfiedto end the analy-
Becauseof Black's steadfastdefense,it has become sis here with "White musf win". Karpov + Zaitsev take it
clear to white that the value of Bishopmaneuvershas been further: 64...94(The passive64...Kc665 BeS+ Kd6 66 Kb5
exhausted. Thereforg, it-is tim-eto prepare a pawn advance. Kc7 leads to-zuirwaris and trouble after 67 Ka6 94 68 Bh5!
The-place.to d9 this is where the otriponenthabweaknesses- Kc6 69 b4 axb{ 70 alb4 Kc7 71 b5.) 65 Kb5 Ke5 (65...Kc7
the K.ingside.Lessobviousis how io do it. Kasparovpoints 66 Ka6! will transposeinto the aboveline.) !0__ne!t-(p.l3c!-ge^tl
out that a routine paw.l advan_ce by 58 f3 Kd6 59 94 is strongcounterpliLyafter 66 Kxb6?! Kf4 67 K*u{ Kf3)-66...f4
191!i"g !ec.au1e. of.59-.95!, with the.reiulting pawn exchinges (Nor,rithereis no fime for 66...Ke4?! 67 Bc6+ ! Kd3 68 Kxb6
berngonly in Black'sfavor. He pointsourTdrtherthat even and White will come first) 67 Bc6 93 68 fxg3 f-gl -9.9Kxb6
del a y i n gt h e f 3, 9 4 a d va n ceu n ti l w h i te' s Kins is on f4 and Be4 60 Bxe4Kxe4 7lh7'g2 72 h8-=Qgl:Q+ 73 Kb5! and
Hfrrqp on d3 will also not be sufficientto winiecause after
".2' "3'lg5 thereis no reasonwhvultir[atelvWhiteshouldn'twin'
"1_ g,1jlg1 f"g4 Ke7thereis no apparenr
way
Ior whtte to improveryfl
hisposition. 60 .... BfTl
6l f4
58 .... white now threatens62 f5!, creatinga winningoutside
59 94

70
69
passedpawn,thus forcing Black'sresponse.White could have l)awnretain control of b4 or c5?
fried first a few more BiJhopmaneuverswith, e.g.6l Be2 Bd5
62 Bd3 Bt7 63 Bc4 Be8, yet ultimately 64 f4 needsto be 68 .... Ke7!
plavedand after 64...f51we wouldhavethe samepawnforma-
t io ir a s i n t h e g a me . Wh i te ca n i mp ro vehis King position The key again i s that W hi te c annotput Bl ac k i nto
after 65 Bg8! Ke7 (forced) 66 Kd5 or 66 Ke5, but Black's lugzwangby force on the Kingsideand the-reforeBlack's
position is stableenoughto hold. Still this approachseemsto King will Qgqble.tohold.hisgror.rnd on d6 and therebypro-
give White better practicalchancesthan the gamecontinua- iect c5 sufficiently. Los i ngi s 68...ax b4+?69 Kx b4 s r nc e
tion. White'sKing can then infiltrate as follows:69...Kc6 70 Be8+
Kcz 71Kc4! Kd6 72Kb5Kc7 73Ka6Be2+ 74Ka7 Bh5 75
6l .... f5! tlfT Kc6 76 Kb8! (Kasparov). Notice how similar this win-
62 Bdl Bd5 ning maneuveris to that of the previousgame. There White
63 Ba4 BR! won by getting his King to g8 via the Kingside;here to b8 via
the Queenside.
Black wants to keep his Bishop active, becauseafter
63...8f7 64 Bb5! he would be forced to play 64...Ke7and 69 Bc4 Kd6!
acquiesceto the passivepositiondiscussedafter White's61st 70 bxaS bxa5
move. 7t Kd4 BR
After the text it is worthwhileto examinewhat White's Now, in Kasparov'swords,Black'sBishop is "evicted"
pawn advanceshave led to. Both of Black'sKingsidepawns from the d1-h5diagonal.He considers
71...Bd772BflBB! as
are vulnerableto White's Bishop,with the g-pawn being the most accuratemoveorder.
fundamentallyweak. Yet White also has absorbedsome
demerits:one pawn has been exchangedoff, White's split 72 Bfl Bd5
pawnsare vulnerableto an incursionby Black'sKing and,
most importantly,White has a h-pawn- the RP which is the The Bishop must head back as after 72...B,94?73 Kc4l
wrongcolor for his Bishop! Kc6 74 Bg2+ Kb6 75 Bd5 White'sKing will penetratedeci-
sivelyinto Black'sKingside.
64 Bb3 Be2
65 Bf7 Bh5 73 Be2 Bb7
66 Kc4l Be2+ 74 Bdt Bds
67 Kc3 Bh5 75 Ke3!?
68 b4
(SeeDiagram38 on the followingpage)
Black can never be put into zugzwangon the Kingside
becausea 68 Be8 is alwaysansweredby 68...Ke7with an A surprising,creativemove. White wantsto attackthe
attack on the Bishop. Therefore,White must now try to 96 pawn with a B!8 or Bf7 without allowingBlack's...Bh5
progresson the Queenside.The text doeshave the disadvan- tlefense.Bv guardingthe f3 square,White'sKing prevents
tagdof causinga Queensidepawn to be exchangedoff, yet it lllack'sBisfiobfrom iettins to li5. Of course,the text allows
againforcesBlack to makethe correctchoice. ShouldBlack's Black'sKing to be aciivatedand this factorwill be enoughto

7I 72
obtain a draw. 79 Bbs Kds!

'24,7K
80 Kd3 Kc5
81 Kc3 Kd6!
A. Karpov- 82 Kd4 Bb3!
G. Kasilarov
1985World W hite' s a- paw n i s w or th - for Bl ac k - both of hi s
Diagram38 t 2 %AA %tt %
, Championship
Kingsidepawns. In a momentwe'll seewhv.
f t & Game20
r g After 75 Ke3 83 Be8 Ke7
u Bxg6 Bxa4
85 Blds Kf6
Draw!
75 .... Kc5
76 Ba4 BecauseWhite's h-pawn is the wrong color for his
Bf7 [3ishop,Black has a sure draw if he sacrificeshis Bishopfor
77 Bd7
the f-pawn and his King can reach h8. It is not that difficult
Whitecannorput Blackin zuszwans,bv to realize that Black can achievethis. Kasparovgivesthe
77 Kd3!?Bc4+ following instructivevariation:86 Bd3 Be8 87 Kc5 a4 88
78 Kdz Bf7? 79 Kc3,_becaue Black-hast-hebetter7g...Kd4!,
taki ng^adupg}age^ Kb4 Ke6 89 Bc2 Kf6! 90 Bxa4 Kf5! 91 Bxe8 Krd4 92 Bd7
gf_Wlri_te's
spIit pawnsto reach equality Ke5 followedby...Kf6, Kg7,Kh8.
after79 Be8Ke4 80Bxg6Krf4 8t n5 fg5 (Averbach).
77 ....
78 a4
Unavoidable,but with the disadvantage that the pawn
now is on the samecolor as Black'sBishop.-yet Karpciv,by
playing a4 immediately,again forcesKasiarov to be on'hii
toes. The active 78...Kb4-?loses after 79 Kd4 Bb3 g0 Beg
Bxa4 81 Bxg6,e.g.81...BcZ82 Be8! a4 83 Bxa4Bxa4 g4 h5
PSA__AS^ItQ896 QbKe5 Kc5 8T Kf6 (Averbach). The active
78.-.Kc3?losesafter 79 Bbs! whenBiack hasnothinsbetter
than enteringthe aboveline with 79...Kb480 Kd4 8b3."

78 .... Kes!
Kasparov'sperceptivesolution:the King will be used
lq the.queenilgof White'sKingsidepd-wns
prev.en^t while the
Bishop'sfunctionwill be to obtain counlerpldyagainstthe a4
pawn.

74
73
 ,,ndthese can create an attack,then the defender'sjob is
Part II ,,iuchmore difficult, becausethere is nothingthat he can put
,ip to n.utralize the strengthof the enemyBishop.
OppositeColorBishopEndgames
Often in such positions,the most effective method of
increasingone's advantageis to exchangeQueen'sso that the
chapter3: characteristics
of oppositecolor Bishoppositions 'can ii removed from the board and the
,jefender-'sbest piece
,'irackineBishop do its iob with little inteference.This is
As soonas there^are oppositecororBishopson the ri.tt ittuitrated'in the play from Dlqgram39,J. Sp€man - J'
board,alwap be awareof the fcitibwing
t*o priniipi.5," t'..tosueiras,BarcelonaWoitd Cup 1989,after Black's21stmove.
Wtrlt.'r R6oks doubled on the 7th rank are a fantasticpower,
(1) If trtouayeQowTmateriar,tookfor drawingchances ,ef gtack's active Queen is doing double duty as both an
in a pure defender. Therefore:
oppositecolorBishopendgame. httacker and

^^,^- tsishop
J::9lblf_rhe mostuniqyegndgaTg-is the pureopposite "Etgz J. Speelman-
c.o.rol. one. Here eachof thE Bishopsdoes"tiii o*n -T
'N "r,rt.
thing",comfletelyobliviousof the e*ist.niJ6i tn. otn.r one. %t",,ru J. Nogueiras
In.alto:fer endgame,s the piece(s)cananddo attackeach t% % % t Barcelona
World Cup
orner. r ne strategyof exchanging is oftenthe keyconceptin Diagram39 % % t %A.1,&
,rrr,r&" 1989
playingto.winsuptriorendgailrei.euiiuc-hmiii.iJ6..or. %'g ,
rrrerevant l.npureoppositecolorBishopendgames. After Black's
much increases in importance.
Therefore % %w%
%'r,& 21stmove
Lt:qj:t]ylrl_y:ry However, + %'%/M,frt,
an.active Kiirg is gene.aity *iii
:l:t3p:r,t?1.:,9f
recognrzed faving
rn ail endgames. Theconceptthatis sospeiialin % #,
lppositecolor.Bishofendgames is that'ort[i elbtkADe.
22 Qc3!! Qxc3
Becausethere is no riay ro"chaseawa.yt[e. pirfitbi;fferi"g
an,elghqnge, blockades-in oppositecolbrgisnoti;d;ai,o "r.
Forcedsince22..-Qdl+?? 23 Rel d4 droPsthe Queen
:?i1rlt:'I::1y
orren,a one.pawn lo achieve
advantage
andverydifficuttto bre-ak.Very
after24 Qc4+.
is insufficient to win: oftefi
enougnIo gry^g comtbrtto the defender,a two pawnadvan_
t a g ei s i n s u f f i c i e n ta;n d p e r i o d i c a l l y ' e v e n ; i h ; ; .p a w n 23 bxc3 Rae8
advantage is nor elgugf. Ttreieaion'.1*.y, Kh8
blockade whichcan'tbe"broten.
-*- I i't.-J"r., u 7z5!h3!
W+
the
9)_W.:tn n?ajo:.pieces
(euegnqnd/oqRgok(s)) on' -"-
theboard, Of course,White's immediateneed is-to preventwon
opposite played 25 h4?l and
colorBishops favor thesidewiththeoitiit . back rank mate. f n i'tti-g"*. W1tit. is 25
afrerpooroerense'uy'bi;'il.- tig;;"'%'much stronger
However.there.is a paradoxregardingthe value ttli"Jt.iottenoti6v cM spititun afterthe gamg''white's
opposite cofqr Bi!["p;l; an"infe.i8r'po,ition. of Rooksstandf.nt"lJilifiV,ir"i ttiJnitnop toparticipating
is noi
the
in theattack.If wilil'A;ld'g;i theBishop d4'then
Il"i-':g^
-tl.
tnereare majorpieces(eueenandTorR;kciiof rf
i[.'uo.to,

