“In order to improve your game, you must study the endgame before everything else, for whereas the endings can be studied and mastered by themselves, the middle game and the opening must be studied in relation to the endgame.” – José Raúl Capablanca
If the rim pawn had not gone too far, if it had not passed the fourth rank, the position is won! This was found by Guretzky and Cornitz in 1863. White to move wins because he can permanently cut the opponent’s king off his h-pawn. The starting moves are identical to the previous example. […]
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Correctly positioned bishop – along the b1-h7 diagonal – draws even when the h-pawn is on the fifth rank! This has been known ever since the duel Morphy – Loewenthal ( London, 1858 ) . White to move cannot win since his h-pawn had gone too far! ← Basic EndingsBasic Endings →
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In endgames with rim pawn and the “bad” bishop ( that is, wrong-colored bishop ) a special meaning belongs to the warning to avoid a too early and too far advance of the pawn. When the h-pawn is on the sixth rank, Black easily draws with a «bad» bishop by keeping it on the […]
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In the position with the pawn on the bishop’s file, a big surprise is awaiting us with the blocked pawn on the sixth rank. Within grandmaster’s plays this position first appeared in the game Szabo – Botvinnik ( Budapest, 1952 ) , but was examined in detail in 1750 by Ercole de Rio. White […]
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Regardless of the “pawn’s step too many”, White usually easily wins if he manages to cut off the opponent’s king from its pawn. The blockade of squares in front of the pawn and the control of the critical squares in its surroundings may only mean that Black will make the win difficult. Let us […]
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White cannot solve the problem of pinning and activate the rook in the following position either. White to move cannot win. ← Basic EndingsBasic Endings →
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Although the white rook is much more active in a similar position behind the pawn’s back, the following position cannot correct the mistake made by one “step too many” either. White to move cannot win because he cannot force the opponent into zugzwang. ← Basic EndingsBasic Endings →
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It is interesting that in a similar position Black easily draws with only a passive bishop on square b8. Although Black has no tempo-move on the b8-d6 diagonal, White to move cannot win. ← Basic EndingsBasic Endings →
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We have seen in the previous example that the king must clear the way for his pawn, and now we shall analize the important warning that the pawn must not go too far too early. There are as many as four types of positions in which a step too many will definitely mean to […]
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Rook and Pawn versus Bishop White’s material advantage is so big that the win is only the matter of elementary technique. When, however, Black blocks the square in front of the passed pawn with both pieces, the way to win is extremely difficult, and sometimes even impossible. Relative positions of kings and pawns are […]
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