“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
White’s prospects of winning are the best with a rook’s pawn since then the bishop has the least manoeuvring space. When the pawn is on the seventh, the black bishop does not have the short diagonal at all. White always wins provided he can prevent the enemy king from entering into the drawing zone […]
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In a similar position with the rim pawn, white cannot win, because Black defends with stalemate. ← Basic EndingsBasic Endings →
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If Black’s rim pawn is blocked on the fourth rank, Black loses when his king is blocked next to his own pawn by cutting off along the c-file! The following position was created in the Bellon – Tatai game ( Rome 1977 ) . White to move wins by driving his opponent into zugzwang! […]
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Black is lost if his king is cut off along the c-file! The following position is the mirror image of the endgame which was played, although with opposite colours, in a famous Rubinstein – Salwe game ( Prag, 1909 ) . Rubinstein, one of the biggest experts in the theory of endgames at the […]
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When the black pawn is fixed on the fifth rank, the situation for White is much more unfavourable for two important reasons. The first is that after the exchange of the bishop and the pawn, one more tempo is needed to occupy the crucial b7 square and to prevent the lifesaving Kc8. This is […]
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In the similar positions with the rim pawns, Black has some better drawing chances. But, if the black pawn is fixed on the sixth rank, nothing changes either in the evaluation of the position or in the winning plan. ← Basic EndingsBasic Endings →
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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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I ) When the white king is on e6, Black to move draws. ← Basic EndingsBasic Endings →
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