76
75
end for Black would be immediate. ThereforeWhite needsa
route for the Bishopfrom 95 to d4. That route is Bh4-f2-d4
and thereforethe Bishop needsaccessto both the h4 and f2
squares.
A likelycontinuationnowwouldbe:
25 .... 8g6
After 25...f3,simplestis 26 gxf3 followedby Be3; after
25...b5,decisiveis 26 Bf4 followedby Be3.
fr)ping
' with White'sBishop!
Still, m ost of the ex am pl esof the adv antageof the
color Bishopin the an'ackoccurwith Quee"ns
rrr:posite on the
t,bhrd.Witnessthe playfrom Diagram40,E. Mednis- J. Gore,
N{arshallChessClub Championship, New York 1955,after
Black's39th move. At first glanceit may appearthat Black
lrasa strong attack,yet the truth is otherwise. Black'sBishop
is both irrelevant for an attack againstWhite's King and
irnpotentas a defenderof the dark-squares aroundhis own
h ing. White won quicklyasfollows:

26 B! '%A%
% %t E. Mednis-
If 26...Rg8,27RyhT+ ! BxhT 28 Bf6+ Rg7 29 BxgT+
Kg8 30 Bd4 is killing.
r t r J. Gore
Diagram40 rg ft, New York
1955
27 P,g:dT t After Black's
+ Zl
t rn 't\1,
t
. 39th move
The immediate27 Bh4 can be met by 27...Rc8;now I - L J * E \
27...Rc8?
is refutedby 28 Bf6+!

27 .... Rel+ 40 Kg3 Qe4

41 Kh4! Qe7
After 27...Rf5,White plays 28 Bh4 and 29 BfZ; after
27...K98,28Rxds is good enough. Black has no via bl e pl an for ei ther defendi ngthe
chronic dark squareweaknesses around his King nor for
28 l<h2 Re2 achievingcounterplay.Thus al...Qgz or 41...Qe2are alsomet
bv 42 Qf4:'after 41...b4White plays42 Qb6.
PreventingBh4-f2,but now the Bishopgets to d4 a
different wav. 42 Qt4 Qe4
29 Bh6 Rfe8 Here and on the next move Black tries to exchange
30 Bg7+ Kg8 Queensto lessenWhite's attack. If 42...Rf8,43 Bb4! R>d6 44
31 Bd4 R&6 gxf6wins. After 42...8e4White wins a secondpawn with 43
32 Rg7+ Kf8 R.xa6while retainingall his attackingchances.
33 Bcs+ Ke8
34 Rg8 mate 43 Qd6 Qds
4 QcTl Rd8
Pleaserecall how irrelevant Black's Bishop was in 45 96l

77 78
 The start of the decisiveattack. Notice how the rock-
like position of White's Bishopon d2 both blockadedthe d- Chapter4: Material Advantage-- Normal positions
pawri, prevented checkson e1, while still being readyto jump
into the attackat a moment'snotice. Section1: One PawnAdvantage

fr&,* Pfl3 A one pawn advantage,without othersignificantadvan-

tages,is insufficientto win. This is the principle whichsets
After 46...Kg7,simplest
is 47Qe5. rhEpure oppositecolor Bishop endgameapait from all the
"goodextra pawn" is
eithers.In other endgames,a sufficient.
f7 Rf8+ Blackresigns [-et us return for a momentto Diagram 12. This was a the-
matic routine win. Yet, if we changethe color of Black's
Bishopto get Diagram 41, the positionthen is a certaindraw.
A likely continuationwould be:

"h,
% %{T
t%a% '%
Diagram41 / 2 , Draw
"%'% "ry z
%n
t/& "',,e/efr"'%
% % % w
1 Bc3 t6
2 B KT7
3 Kn Ke6
4 Ke3 Kds
5 Bb4 96
6 Bf8 h5
7 Be7 f5
8 Bd8 Bbs
9 h4 Bfl
1 0 93 Bbs
1 1 b3 Ke5
t 2 Bc7* Kds
13 Kf4 Ke6
l 4 Kgs Kfl
Draw
79
80
 Clearly White cannothope to progres.s.Even.ifBlack %E% %@.z
'ry,
misolavsDiaeram 41 from the starf an-dallows White the % %t/fr,t
ictiie King an-da passedpawn on the Queenside,ch{tces are t" r %
y,'%% % % R. Fischer-
itiat ttre p5sition is still drawn. Let us now look at Diagram %8% H. J. Donner
+2. wttite on move wins with 1 Kc6! followed by the advance Diagram43 % t f l % % SantaMonica
of the b-pawn. But Black on movecanstill draw: '&
%A% ,& 1966after
White's3fth
% % %,%
'% t,'H t ft
tt "o%, % %wtrj
% White on
w %g%t% movewins
Diagram 42 ,fr'% ,%'/,&
t%t Black on
movedraws
30 ....
31 B)ds
kc2!
Rc1
%",.,WA
'% l.&, 32 Qxcl Bxcl
, % /M 33 Kfl
% %%'%
% If 33 d5, 33...8a3stopsthe pawn

1 .... 34 .... h6
2 Kcs 35 Ke2 Kf8
Draw
Or 2 Ka5 Bd3 3 b6 Be4 4 Ka6 Kc8 5 Kb5 Kd7 5
Kc5Ke6,etc. Even as great a fighter as Fischer decided that there
wasnothing better than to offer a draw. Black readily stops
t Be4 the d-pawn and White has no hope for progressanywhereelse
3b6 Bb7 either.
4 Bel Ke6
5 Bf2 Kd7 The play fr om D i agr am 44 ( on the nex t page) ,A.
6 Kd4 Ke6 Matanovic- M. Udovic, Zagreb 1965,after Black's34th move,
Draw showsthat the extra pawn in the form of a far advanced
pr otectedpassedpawn al s o m ay be i ns uffi c i entto w i n.
White's King cannotget into the Kingsideand the b- White'sextia pawn'isthe c-pawnand Black is readyto para-
pawnremainssecurelYblockaded. Itzethat with 1...Bb4.Therefore,Whitetries:

Now let us take a quick look at some examplesfrom 35 c5!

tournamentplay which fuither prove the correctnessof the
oiinciote staied'attne Ueeinningof this section. Diagram43
I- i{. ii*friilj. ft. DonnEr,San"taMonica 1966,after-White's
3fth move(30 Bc4-d3). The Dutgh GM jumps at the chanceto
establisha ilrawn oppositecolor Bishopendgame.
then 36 d6 and 37 Kd5; White'sKing
If now 35...dxc5?,
then is well placed,whereasBlack'sKing is cut off from the
_tl-pawn. Thus White hasreasonable winningchances.Black
lltereforebaseshis defenseon the principleof blockade.

82
8t_
 % "ry.& '4. '%
"% % '/z //t % %9"4r,
'% ""&
&2t'2
2 t% A. Matanovic
% M %t.&,t
% - M. Udovic rt %tt % % % E. Mednis-
Diagram44
%A%frt2,
'%ft%e%,7t Zagreb 7965 % % ' % % F. Damm
%
'/Z ''&. After Black's Diagram45 r t ' %t% Lugano1978
After Black's
%"'ry,
N 34th move % 7.&, 26th move
7t'',2
%'%I t:
h. 7t
35 .... Ke7! Obviouslyforced, but now White's chancesfor the only
16 6 Bas -
thematicbreak on the Queenside- b5 havevanished.
37 Be2 Bb6
38 Bg4 Kf6 28 Bd3
3e #6 h6 29 Ke3 Bfl
30 93 Kt8
As a precautionBlack removesthe h-pawnfrom the 31 Kd4 Ke7
color of White'sBishop. 32 Kcs Kd7
33 Bd6 96
,m Kff Bc7 34 Be5 Be2
4l Kc4 Ke7 35 f4 h5
36 BE Bfl
When White's King movesto the Queenside,so does 37 Bh6 Be2
Black's. 38 Bg5 Bfl
39 f5!?
42 Kbs Kd8
Draw Hooins for 39...exf5?!when Black's split Kingside
pawnscouid g-iveWhite'I tcing somesmall chancesof success
After 43 Ka6 Bb8 44 Kb7 Bc7 there is no way for there. Black'sresponseendsthosedreams.
White to break the blockade.
39 Bd3!
The kind of frustrationsthe side up a pawn can feel 4 ft96 ft96
are well exemplifiedfrom Diagram45 (on'the'nextpage),E. 4l Kd4 Bfl
Mednis - F. Damm, Lugano 1987,after Black's 26th move. 42 Ke5 Bd3
White hassix normal pawnsand a samecolor Bishopendgame 43 Be3 Bfl
would be a routine win. Yet here there are no reasonable 4 Bcs Bd3
winningchances,no matterhow hard White tries. 45 Kf6 8f5
4 Be3 Bd3
27 Kn Bc2! 47 c4 8f5! Draw
28 a5

84
83
7

49 Bcl Bdl
drawnl!;:3#.il:'i:i'#3l"'131,,fl;;i,f;
of making
anyfurther
:i,:r'"y,-r:R,._?,i.The crux of Black'sdefensewas the last two moves.
rt ryinningi*tptq. i" i;i;;1'17
realize how handicappedWhit6 was by his "do nottrT*,;oppo_ \&hite'splan wasBe3,followedby Kb4-a5,followedby b4, b5.
sitecolor Bishop.
50 Be3 Kcf
51 Kc4 Be2+!
t,, 52 Kb4 Bdl!
g r D. Barlov- 53 Ka3
ti : / E. Mednis
Diagram46 A i,z Graz1987 There is no time for 53 Ka5 becauseBlack'sBishop
fttft After White's capturesboth QueensidePawns.
t A
A lzf t 4fth move
t /&: z 53
54 ;;
Kd5
Be2
Draw
Black alsohaseyeryright to expect_to.draw Diagram W hite has been c onv i nc edthat ther e i s no w ay to
46,D.Barlov- E. Mednis,Gr# 1gg7,a{tii Wt it.', iott move, Drogress.After the obvious55 b5 axb5 56 a5, Black sets up
thoughsomemore care is n...*"ry than il1h.;;;vious hn unbreakableblockadewith 56...b4+!!57lkb4 Ba6.
example:
All the previousexampleshave shown how difficult it
40 .... Ke6 mustbe to winwith a one pawn advantage.To be successful
4r Kd2 Bc4 there truly must be significantpositionll.advantages.The
42 Ke3 Bfl! 47'B-
kind of position that can be won is shownin_Diag^ram
Larsen-^R. Hubner, LeningradInterzonal 1973,after Black's
A k e y p a r t o f B l a c k ' sd e f e n s e :b y c l o s i n so f f t h e 43rdmove. The characteristics are:
Kings-id.e,
Btackontyhasto *o.ryiilil.Jp;;\ifi?.",s King
out of the Queensid-e.
'%
43h4 h5!
%a%@'% B. Larsen-
u Kd2 Kd5 % ' %" %
% tt w R. Hubner
45 b3 Bd3 Diagram47 %'ry Leningrad
(i^) 1973
46 a4 Bfl %tt%,
"/& % After Black's
Black'sposition seemsrock sorid,but white finds a
% %ft% 43rd move
.
nrcemaneuverto untanglehis pieces.
ft% % % t
47 Bbz! Bd3
48 Kc3! Bezl On the Queens i deeac h has a pas s edpaw n' w hi c h i s

86
85
blockadedby the Bishop. White hasthe 3{v.an1ag9.of hSviltg lllwn.
|fiili" Bishop
ourisidepassed'pawn.Howeve_r,.White's is the
must be careful 49 IGCS c3!
*rone .oior for ihe a-plwn and thus White
;ii;-fi. ir-nor left with the Bishop + a-pawncombination In the same Black resignedafter 49 Kf5. The text is
*hen Black'sKing canget to the queeningsquare' glack's best t"rysince otherwiseWhite playsKg5 and Kxhs
-- White hasthe activeKing. lrndis uP three PassedPawns.

-- Black'sg-pawnis a fundamentalweakness' 50 Bxc3

51 93
W h i t e h a s t h e p o t e n t i a l h 5 b r e a k w i t h t h i s .P l q n in
Of coursenot 51 ga??hxgawith a drawasdiscussed
af t e r . .. e *h S'Kx f 5, fb l l o w e d b y K g 5 a n d Kxh.S' .Black' s
giihop 5n d7 preventsthis plan,-bufcan be pulted awayby thenoteto Black's48thmove.
the acivance of the a-Pawn- 51 .... Be2
52 t4 Ke7
Thesefactors add up to a win becausewhite will win a 53 Ke5 Whitewins
secondDawnunder circuhstanceswhere his King remains
active. the instructivegamecourseis: BecauseW hite al s o i s l eft w i th a g- paw n'Bl ac k 's
4 a3'! B i s h o pc a n n o t a f f o r d t o s a c r i f i c ei t s e l f f o r t h e f - p a w n '
White\ two widelyseparatedpassedpawns'supporte.d by ?l
Already putting Black in zugzwang:if theBithoP,l1t-ry activelyplacedKing are a s ui e w i n.- T he nex t s ec ti onw i l l
showhow to play suchendgames.
on the c8-e6diagonal,the a-pawnadvances;tf tne blsnop
the-ht
itup on the a4-e$diaSonal, is decisive'
B:?O
6 a4 Bd7
6 aS Bc8
47 Bbz

Another zugzwangposition and Black's Bishop must

giveup his watchoverf5.
47 .... Ba6
48 h5! gxhS

White must be carefulabout how to capture' W.tgngl!

rs
49 Kxh5?becauseafter 49...c3! 50 Bxc3Ke6 the position
dra*n, sinceto ptogte*sWhlt-gwill haveto exchange a King-
.G t;;; and then"Black'sKing q.uicklyruns to.the-C)ueen-
sideivhile theBishop"siiiiri.*'i?rii 6;'whii.'i-tutt Kingside

88
87
 winningtechniqueconsists.ofbringingthe King over to the
Kingsideand then advancingthe e-pawn. WIth White on
Section2: T\voPawnAdvantage move:

Becausea one pawn advantageusuallyis insufficient 1 Bb5 Bf6

to win, the important questionsbecome:when does a two 2 Ke4 Bg5
pawn advantag'e win and whendespitea fwo pawndisadvan- 3 Kfs Bh4
tage is the pos-ition
drawn. As alw'ays, the coirect technique 4 Kg6 White wins
foi the strohgerside is to first obtain passed pawnsand then
to try to quedn them. The two categoriesof phssed pawnsare White doesnot evenneedto play 5 Kf7; after 4...Bg3or
conriected passed pawns and disconnected passed pawns. In 4...Kc8the e-pawncan be advancedimmediately.
this sectionwill beconsidered the basicprinciplespertaining
to each category. Chapters5 and 6 will considermore ad- 3) If the pawns arefunher back, then the keyquestionis wheth'
vancedcases. er theycan be successfully advancedto the sixth rank. If the
answeris yes,then thereis a win; otherwiseit is a draw.
A. ConnectedPassedPawns
The two key situationsare shownin Diagrams49 and
We can formulate the following four important princi- 50. Diagram 49 is drawn irrespectiveof who is on move.
ples: With White on move,play can pr6ceedasshownon the follow-
ing page:
() fhe defendingKng must be in front of the pdwns to have
any hopefor a draw. "%a%%
(2) When both pawnsare on the sirth rank, the glme is usually %,ffi,%
won. The only uceptionsare afew RP + NP positions. % %'%
Diagram49 % ,rut% Draw
A typicalwon positionis shownin Diagram48. %%e%,
% % %
% * . ' % 7| t % % % %
'.,/
t t "'7r.
Diagram48 %'%e% 4
"'%rg% Whitewins 1
2
Bh4+
Kf4
KN
Bd7
% 7 %'% '"& 3 Kgs Bc8!
| %Aa7, 4 Bel Bd7
'% Dravvn
2 "1t "////r.,,
Black dr awsbv s i m pl ym ov i nghi s Bi s hopbac k and
I t i s w o n i r r esp e cti veo f w h o i s o n move. W hite' s forth betweend7 and 68; Whiie can make no progressbecause

89 90
 10 Bes! Kg8
his King must continueto protectthe f-pawn. We can now
formulaTethe followingrequirementfor the positioningof the
defender'sBishop to b€ able to draw: it must be in front of the The pretty lt?lgmqte try-10...Bf7!?is parried by the
r:v€flpr€ttier 11 Bd4! Bxe6 12 f7 mate. After-thetext White
'veing must attaik one of them and musthavesufficientmaneu-
pdwns,
zugrwang with a thematictempo movewith his Bish-
spaceto be able to remainon that diagonal. setsup
r:p,thus allowing King to finally reachthe key97 square.
his

''h, g' 11 Bd4! Kf8

% % White on 12 t<h7l Bh5
%'% %
'/'&ft% movewins 13
14
Bcs+
l<97
Ke8
White wins
Diagram50 %
'%'%',9% Blackon
movedraws i4) The strongerside'sKng shouldbe in front of thepawnsfor
,"%,,%% maximumeffectiveness becausethen he can directlyassisttheir
% % % advance.
The importanceof the aboveprinciplewill be illustrat-
The courseof play from Diagram 50 showsthe damage ed from Diagram 51, E. Walther - R. Fischer,Zurich 7959,
that a momentarilvmisplacedBishopcan cause. lf Black is after Black' s 53r d mov e. It w as onl v after c ons i der abl e
on move,he can gbt his Bishopbackwith 1...8d7!and draw. strugglingthat GM Fischerhad reachedttris position. The
Yet White on movewins asfollows: presenceof the h-pawnsdoesnot affectthe evaluationof the
iosition becauseWhite'sBishopis of the wrong color for his
1 Bh4+ Kd7 h-pawn. ThereforeWhite will haveto win on the Queenside
2 e6r- Kd6 with his connectedpassedpawns. ObviouslyBlack'sonly
3 Bg3+! Ke7 chancefor a draw is to set up a blockade. If White knows
4 Ke5! how to handle his King and pawnshe will win. First I will
demonstratethe correcl methodand then will give the game
White is now ensured of getting both pawns to the continuation.
sbrthrank. The next step will be fbr White's King to get into
Black'sKingside.
'%
4 .... Be8 %"@
N%' %' % E. Walther-
5 f6+ KA % R. Fischer
Zurich 7959
6 Kfs Bhs Diagram5l % e % ' %% After Black's
7 Bd6+ Kg8 % % % 53rd move
% % %A%fr '%
After 7...Ke8?8 Kg5 it is over immediately. fr',.,&/z %
8 Kgs Be8
9 Kh6 Kh8

92
9L
(a) The correctway = Make and keepthe King active 56 .... Ka7
57 Kc4
54 b4! Kc7
55 Ka5! Kb8 There is nothing in 57 Ka4 Bc7 58 b5 Bd8 because
56 b5 illack meets59 b6+ with 59...Bxb6!.
White is readv for b6 irrespectiveof Black's response. 57 .... Bg3!
ThereforeBlack has nothingbetteirthan to temporarilyblock-
ade the a-pawn.
'the Note the-powerful placeme.lqof White's Black could alsodraw with 57...Bc7by then srayingon
Bishopon central diagon-al:it takesawayb7 from Black's rhe a5-d8 diagonal,yet that is a
"short"diagonalanO
Tt ls
King and is the right color for the a-pawn. saferto be on the longgl-a7 diagonal.
56 .... Ba3 58 b5 BN
57M Kc8 59 Be2 Be3
58 Ka6! Kb8 60 Kb3 Bd2
59 Be4!
To me 60...Bf2seemsa lot simpler.
Putting Black in zugrwang,becauseafter 59...Kc8'60
Ka7 is decisivE.Therefore t-trenis-tropmust free the a-pawn' 61 b6+ Kb7
62 Ka4 Kc6!
59 .... Bc5 63 BbS+ Kcs!
60 a4 Bd4 Draw
61 a5 Bc3
62 Kbs! Bd4 It is Black who now has the activeKing! White can
63 a6 Whitewins make no progress:if 64 b7 Bf4 65 a6 Kb6 and the blockade is
still complete. Thus by being ignorantof Principle(4) did IM
Both pawns are now on the sixth rank and there is Walthermisshis chancefor immortaliw.
not hi n sB l a i k c a n d o a b o u t th e co mi n g64a7+ . Pr oper ly
done, White's win seemseasy,yes? Now we will seehow not B. Disconnected
PassedPavyns
to do it.
The followingfwo generalprinciplesand four specific
(b) The lwong way = Gamecontinuation principlessummarizt ourknowleclgeof disconnected passed
pawns.
54 a4? Kc7
55 b4 Kb8! CeneralPrinciples
56 a5
ll fne fiaftherapaft thepawns,thegreaterthe winningchances.
White's King now will not be able to help his pawns' the onti exceptionis the two RPsiflhe defendingKn-g is,Yfely
Yet it is too late foi 56 Ka5 because,as a resultof the tempo tttfront-of the'RP whosequeeningiquare is not controlledby the
lostwith 54 a4?.Blackhastime for 56...Ka757 b5 Bc5. qttqckelsBishop.

93 94
Q\ The closertogetherthe pawns,the more easilythe weaker OtherwiseWhite will penetrateandwin after 2Ke6.
blockade-
iidt's Kng can helpachievea ruccessful
2 Bg4 Bg3!
SpecificPrinciPles
But not 2...Ke7?when White will win after 3 Ke4! Kd6
(3) Pawnsonefile aqdrtonlYdraw. t Bd7 followed bY5 f4.

(4) Pawnstwo filesdpart (especiallythe c- andf'pawn combina- 3 Kcs Bc7!

tion) givegood winningchances. 4 Kb5 Ke7
5 Ka6 Kd8
(5) Pawns more than two files apart give excellentwinning 6 Kb7 Bf4
chances. Draw

(6) To win, the strongerside'sKng must be able to-penetrqte There is no waythat White canbreakBlack'sblockade'
inio the ene)myterritoryand assistin the advanceof his.pawns.
Whetherpeneirationis possiblewill be determinedPy^tne.bcation For the combinationof a centerpawn and a sidepawn,
of is owi pdwns and how activea location the defendelsKng the correct defensivetechniqueis: blockadethe centerP(w-n
has. iiln int kng and usethe Bishopto preventthe advanceof the
sidepawn.
The next three exampleswill help to explainthe truth
behindthe aboveprinciples.Diagram52 is a 1950studyby For aopreciatingthe problemsin breakinga blockade, -
GM Yuri Averbacli. If White'sf-pawnwould alreadybe on f5 there is no b'etterillust-rationthan Diagram53,1t{.Miller A.
White would win, but this positioh is drawn. BecauseWhite's Saidv.AmericanOpen 1977,White on move' Black'spayns
f3 p a w n c a n n o t b e mo b i l i ze d ,B l a ck'sKing can help his ii. 6p"rated bv thiee files, the g-pawnis alreadyon the sixth
Bishop to blockadethe c-pawn. With White on move play i""t-i"O u.it-ti.r. is no win foiillack! The main reasonis
couldcontinue: ih;i-Whir6t fing hassucha powerfulactivelocationthat he
iin L."o Blackt King fr om 'penetr ati ng ei ther s i 9e of the
Uoird. duE.niiO. penitration ieems inherentlyhopeless, so let
% % % usseewhetherBlalk can get into the Kingside:
t, /NA% %
%"%f t %'%%'&, Averbach
Diagram52 7 1950
%:@%% N. Miller -
% %&% Draw
'%rfr% %'/,&rg%
% " % A. Saidy
%
% % "ry,,
Diagram53 , % American
Open 1971
Whiteon
move
I Kds Kf6!

95 96
 __---
7

1 Bh3+ Ke7 lundamentaldecisionwhether.toopt for disconnected pawns

2B,9 Kf6 ;s far apart as possible(by playing39...Bxb2)or to irefer
3 Bh3 Kgs i,avinga further advancedpassedpawn (by playing39...c3).
4B,9 Kf4 \nd tne Oeclslonwas:
5 Kc4!
39 .... c3!
Bl a c k i s cl e a rl y a i mi n g to g e t to e3 and ther efor e
White'sKing headsback. My reasonfor choosingthis way was that it immediate-
{l'immobilizesWhite's Bishopand thereforeallowsmy King
5 ... Bd4 to be the first one to reachan activecentrallocation. By nofr
6 Kd3 Bg1 it should be obviousthat Black'sKing must penetratedeci-
7 86 l<94 sivelyto win.
8 Bg2! Bf2'
9 Kc4! Kf4 40 bxc3 bxc3
10 Kd3 Ke5 41 Bb3 Kf6!
11 Kc4 Draw 42 KB Ke5!
43 Ke2 f5!
Clearly there is no way for Black to break the block-
ade. Yet, as a postscript,I shouldmentionthat Black won the Only after Black hasensuredan activelocationfor his
g?me. How? B.gcqgge White resignedthe gamewhenDiagram King doeshe start mobilizinghis other passedpawn. Because
53 was reached! Why? Becaus6he tho[ghr that it mult be he will get the pawnto the 5th rank the win is assured.
lost, becauseof a rule in Fine's BasicChessEndings (I will
havemore to sayaboutthis "rule"in Chapter5.) M h4 Ke4
45 Ba4
Finally I will discussa positionwhere the defenderis
not able to blockade. Diagram54 is S. Bernstein- E. Mednis, The game was adjournedhere and White sealedthe
U. S. Championship1961162, after White's3fth move. text. He resignedwithout resumingthe game. I hqd worked
out the followTng- what I considered"to
be the main-line:

4s .... Bgl
ts S. Bernstein 46 Be8 Bh6!
i - E. Mednis 4t Kdl Kd3
Diagram54 A U. S.Ch. 48 Ba4 BgI
49 Bbs+ Ke3
i i'%
a "%. 1961t62
Aftei White's
% %n 39th move Black's King is excellentlyplacedto assistthe f-pawn's
f t g queening.
,/,
50 Be8 f{l
Two movesbefore the time control I had to make the

97 98
 BecauseBlack'sBishop can simultaneouslyprotect the
c-pawn and stop White's h-pawn,the g-pawn is not important Chapter5: Material Advantage- ComplexPositions
foi Black. What is important is to havehis King assistthe f-
pawn. Here I will be discussingposit.ionswhich are inherently
complexor where the necessary play requires a very high
51 Bxg6 Kfz! icvefof sophistication and creativity.In all casesone side has
52 Be4 B i t*o pawh advantage, yet the landscape of each position is
53 h5 Ke3! entirelYdifferent-
54 Bcf p,
ss Bs2 Kf4
56 Ke2 Bh6! % % %
57 Kd3 Kg3 .1,' Z A t,
58 Bn Bg7
7 '/ fri Klimenkov
59 h6 Bh8 Kabanov
60 Ke2 KM! % % % n
"ru
6t h7 Bg7!
Diagram55 ffi, vru{% USSR1969
White on
62 Kd3 Kgl % %e% move
Blackwms % % %
Black's King is in and White's lights are out after 63
Ke2 c2. Note how the far advancedc-pawnwas used as a
"decoy''toassistBlack'sKing in penetratingthe Kingside.
The first position,Diagram55, Klimenkov- Kabanov,
USSR 1969,White on move, may on the surfaceappearrather
sim ole.but will be s how n to be ful l of hi dden s ur pr i s es '
Though White is two pawns up, the following factors make
thewih problematical:
- all pawnsare on one side, making it easierfor the de-
-to
fender blockade.
- the h-pawnis the wrongcolor for White'sBishop'

- the e-pawnis securelyblockadedby the Bishop'

- White'sBishophasno offensivepunch-

- white's King is contained,while Black'sis activelyplaced.

Ther e is an others i de of the c oi n for the_l as t i tem

ho*.u.i' Bi"if.;r fing is not well placed for defending,

99 100
 Y

becausehe doesn'thave accessto the e5 square,nor can [s , / /

afford to step onto c5 or d5. It shouldbe clear that White Klimenkov-
7 t AAt, Kabanov
cannot afford to tarry in startinghis attack: % %t%e% USSR1969
1g5 l)iagram56 %" %
% %% 9%, %
r Variation
after 2...Ke4
The threat of 2 h6 forcesBlack'sreply. Of course,I % %. %%%%% Positionafter
4...Kf4
f5?? is a horrible blunder becauseafter 1...Ke5Black has
blockade.
% % %
establisheda successful
I ft95
2 Ks4!! There are now two instructivewars for White to win:

The whole conceptof this endingis to activateyour (l) 5 Be8

own King, keep the opponent'sKing as far awayas possible
while at Ihe saine time preventinga-blockade.Thereforethe The idea behind this move is for White to delaycaptur-
obvious 2 txg57 is insufficient becauseafter 2...Ke5 Black's ing on 97 until the Bishop has been placedon an optimum
Kins hasa stions defensiveposition. Model play then would location.I will nowonlygivethe main line.
be:3 tcg4 Bf8 4'h6! p<h6; 5 p,tt0 Kf6! 6 Kh5 B-c5 7 h7 Kg7
8 Bg8. Ey maneuveringhis K'ingto the QueensideWhite w'ill 5 .... BM
coursethe "wrong 6 Bd7! Be7
win-Blacli'sBishop for-the e-pa-wn, but of
color Bishop"thei deniesWhite the win. There is no way_to 7 Kn Bb4
p re v e n tBl a c k ' sK i n g fro m sh u ttl i n gb etween97 and h8 - 8 e7 BxeT
irnlessWhite prefersto stalemateBlack. 9 IkeT Kgs
10 Be8 Kh6
After 2Kg4l!, Black'slogicalresponsesare2...Ke4, 11 896! Kgs
2...8e7 and 2...gxf4.Sincethe latter just transposesinto a n Kn Kh6
variation after i...Be7 3 Kf5 pd4 4 Kf4, only ihe first two 13 Kg8 Kgs
needto be considered. 14 KY$I White wins
A) 2 .... Ke4
(2) 5 KxsT
Black thereby tries to use his King as the prim-ary
defender,by keepingit as activeas possible-.Becauie-3-fxgj After this routine capture,Black comesvery closeto
settingup a blockade,but some very non-routineBishop
Ke5 l e a d s[ o t h e d i a w n p o si ti o n s'g i veafter 2 fxg5? Ke5' maneuvers
White must captureon 95 with the King. savethe dav for White.

3 Kxgs Be7* 5 Kgs

4 l<96 IGf4 6 h6 Bf6+
7 Kh7 Bd8
8 Bhs!!

LO2
l-01
 Only this idea of Dutch IM van Wijgerdenworks 3 .... gxf4
There is no progresswith the routine8 896 Bf6 9 Be8 Bai
10Bd7Bf6 1l Bc8Kh5!,-etc.Thggc.etgTpopl"VI ge8Bie This js !!g ga.mecontinuation3nd hasthe disadvantage
9 8 g _ 6 . q 9^81_0K g 7 B f 6 + 1 1 . K f 7i s .f o i l e d b y t l q n i c i i rSar White's King hq! " road into Black's Kingsid?.
ll...Kxh6! 12l<fr6stalemate.The texthasthe sameidea,bui ittherefore,3...g4l?4 Kxg4.clgaI
Ke4 suggests itself,but WhiG still
by not containingBlack'sKingso muchprevents the stalemaG r vinsafter 5 Be8!. The thr eat i s 6 Bc 6+ fol l ow edby 7 Kf5
defense. a1d8 Kg6. Black has nothing bg1te1 than 5...Kd5,leadingto
iiic following play: 6 Kf5 Kd6- 7 Kg6! (But not the tempting7
8 Bf6 tstl? Bf6 8 h6 Ke7! t h7 96+!! l0 lkg6 Bd4 with a draw -
9 Bg4!! Be7 apalysis by van Wijgerden. This final position is a marvelous
erampleof the blockade:White is up three pawns, yet there is
9...Y\ry410Kg6queensoneof thepawns. rrowayfor White'sKing to get in.) 7...1ke6 (7...8f6 8 Kf7! is
hopeldss for Black.)8 Bf7+ (A more exoticwin is 8 f5+ Ke5 9
10 r(€.7 Bf6+ BciTBf6 10 Be6! - van Wijgerden. Black is in zugzwang:A
11 Kt7 Whitewins Bishopm ove allows 1 1 Kx gT ;a Ki ng m ov e al l ow s1I h6.)
8...Kd79 KxgTBd6 10 f5 Be5+ 17 f6, winningbecausethe h-
The King has been liberated, the pawnsare ready to pawnwill costBlackhis BishoP.
roll and there is no stalemate.
4 I()d4
B) 2 ....
Heading back with the King will not ryo{; keepingthe
Black preventsthe threatened3 Kxg5 and hopesfor 3 King activewil-lloseas in the variationsafter2...Ke4.
fxg5?Ke5 when White's King cannotpenetrateand the play
would develop as after 2 fvgi?. 5 Kfs Kd6
6 Kg6 Bf8
3 Kfs!!
If 6...Bf6,7 h6 wins.
%
% /NA%ft 7 KhTl
8 Kg8
Ke7
Black resigns
% %* % Klimenkov-
Diagram57 % %e,fl Kabanov A completetriumph for White'sKing activity! After
%'%tffi' v& USSR1969 8...g5t hxg6Bh6 10Kh7! Bf8 l1 97 Whitewins.
% % After 3 Kf5!!
As far as positi onsgo, D i agr am 58 s eem snor m al
% %'///////% cnough, yet extremesophistiiationw-illbe requiredfor Black
'biagram
to wifi. 58 is the adjournmentpositionfro93, jul9l
lournament"held in coniunction with the'BielOpen 1986'GM
Now White's King is active and the obviousthreat Patr ickW olff became" fas c i natedw i th the pos s i bi l i"forthat
ti es
becomes4 fxg5. Black hastwo legalwap of preventingit. couldirise and spentthe betterpart of a nighton it his

103 104
 Y

own pleasure". The analpis that follows is partly basedon 2 Bb2 Kc6
GM Wolffs work. 3 Bal Kb5
4 Kc3

"rfr@%rA t . ^ T\g King.cannot

standhisground,asafrer4 Bb2Kb4
%'% "%.r% ,ir 4 Bc3Ka4!followedpy 5r59.1,-w.hite's
ring wiliatsotrave
Biel Open ro headbackto preventBlack'sKingfromgeftdgb cZ.
Diagram58 (Junion)1986
%, e/ sf ,t %
'%
1 ' f t
Whiteto
move
4 .... Kcs!
5 Kd3 Kds
ta ,/ ./
Black' s Kitg is .now w el l c entr al i z edand r eady to
2, infiltrate via e4. Black should neverconsidera moveiike
5...d5??sincethenthtt_keysquareis no longeravailableto his
A quick count of material showsthat Black is up tw_o King and most likely White canset up a succ-essful blockade.
pawns. One of theseis a far advancedpassedpawn on a2.
Yet at the moment both this pawn and Black'sother extra 6 Bb2 Be8!
pawn - the d-pawn- are very well blockaded.As a matter of
lact, if we cah visualizethd completeexchangeof all King- With Black'sKlqg 9l its optimum squareit is time to
side pawns(i.e. White's e-, g- and h-pawnsfor Black'sf-, g- activate-theBishop. Black'simmediateobj'ectiveis to chase
and h-pawns),the position becomesa l00Vocertain draw. White'sKing awayfrom d3.
There 6ven are two reasonsfor this. Firstly,Black will not be
able to break the blockadeand secondly,White's King can 7 Bd4 Ba4!
head for al and the Bishopsacrificeitself for Black'sd-pawn.
Therefore,it is far from certain if Black can win from Dia- A sophisti.{ ..9 r em po m ov e w hi c h pur s W hi te i n
gram 58. And even if a "chessgod" would say that there is a zugzwang:White's Bishop must move and thdt leavesthe e-
to actuallyfind it.
win, it is necessary Pawqwithout sufficie nt pr otec ti on for the c om i ng Ki ng
rnvaslon.
In Diasram 58 it is White's move. White can usetwo
"do
approaches:(t) a passive, nothing"one, or (2) play e4. I 8 Bal Bbs+
will look at thesein turn. 9 Kc3
I White doesnothing : passivedefense Equally hopelessis 9 Kd2 Ke4 followedby 10...K8 and
I l...Kxg3.
1 Bc3 Kd7!
9 .... Ke4!
The Bishopstandswell enough,both protectingthe a"
Dawnand coverinethe importantd5 and c4 centralsquares' There is no way that Black can both protect the a-
T here f o r e i t i s l d gi ca l fo r th e K i n g to h ead as quickly as p a w na n d i n f i l t r a t e w i t h h i s K i n g o n t h e K i n g s i d e . B u t
possibleto whereBlack'sstrengthis: the Queenside.

l-06
t_05
 Y
to win.
achievingthe secondobjectiveis all that'snecessary KingSide.The questionnow simplyis: canBlack do this?

10 Kb3 Kxe3 Black hastwo fundamentalchoicesfrom Diagram59:

11 Kxa2 KR to take on e4 or not to take. I will analyzethesein turi.
Blackwins
A) 1 .... fire4?
A f t e r 1 2 K b 3 K xg 3 B l a ck i s u p 3 pawnsand will
queenthe f-pawnafter 13Bf6 f4, etc. The game continuationwhichdefinitelyis the wrons
practicalchoice. At this momentit is far from clearwhethei
II Active Play With 1 e4! Black can win from Diagram59. Yet it is necessary to keeo
the position as unbalancedas possibleto increasethe chancis
for the win. The routine text violatesthis principle. The
% % ' % % position now is drawn and in fact the gamewas soon aban-
% %'/qfr"@'%t%
%a%t ijoned as a draw.
% Biel Open
A thematicline of play now is:
Diagram59 % % % t % (Juniors)1986
% wt% After 1 e4!
2 l{xe4 Kd7
% % % / & 3 Kd4 Kcf
t/,& % %
t/& 4 Bal Kb5
% % ' % 2 5 Kc3
Kd3
Kc5
Bc4+
6
This move/planmustbe theright one for a numberof 7 Kdzt
reasons. In the first place a routineexchangeoI pawnsls
ai*i1" the correct gendral strategyfor the side-down-material '% / / , '%,t
becalseit removes-one potentialEhemyQueenfrom the board. % %
Mot.ouer, comparedto the previo_us variation,White will not % 7f,,%t
havean elpawrithat can go iost. However,in this casethere Diagram60 % 9 , % % Variation IIA
also is a sophisticatedstiategicbenefit from the text move: %a%
A %"r",e. After 7 Kdzl
White's Kirig gets accessto the_importante3 central sqy?r9
increasesWhlte's-PrgsPg9.ts for setting %% %
and this sign"ifTcantly
up a btocka?e to preient penetration of Black'sKing. r' w s% % %
It is also important to realizethat White achievesall of
"nothing". As alreadydiscussedearlier, the
the above for The kev to White's defensemust be to preventBlack
ex c ha n s eo f a l l o f th e K i n g -si d ep a w n sleadsto a dr awn fr om gettingit W hite 'sKi ngs i de.T o penetr ateBl ac k w i l l
oositionl We shouldbe ablelo realizethat if we just remove haveto do this via d5 and e4 and White wantsto ensurethat
Wt iii;i .-pa*n anOblack's f-pawn from the board, that White he can preventthis. Bad is 7 Kc3? becauseBlack can power-
can securdlyblockadeBlack'spasseda--and d-pawns.-.There- iuttymobilizehis d-pawnwith 7...d5!and8...d4.
foi;; t" ;iir eiu.[t Ki;; t"ii u. aut. to cdptureWhite's

t-08
L07
 7 nlternativeaPProach.
8 Ke3!
lr) 1 .... Be8!
This is the kev differencebetweenWhite's passiveplay
from Diagram58 and the play from Diagram59: White's King Because...fxe4is not going to work, Black needsto
positionon eJ'
is able to gain the unassailable I'orceWhite to captureon f5. Then the positionbecomesmore
unbalancedand that increasesBlack'sopportunities.
8 .... Ba6
9 Bf6 Bc8 2 Bal Bc6
10 Bb2 Kc4 3 erf5+ gd5!
11 Bal Kb3
t2 Kdzl
' % %
% %%%%t
Black'sKing cannotbe allowedaccessto c2.
%alft,s%
t2 .... Bf5 Diagram61 %f %
'% f i t,%
%v, Variation IIB
13 Bf6 Kc4 %ffi,% After 3...gf5!
14 Ba1 Kd5
15 Ke3! Bbl % % % , & .
16 Bb2 Kc4 t % % % 2
17 Bal

White's Bishopis ideallyplacedto preventboth the a-

-White Of course, not 3...Kxf5? 4 Ke3 Kg4 5 Kt2 when
and d-pawnsfrom aclvancing. is sdtisfiedto keep the White'sKingsidepawnsare safe from Black'sKing, while
statusquo. White'sBishopkeepsblockadingthe a- and d- pawns. It is not
at all yet obvioushow Black can progressfrom Diagram 61,
r7 .... d5 yet it is the only try.

A lasttry. 4 Ke3!

18 Be5 Bf5 White's King must watchboth sidesof the board. Thus
19 Bal Kb3 afterthe temporizing4Bb2?l
'(See perhapsimmediately
Blackcould-starting
20 Kdzt! Draw tfi'egamecontinuation
Pla.y4...f4!!. 'Clearly with Black's
iOth move.) ilrong is 4 h5? becauseaTter4...h6! 5
The a- and d-pawnsare stoppedand Black'sKing can't Kc4 Bf3 6 Kb3 exh5 7 Kxa2 Bf7! White's pieceson the
penetratethe Queensidenor the-Kingside.A total triumpn Queensidehave no chanceof coping with Bldck'sKingside
'l}nxf4
ior Whire'sBLOCI(ADE. power.e.e. 8 Be7 h5 9 Kb2 f4l h4 I I Bd4 h3 l2
Ilg I Kf5 is rcios t4 Bh2 Ke4 15 fT Kf3! 16 Kd4 Kg2 11
Let us now return to Diagram 59 to analyzeBlack's rrf4h2 18Bxh2*roT.*.t t*t'ir'

t_09
1_L0
 Preventsboth a potential h5 Qy Wltitg.as well as a Black'sKing is in and the a-pawnwill costWhite his Bishop.
counteraffackby white's'King againstBlack'sKingsidePlwns
becauseBlack-cannow routinelyprotectthem w.ltn...tt94. ll 9fr4
Moreover,the text has no disadvantages.I he onlyPosslDle
nesativeis that Black'sKing cannotnow usetne.nJ.square
i#I;iiiffiitu, uut that wou-ldnot be a realistic infiltration
route under ai'y conceivablesituation' t , % '%
% %
% /ft,
5 Bb2 Ba4 Diagram 62 , 1 1, t VariationIIB
6 Bc3 Bd1 ,rg, ftA After 119fr4
7
8
Bal
Bb2
Bg4 %', % e %
t ,/,
AfterSKd4Blackcanimmediatelyexecutethe-key A /.' Z
strategii concepr9...f4!! g 9{J4Kf5 since10 Kd5 is too slow:
ii-Koo r.s tlrccqraz 13Kb4Kc2 14Ka3
ii)_:K"-14- If Black now routinely headsback with his King with
h-pawn
kUf inO the a-pawncostsWhite his Bishopwhile the 11...Kd5?,White hasthe perceptive12fslt,therebypermanent-
remainingis thd right color for the Bishop' ly gaining accessto the f4 squarefor his King. White can
then prevent Black from infiltrating the Kingside. White
As it turns out, White can only delaythe "'f4 break' draws becausefrom f4 he can keep Black's King out of the
Still that is how the practicalplayershouldbehave' Kingsideand from e3 he can keep Black'sKing out of the
Queenside.White hasachievedthe ultimatedefensiveweapon:
8 .... Kds blockade.
9 Bf6
11 .... Bfs!!
The King standbeston e3. After 9 Kfz? Black's^King
infiltrates-ttt. OleentiOi*itn either9...Ke4or 9"'Kc4;after9 This important refinementof the Wolff conceptwas
Kd;i eii.k infifttat.sit e Kingsidewith 9...Ke4;after9Kd3?! suggested by CM J ohn N unn. Bl ac kpr ev entsW hi te fr om
ii6&i"" immediiGlybreak"with9...f4!!(seethe mainline sacrificingback the pawn until Black can capturewith the
l"'r.,:;i.-lft"r ttre ie*t, 9---f4+?? since
jusl dropsth.e.f;P$.vn King and therebydenyaccessto f4 to White'sKing.
whiie canplay10Kd:4andgetbackin time with hrsKrng.
t2 Kdz
9 .... Kc4! 13 Ke3
10 Bal f4 +!!
A valid alternativeis to head to the Queensidewith
This fantasticconceptwasdiscoveredby GM Wolff' 13 Kc1 Ke4 148f6 Kx f4 15 Kb2. But then the d- paw n
Blacksacrifices u pi*n io 6reakup White'sKirigsideso that becomestoo stronq, e.s. 15...8e616 Be7 Ke5 18 Bg5 Bc4 18
-Ke{
pawnst-here..
fri *-"-"ftimarety.Srd;;"6ifr of VVnite's White Bh6 d5 19 Bs7+ 20 Bf6 d4 21 Be5 Kf3 22 Bf6 d3 23
cannotcapture;iih ih; Ki'g tin.. ;ft;; il kxr+z rd3 tlg5 Ke2, foll5wed by 24...d2.The probi-emfor White in such
an approachis that-hisKing cann6thelp in the stoppingof

1-11
LL2
 -

pawn.for the Bishop,and (2) the separationbefweenthe a-

the d-pawnbecausehe is tied downto stoppingthe a-pawn' and d- pawns.isonly tw o s quar esw
, her easthe s epar ati on
betweenthe d- and h-pawns.isthree sq.uares..The lirger the
13 .... Ke6
separatjo.nbefweenpawns,the more difficult it is to sEtup a
14 Kl3 Bc2
successfulblockade.
Definitely never 14...d5?sincethen White can protect 25 Bxal Kxh4
the f-pawnwith a Be5.
15 Kg3 Kfs
16 KI3
17 Ke3
Bdl+ "'mKrru%Tr%',ry,
'7 VariationIIB
I n f e r i o r i s 1 7 K g 3 ? B g 4 fo l l o w e d by 18...Ke4and
Diagram63 , ,'t After
Black'sKing infiltrates. 2 . :.
7 . ' g 25...Kxh4
:
t7 .... Kg4 ; ;
18 Bf6 %
No betteris 18 Ke4 Bf3+ 19 Ke3 Bc6 20 Bf6 Bd5. A thematicallyimportant basicposition in opposite
andmustgiveup thef-pawn.
Whiteis in zugzwang color Rishopendgamt*:th^estrongersidehastwo discoirirected
passedpawnsseparatedby three files. For such a caseit
18 .... Ba4 would seemthat Reuben Fine's rule in Basic ChessEndings(p.
19 Ke4 Bc6+ 179)applies:"lf the pawnsare two or more files apart,ttrey
20 Ke3 Bd5 win." The passage of time (BCE waspublishedin 1941)has
21 f5 shownthis rule to not be universallytrue. There are positions
where the defender is able to set up a successfulbiockade.
The minor evil is to givebackthe f-pawn. Suchpositiongenerallyhavethe defendingKing sufficiently
activelyplacedto preventthe strongerside'sKing from deci-
2t .... rads sivelypenetratinginto the defender'scamp. In other words,
22 Bal. Kg4 the defendercanIchieve an airtightblockacie.
23 Bf6 Bc6!
However,in Diagram63 Black'sKing is alreadyactive-
Putting White in another kind of zugz\ang, whereby ly placedand the win if routine enough. A logicals6quence
White'sKingfrrustmovefurther awayfrom the f4 square. nowcouldbe:
24 KfZ al=Q! 26 Bf6+ l<94
27 Be7 d5
The last major strategicdecisionthat Black must make' 28 Bf6 h4
He is happy to trade his pa$ed l-Pawn to achievea passedh- 29 BeS
i;il f;;'t'*;.."iont' (t; ttre h:pawn is the corr6ct Rook

LL4
1-t_3
 -__---...............
Y

29 Ke3?l Kg3 with 30...h3an-dBlack'staskis easier' tion and standswhere Black's.Kingoncestood. Black'sKing
29 .... Kfs! is coopedup on his back rank. Moreover,White has a tw6
pawn advantageon the Queenside.Yet if Black plals well he
It is important for Black'sKing to help both pawns will dr aw. The r eas onsw hy D i agr am 64 i s c l r aw nagai n
advance. revolvearoundthe matterof a successful blockade:
30 Bd6 Ke4
31 Be7 h3 White's Bishop has no offensivepunchsinceall Black
32 Bd6 d4 pawnsare on the opposite-colorsquares.
33 Bcs Kd3!
White's King, though activelyplaced,also can do no
It is alwaysgood practice to activatethe King when damage,becauseBlack'sonly vulnerablepawn - the f-pawn-
trying to queenPawns. can be readilyprotectedby the Bishop.
34 Kg3 Bd7 -- Black'sKing, though passive,is exactlywhere he should
35 Kfz Kc3 be for defensivepurposes. White cannot dislodgethe Black
36 Bd6 d3 King from his defensive,pawn-blockading
duties.
37 Bt4 Kc2
38 Kel d2+ Even though the position is a theoreticaldraw, White is
obviouslyjustified in making some attemptsto win. The
Or 38...h239Bxh2d2+. gamecontinuedas follows:
39 Bxd2 lr2 1 .... Kb8!
Blackwins.
The Black King'sjob is to blockadeWhite's Queenside
The last examplealreadylooks complexat the starting pawnsso it is important for the King to make sure that it is
point. Diagram 64 showsthe positionof Bradvarevic- R. ilroperly placedfor that. Black must-nottarry sinceotherwise
7970,Blackon move.
Maric, Yugo-slavia 2 Be5 cutsthe King off from the a-file.

2 Kd8 Ka8
1i t : Bardvarevic
3 Be5 Bd3
K At - R. Maric 4 Ke7
Kf6
Bc4
f t 't / : t 5
Diagram64 Yugoslavia
ftA ft T 1970 White realizesthat his onlv chancefor successis a
./,,//fu Blackon breakthroughon the Kingsideand ihuspositionshis King for
% % move a potentialF5. The Kinglas no futuredn the Queenside;e.g.
% % % ptisitionhim on c7 and-youwill seethat there is no way of
makingprogressthere.
White's King has infiltrated totally into Black'sposi-
5 ....

l_L5
LL6
 What a shockand rude awakeningfor Black who had
6 Bd6 only-expectq lt f:g9 fTgq.121396when 12-.B,e2still keeps
7b5 the Kingsideblockaded.Now, however,White getsa passed
pawn th_ereby force and wins becauseBlack'sKing ii stuck
White starts a small demonstrationon the Queenside bn the Queenside. However,White's exactexecutionis most
which Black can and must ignore. Of course,7"'Bxb5?? 8 impressive.
frCZ *ins quickly for White s-incethe Pary$.p{n.that White
*ill obtainbn the Kingside will costBlackhis Bishop. Black
-Queenside 11 .... hxg4
n".o noi fear white's play because^one g,fwhite's
extra Queensidepawns is doubled and theretbre Whlte can
King is positioned No better are 11...Bd3 12 KxfT exf5 13 sxh5or
onty oU]iin one pisseOpawn there. Black's
11...8e2 12l<fr1 and White wins at leasta-ssurelvis in the
perfectly to stop one Pawn. game.
7 .... Bb3 12 l<fr7 gd5
8a6 Be6!

Obviouslynot 8...bxa6??9 bxa6 and the two connected

g'/ ..
passedpawnswin. After the text Black need not fear 9 a7 t .w'z Bradvarevic
Sinie itt'enWnite's Queensidepawnsare forever immobilized
-Black's rf /: , - R. Maric
;lii[ Kingside remain'sdefensible. Therefore White A7,, At'2"
now-switcheshis"total energy towards a Kingside break-
Diagram65
" i,'/>
Yugoslavia
1970After
through. 2//
,7 ,l
12...gfs
9 Be5
10 f5!
White is tryingveryhardto makep{ogress, but Black
What White has to start worrying about now is a stale-
can keepthe Kinfsid'ebkickadeintactre?gr-ly gtgug! by 14e mate draw by Black and consider-abii: care is.requiredto
,i''.'pi.-fO.,.e63. Tf then 11fxg6fxg6 or 11 K'6'7B>d5and in prevent it. Fbr instance,Black can draw after 13 h5 f4! 14
eith'ercaseBlackis 1007o safe. ilxf4 Bxa6 16 h6 Bd3 16 Kg7 93! L7 h7 BxhT 18 KxhT 92
-Black's
19 BhZ 91:Q 20 Bxgl Kb8. King oscillatesbefween
10 .... Bxb5?? b8 and 68, when Wh-itecan stalemateBlack in severalways
for sucha horri- but cannotwin.
Thereis no rationalchessexplanation
blv carelessmove. Black has no need to worry aboutthe 13 Bf4!!
eireensiOe because the King safgguards everythingthere;
iirtliO he musr look out for-possifileKingsidq breaks. Yet
gl".k rornentarilyforgetsaboutthe themeof the position. From the above variation we saw that if Black has
time to both olav ...Bxa6and sacrificethe Bishopfor White's
AJo"r.nitv tte feti thatfuhite still had nothingon the King- h-pawnthe g'ameis drawn. The blockading("interference")
would "prove"this.
sideandth-eto,lt
11 g4!!
L 1-8
LL7
 Y

text is able to just Preventthat.

Chapter6: positionalAdvantages
13 .... g3
As before for samecolor Bishops,a positionaladvan-
Now 13...8xa6is too slow:14 h5 93 15h6 92 16 Bh2! tqge may be "better"pawns,Bishop,Kin! - br a combination
(Not 16h7??Bc4+ with a draw) 16...f4l7 h7 andwins. of these.

14 h5 g2 Section1: Better Bishop

15 Bh2 f4
16 h6 Bd3 Theconceptof the betterBishopis easvto understand:
it.is the 9rffr.gp
whichcansuccessfullyattackenemypawns.
OtherwiseL7 h7 wins immediatelY. Diagram66 illustratesthisperfectly.
17 axb7+! KxbT
18 Bg1 Black resigns .

€_ . $ 9
White will win Black'sBishopwith 19 Kg7 and 20 h7. ar
Then White's King can first chooseto-capjureBlack'spaw{tl Diagram66 i t Blackon
or head immediatElyfor the Queenside.There the King will
help the b-pawnqueen.
ThroughoutBlack'sKilg has the worst of both worlds:
he is tied ddwn to stop the b--pawnyet cannot hope for a
stalemate.
'7,7>.ry t t move

The pawn_
"active",yet- Blag!formation is symmetrical,White's King is
on move can i:aptureall of White'spawns
as foflows: 1...8!1,.2...8f2,3...8xg3,4...8fr4,5...893,6...Sxh+-
truly the betterBishop!

Section2: Better Pawns

Sincewe alreadylearnedin Chapter4 that a one pawn

a.dvantage in normal positionsis insufficientto win, it is clear
lhat there must be somethingquite specialabouthavingthe
superiorpqwn formationto bE aUleto win startingwith dqual
material. The kind of positionthat illustratesthis is shownin
Diagram 67, B. Kurajica - A. Karpov, Skopje 1976,after
White's33rd move. Black hasa passeda-pawn,yet it is se-
curelyblockadedby White's Bishop. Moreover,White's dou-
bled- d3pawn per ?or m sa v al ua6l edefens i v efunc ti on: i t

t-19 L20
7

preventsBlack'sKing from penetratinginto the Queensidevia

b5 and c4 and in the centervia d5 and c4. Thereforeto win Black'sKingof potentialinfiltrationsquares.
[1,!l,9.pr_iying
Black will haveto be able to break throughon the Kingside. wnr.r.e's
posrtrondoesremainpassive,but I havenot bednable
Can this be done? ?ny
I9,.gls9ouer. way that Black can decisivelybreak into
wh,rte'sposi.tigrl.
In_certain
positionsBlackcansacrificehis
Trsnop'Dutwnrtealwayshasenoughdefensive
oraw.
resourcesto
% ' " r u%, " r e B. Kurajica
- A. Karpov 34 .... Kf7!
%t% lf,
Diagram 67 % 7,&A%
7,&A%%t
% Skopje1976
- pnly;o] -lnstead34...hxg3
+ ? Ieadsto a deaddraw,as
t % ll r u%%' % After White's
33rd move
,
does34...951.
ll €xh4 sinceBra].k
in eithercaseracksbreak-
%t%t% rnrougnposstbt
ttttes.
% % #,tzfi 35 Ke3

33 .... h4! L __-. Hgl.

because
and,g.enerlfso in the furure,worseis 35 gxh4
Black'sKingwillfyrecaptur.e
the pawnandbe actively
GM Karpov realizesvery well where the battlefield for imminentpenetration.
p-t_qqe{ - (yet seethe commentaftei
will be. Therefore,he activatei the h-pawnand, also quite White's37thmove!)
importantly,temptsWhite to challengeit.
35 .... f5
34 g3? 36 Kf4 Kg6
37 Ke3?
Hindsight tells us that at least in the practicalsense
this is the losingmove. (Seethe discussions after White's37th Apparentlyworth little criticismsinceBlack can force
and 44th movesfor the "theoretical"side.) The text seriously this r etr eat with ...B a2and ...Bb1. H ow ev er ,Kar D ovhas
weakens the Kingside pawn formation and leaves White pointedout that at exactlythis momentthe paradoxic al 37
without a satisfactoryway of preventingBlack'seventual...g4 #4!? ryay-befully playable. The justificati<inis rhar afrer
pawn !1eak, This break will loosenup the light squaresand 37...Kh5 38 Kxf5 Bx f3 39 Bb2 BA5 40 Bc l Bf7 4t Bb2
allow Black'sKing to infiltrate. Karpov'sexploitationof this Kxh4 White hasthe saving42 dsl.
is flawlessand tecfinicallyclear.
37 .... Kh5
But how could we have used/oresightto select the 38 Bb4 g5
proper defensiveset-up? Black'spawn break on the Kingside 39 Kn Ba2
must obviouslybe basedon an eventual...g4;thereforethe
correct pawn formation for White should start with 34 h3!. Black's Kingside pawns are ready.for.the d_ecisive
Black could then be expectedto place break. But first Karpov maneuversaroundwith the Bishop,
'Thushis King on h5, the f- both to find the mosf usefulspot for it and to kill time befoie
pawn on f5, the g-pawnon g5. prepar-edBlack will
play ...g4. At this momentWhite must be able to respondwith adjournmentso that the winningmaneuvercan be preparedin
the quiet of the home taboratory.

T2I
L22
 With three excellentpawnsfor White'simpotentBishop,Black
40 Ba3 shouldwin.
4l Ke2
42 BcI 4.... cxd5
$Kn 45 d4 t4tl
Black must open up the Kingside. Insread45...94??46
:f4 is a certaindraw.
% r , 7 ?.
' 1 , B. Kurajica
- A. Karpov
,2t 2 t6 N4
Diagram68 (/, fu %tt Skopje1976
t% 'fr, % After Black's
43rdmove Black was threatening46...fxg3+ 47 W h3! followed
'2, 2' t /4t'ru by ...g4, The h-pawnties ddwn White'sKing ind Black infil-
% , ' 2 € tratesvia the centeror the Queenside.
A " r u lf 46 94+, Black hasno needto "risk"46...8Xg4and can
win by strictly positionalmeansas follows: 46...Kg61,
followed
So that the Bishopcango to a6to attackthe d3 p?.yn' by placingthe Bishop on d3 and runningthe Kin[ over to the
if the needeverarises.The ei-world champion.always likes
hissideaspossrDre' Queensideand infiltrating there via b5 and c4. It is the lack
to haveasmany at of the d3 pawnthat makesthis possiblefor Black.
Tt:::"ptions 6 .... g4l
Throwingawaythispaynensurestheloss,andaccord- The point of Black's previousmove. White's light
ins to fa.pou i3 to U6blaniedon nerves.Alsounsatisfactory squaresare weak and Black'sKing will infiltrate alongthem.
il?4 K;T f4;; 4i iifi iqt with Black infiltratingand
winningsimilarlYto the game. 47Kg2 Bf5
I K]t2 9d3
ThereforeWhitemustplay44Ke2|.Whatthen?After 49 Krf3 Be4+
aa...Ba6"aSebzZK;td;;i"'..2S...tt*g3 46hxg3 '!: 50 Kfz rg.4
to'i71-sq+Kh4 qb
rc(zKh3! foLlowed bv 4e"flff!,
lt "l-e?a,'...il;'6'"no i.f it -g.tt+QpcJ.r95.4eBbZ
...e*g Black'sKins has finallv penetratedinto White's half of
ii'i+r"i;O(fi in duticoutieBlack'sSilg will infil-
B"os ;nO-H;Gver, the board. At theinoment White'spositionappearstenable.
trateon the QueJnt*;. Karpoyftq$ th-atwith the However,becauseof zugrwangWhite's pieceswill have to
correct45Ke3!wiilt.;ilOiiw ue'cauiJirt"i45...f4+46 9fi4 giveway.
94 he has47 f5!.
51 Bb2 Kxf4
-ii
The questionthereforeis _whether Black has anvthing 52 Bcl+ Kg4
rli.i ++ feZt.
berter than aa...e"a6 se.*i to me that the 53 Bb2 c6!
immediateaa...fa!*isi.iv ptotising (45 pda ga!)' After 4)
i rr. iii Jn""p'i"iiii
irices
94+ BIacksacr TsaiZot"s4+ K44'
?S'..."s

L24
L23
7 Y

A good practicalmove. Black preventsforever any

White counterplaybasedon c6 and an attack on Black's c- t

pawnby White's Bishop.

J. Bellon-
t

t%A% &t7.,
"%,tL&.@%
.& D. Minic
54 Bcl lft3!
Diagram69 '/..
/& % ",,,fu. SiegenOlym-
The start of the final phase. Black'sactualgoal is to piad 1970
get his King into White's Queenside. With the paradoxical % % 2 After White's
text he is able to deflect White's King so that the primarygoal
is achieved.
tr'",r@t':. 39th move

-
55 Kgl 896! . The g;pawnsare eguivalent:both are on the color oppo-
56 Khl Bh5! sitethat of the enemyBishopand readilydefensible.
-- Each side hasa soundpassedpawn.
Black tries to get White's Bishopto move,which then
would enable either Black's a-pawnto advanceor Black's
King to reachf4. The Bishopsar e al s o equi v al ent:nei ther c an do any
damage.
57 Kgl Bdl -- Black'sKing is obviouslythe activeone.
White resigns

G M K u r aj i ca sa w w h a t w a s co m ing - becauseof
zugzwangBlack's King gets to the Queenside- and didn't
want to be shown. The probablycontinuationwould have
been: 58 Khl Kg4 59 Kg2 Kf5! 60Kn (equallyhopelessis
60 Kh3 Ke4 etc) 60...Ke4 61 Ke1 Bg4 62 Bb2 K&i. Black's
King is in and the a-pawnwill costWhite his Bishop.
This later factor together with the weaknessof White's
a-pawn(as will be seenthere is no way to defendit) should
give Black wonderfulwinningchances.But how to go about
it? Thereare threecontinuations worthdiscussion:
1) Direct Defensewith 39...Kc4

Section3: Better King White has three wavsto defend. The critical defense
point is ultimately the b-pawn- as we will see the a-pawn
goeslost very quickly.
Becauseof the inherentlimitationsof the Bishopin a
pure oppositecolor Bishop endgame,the importanceof the (a) Direct Attack with 40 Bb2
King increases.If the King is activeand hasthe potentialof
doing real damage,it can becomea hugepower. The potential q Bbz
for King power is alreadypresentin Diagram69, (seediagram Kb3
on the nextpage),J. Bellon - D. Minic, SiegenOlympiad1970, 41 Bcl B
after White's39th move.
Hold on to material,wherepossible!
A thorough evaluationof the position leads to the Kc2
followingconclusions: 42 Kn
43 Bt4 a5!

L25
L26
 This is unquestionablythe fastestway becausethe
srraiehrforward43...Kb2allowsWhite to blockadewith M BcTl
rc* " 3 4 5 B a 5 . Th e S o vi e t IM Ma rk Dvor etzky has
demonstratedthat here too Black can get White into zugzwang
## ffii.
Blackwins
*ittt +S...fb3 46 Ke3 Kc4 47 KfZKd3 48 Bd8 Ke4 49 Bc7
Kf5 50 Bd8 Kf4! and Black either wins the g-pawnor gets BecauseBlack's_f-pa-wn is still on f4, this preventsa
in ...a5. In due courseBlack shouldwin. blockadeby White on the-h2-b8diasonaland makesBlack's
tqs[ c_onlderably.easier than in the position after 40 Be5 f3
After the text White must capture as otherwiseBlack 41Bc7. Black'swinningmethodis:
plays44...a4.
(-t).His King walks over to f5 to attack the g-pawnwhich
4 bxas Kb2 White mustdefendwith Bd8.
45 a6 Kxa3
45a7 b4 (2) Black then plap ...a5. White hasrwo choices:
Black wins
[{ bp5,, Black's passedb-pawn assistedby the King will
The b-pawnwill costWhitehis BishgP:-.Ye.anwhile costWhite his Bishopand the game.
is ideallyplacedto stopbothof-white'spassed
Black'sBishotri
pawns. _ . If Bxa5, Blac k c aptur esthe g- paw nand w i ns on the
Kingsideby leavinglhe f4 pawn whtie it is, advancingthe g-
u"T;:.-'*"t:fth
(b)Brockao. 40Be5: pawnto 93, then playingKg4 and finally the decisiveB.-

2) Elegancewith 39...a5

Black cannot afford to give up the f-pawn.because The point of this move order is to preventthe varia-
White's King plus passedpawnsgain h draw after 40...Kb3? tion 39...Kc440 Be5! B 4l Bc7. The main line after39...a5is
'428d2 as in the variationafter 39...Kc4 40Bb2:
418fr4 Kx# a5 43 bxaib4 44 Bcl +l KaZ 45 Ke2
b3 46 Kd3 b2 47 Bxb2 Kxb2 48 Kd4 Kb3 49 Ke5 Kb4 50
Kf6 Be4 51 c6 Kxa5 52c7 Bf5 53 c8:Q. 39 .... a5
40 bxa5 Kc4!
4l Be7 Kb3
42 Kn Kxa3 But never40...I3c5?becauseafter 41 Be7+ the a3 pawn
43 Bas Kb3 is safe.

The samepositionhas been reachedas in the note to 4l Bbz Kb3

Black's 43rd mov'ein the 40 Bbz variation,with Black win- 42 Bcl A
;i"g;ft.i++ r.s r.+ +s Kf2Kd3 46Bd8.Ke447BczKfS 43 Kel Kc2
48 Bd8 Kf4, etc. 4 Bf4 Kb2

(c) Blockadefrom the back starting with 40 Bd8: Black winsthe a3 pawnand the game.

L27 L28
7

3) The gamecontinuation39....Ke4? EVERYTHING. After 41...8xc6Whire'sBishophas much

nlorg scopeand can plote_ct
the b4 pawn from the front and
With two movesto go before the time control Black alsohasaccessto theg.l-a7diagonalTrome.g.c5 and can help
"play it safe"by protectingthe f4 pawn to stop the,f-parvn.Very exhiustiveanaly"sis
apparentlydecidedto by Dvoretzky
solhat it doesn'tneedto be advancedto B. Yet the question hasshownthat White canjust defend.
raisedby the move is: what is the King doing on the King-
side? The eKraordinaryimpo.rtance of the more active King
is dr iven hom e by the- r es ul ti ng
pl ay fr om D i agr am71, R :
39 .... Ke4? Calvo- D. Byrne,Palmade Malldria t'gOS. Biaitdn moue.
40Kn Bd5
Draw
" % % % g z R. Calvo-
% % % J. Bellon-
_ t D. Byrne
t % %"/&t D. Minic
Diagram71 ft%t'N /fr. Palmade
Diagram70 rfA r SiegenOlym- t A Mallorca'68
Blackon
r gr piad 1970
After
move
% % % 40...Bd5
% % * i
z % % % Each side has connectedpassedpawnsand Black even
ax extra pawn in the form of the pas'sedg-pawn,yet it is
The game was adjournedhere with White sealinghis White who hasa forcedwin! The factorsreJpbnsibiefor this
41st move. The Yugoslavsoffered a draw in the nnorning are:
becauseafter a full night of analysisthey had not found a
win. They consideredthe followingto be the main line: 4l -. White's King is directly able to assistthe passedpawnsto
Bd8 Bc6 42 Bc7 Kf5 43 Bd8 Kg4 44 BeTl a5 (This correct advance.
break now comestoo late) 45 bxa5 Kf5 46 a6 Ke4 47 a7 Kd4
48 a8:Q! Bxa8 49 c6l Bxc6 50 Bd6. The positionis drawn -- White'spassedpawnsare farther advancedthan Black's.
sinceBlack cannotwin White's a-pawnor g-pawnand White's
King securelyblockadesthe f-pawn. -- In the immediatefuture White'sBishopis ableto block-
ade Black'spawns.
Not surprisinglythe passageof time has punctureda
few holes in the above variation. Thus IM Dvoretzky has Even though it is his move,Black has no satisfactory
shownthat insteadof 42...Kf5?,Black can play 42...Rand win defense:
by walking over and capturingthe a-pawn,as given in two of
the earlier variations. On the other hand,White can draw by 1 ..... Kd6
playingthe immediate41 c6!!. The c-pawnis not important
for White's prospects;the chancefor a successful blockadeis The gamecontinuationwherebyBlackaimsto immedi-

1,29 130
7

atelyactivatehis King. Alternativesare no better: 9 Bdl!

( l) l...Bd4 2Ka6 Kd6 3 a5 c5 4 Kb7! (Keepingthe King in Forcing the Black King to abandonthe attackon the a-
fr6nt of the pawnsboth givesWhite'sKing maximummobility pawnsinceBlack hasno reasdnablewaitingmoves.
a n d r e s t r i c t st h e B l a ck K i n g 's d e fe n siveoppor tunities.)
4...Kc5 5 Be2! (Not only protectingthe b-pawnbut also 9 .... Kd
denyingBlack'sKing the irirfortant bS-square.i5...ga 6 a6 93 10 Ka7 Kbs
7 a792 8 a8:Q 91=Q 9 Qa3Mate. 11 a6 Ka5
t2 b8=e!
(2) 1...Kc7 2Ka6l d4 3 b6+ Kb8 4 a5 followedby Kb5, a6,
a7+. SinceWhite hasthe right Bishopfor the a-pawn,Black The only way to win. Instead12 Be2 Bd6 13 Ka8?
lacksthe defensiveresource...Bxb6after White'sa6. leadsto nothingafter 13...d1:Q 14Bxdl ltua6.
2 Ka6l Kd t2 ....
3a5 d4 13 Kb7
4 Bxe6
Black'sBishopis stuckon b8 to preventa7. As soon as
There is no reasonnot to take off this pawn. Then the Black King can be deflectedfrom the attack on the a-
White no longer hasto worry about connectedpassedpawns pawnWhite will win.
and the Bishop can blockadethe d- and g-pawncombination.
However,the immediate4 b6 alsowins. 13 .... Kb5
14 Bg4l Ka5
4 .... d3 15 Be2! Black resigns
s b6!
Passedpawnsmust be pushed! Zugrwangis here! Neither Black'sKing nor Bishophas
a reasonablemove,while giving up the d- and g-pawnsonly
5 .... postponesthe inevitable.
6 Bfs!
A very fine strategic move: White forces the d-pawn
f o rwa r d s o i h a t th e f1 -a 6 d i a g o n a li s opened up for the
Bishop(seemove15!).

6 .... d2
7 Bg4 Bt4
8b7 Bc7!
If instead8...8b8,9 Kb6 followedby the advanceof
the a-pawnleadsto an elementarywin. The text requires
moves.
White to comeup with somesophisticated

L3r. 1,32
7

pawnsto win the game.

Chapter7: Summary-andComparisonof SameColor Bishopvs.
OppositeColor BishopEndgames
Here I presenta summaryof the precedingsix chap-
ters.
A. Bishopand Pawnvs. Bishop
SameColor
I f t h e d e f en d i n gK i n g i s i n fro n t of the pawn and
cannotbe chasedawayrtheg-me is drawn. If the defending
King is not in front_oi the_pawnor can be chasedaway,thE
g a m e i s g e n e r a l l yl o st. T h e w i n n i n g str ategvconsiitsof
deflectingthe defendingBishop (the only deTenderin the
absenceof the King) away from the pawn by offering to
exchangeBishops.
OppositeColor
As long as either the defendingKing or Bishopcon-
trols anysquarein front of the pawn,the gameis drawn.
D. DefensiveStrategr With Material Disadvantage
t. Try for as manyroutinepawnexchanges
aspossible.
2. Try to havepawnson only one sideof the board.
3. With oppositecolor Bishopsaim for a blockade.
E. PositionalAdvantages
A more activeKing (one that is at leaston the fourth
rank or can get there),a better Bighop(able to attackenemy
pawns),and better pawns(haveviablepassedpawn(s)and a
flexible,soundformation; avoid doubled/isolated/backward
pawns)are the three typesof positionaladvantages.To have
winningchancesin positionswith evenpawns,at leasttwo of
the above advantagesare usually required. Always try to
keep the enemy Bishop as impotent as possible. Therefore
never, never, never voluntaily put your pawns on the same
color as the enemyBishop.

B. Material AdvantageGenerallyNecessaryTo Win

SameColor

1.Pawnson one sideonly:two pawns

2. Pawnson both sides:one pawn
OppositeColor: two pawns

C. Winning StrategyWithMaterial Advantage

M a k e a p a s s e dp a w n ( s )o n t h e s i d e w i t h t h e e x t r a
pawn(s)..Remember:passedpawnsmustbe pushed! If the
enemy Bishop tries to stop if, deflect it bv 6fferinq to ex-
c hang eBi s h o p s .If th e e n b myK i n g sto psit, infiltr i- tewith
own Krng lnto the other sideof the boardandcaptureenough

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