Bishops of Opposite Colour – Training Positions – Part 2

Bishop Endgames: Do Opposites Attract? (Practical Endgames) is now available as a paperback; here are some sample training exercises that illustrate the play in typical endgames with bishops of opposite colour. Scroll down to see the solutions.



Csulits, Anton - Horvath, Miklos, 1989

White's turn

---

Hladik, Josef - Balaz, Peter, 1990.11.11

White's turn

---

Horvath, Gyula - Juhasz, Jozsef, 1990

White's turn

---

Naumkin, Igor - Ward, Christopher, 1990

White's turn

Solutions:

Csulits, Anton - Horvath, Miklos, Szekszard op, 1989

24. Bd5+

White noticed that winning the 'f5' is much more important than the 'c' pawn.

( The check is better than capturing on c6. 24. Bxc6 Kf8 )

24. ... Kh8 25. Be6 Rc7 26. Bxf5

Black's pawns now are disconnected and White has an advantage which he converted into a full point.

26. ... c5 27. Kg2 Rc6 28. Be4 Rc7 29. Bd5 Bf6 30. f4 Kg7 31. Kf3 e5 32. e3 Kf8 33. Ke4 exf4 34. gxf4 Ke7 35. Kf5 Kd6 36. e4 Bd4 37. Ra4 1-0

---

Hladik, Josef - Balaz, Peter, CSR-chT 9091, 1990.11.11

39. Rxc6

White wins another couple of pawns, so the bishop endgame is winning.

39. ... Ke7 40. Rc7+ Rd7 41. Rxd7+ Kxd7 42. Bxd5 Kd6 43. Bg8 h6 44. Kg3 g5 45. f5

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

---

Horvath, Gyula - Juhasz, Jozsef, Budapest Spring op 06th, 1990

40. Bxb7

( 40. Bxb7 Rxb7 41. c6 and the pawns supported by the rook win the game. )

1-0

---

Naumkin, Igor - Ward, Christopher, Lloyds Bank op 14th, 1990

30. Rd5

Forces Black's king to block the pawn.

30. ... Kd7 31. Rb5 Kc6 32. Rb6+

Another sacrifice - the rook again cannot be captured because of d6-d7-d8.

32. ... Kc5 33. d7 Bh5

Black is setting up the last trap.

34. Bd6+!

Blocking the 'd' file with yet another check.

( 34. d8=Q?? would allow Black to bounce back 34. ... Rd1+ )

1-0

Bishops of Opposite Colour – Training Positions – Part 1

Bishop Endgames: Do Opposites Attract? (Practical Endgames) is now available as a paperback; here are some sample training exercises that illustrate the play in typical endgames with bishops of opposite colour. Scroll down to see the solutions.

Rogers, Ian - Lejeune, Jean Pierre, 1976

White's turn

---

Savva, Andreas - Said, Mahmoud, 1986.11.23

White's turn

---

Cuijpers, Frans Andre - Stoll, Ferdinand, 1988

White's turn

---

Tal, Mikhail - Hull, Lee, 1988.03.08

White's turn

 

 

 

Solutions

Rogers, Ian - Lejeune, Jean Pierre, Wch U16, 1976

32. Rg8+

The White pawn will now inevitably promote.

1-0

---

Savva, Andreas - Said, Mahmoud, Dubai Olympiad, 1986.11.23

33. Bxa6! h5

( 33. ... bxa6 34. Rxe7 Bxe7 35. b7 and pawn promotes. )

34. Bxb7 Bh6 35. Bc6 e3 36. Kf1 exf2 37. Rxe7 Kxe7 38. b7 Be3 39. b8=Q 1-0

---

Cuijpers, Frans Andre - Stoll, Ferdinand, Bad Woerishofen op 4th, 1988

38. Bc6

Black is unable to stop e8Q.

1-0

---

Tal, Mikhail - Hull, Lee, Framingham CC sim, 1988.03.08

21. Ba6 Rxa6 22. c7 Ra8

( Black resigned, but game could have continued: 22. ... Ra8 23. Rd1 with inevitable Rd8 )

1-0

Pawn Break in the Bishop Endgame

A couple of years ago I wrote a book about pawn breaks, and those usually are common in the middlegame, but here is an interesting example from a bishop endgame. With only seconds on the clock, I found the right idea, but executed it at the wrong moment.

Black to move. Find a way to save the game.
  

See my book for a lot more examples of pawn breaks:

Power of Exchanges in Chess – Transitioning into Bishop endgame

Jiganchine – North, Keres Memorial 2014
White to move. Find the winning idea.

The title of the post obviously contains the hint, but I would still suggest you consider what is the biggest weaknesses in Black’s position, what piece defends that weakness, and what is the best piece to attack it attack it. Alas in the game, I overlooked it, and gave Black a chance to defend, which he in his turn – also missed.

Endgame Lesson–Bishops of Opposite Color

Cheng – Jiganchine, 2013 (analysis)
 Black to move. Find the best move/plan (feel free to post it in the comments section).
Hint: Black wants to a create a pair of connected passed pawns, such that they would be impossible to blockade with the white king and bishop.

Topalov Defeats Anand - Bishops of Opposite Color Endgame

This game in the video is taken from my E-book about endgames with bishops of opposite color.
http://www.amazon.com/Bishop-Endgames...
The book is formatted for electronic readers and can be read on devices of various sizes, from tablets to phones. The free sample includes 3 thoroughly annotated games and the full book comes with dozens of training positions to help develop a good sense for positions with bishops of opposite colour.

This bishop endgame is a good illustration of thinking in schemes. Black had to keep track of the functions of each of his pieces - in the final position the king had to block the pawn 'd', and the bishop - defend the 'h7' pawn. Because they reversed the roles after Anand's mistake, White had an option of breaking through to the 'd' pawn and winning a piece.

Classic Bishop Endgame by Botvinnik - video

This game is taken from my E-book about endgames with bishops of opposite color.
http://www.amazon.com/Bishop-Endgames...
The book is formatted for electronic readers and can be read on devices of various sizes, from tablets to phones. The free sample includes 3 thoroughly annotated games and the full book comes with dozens of training positions to help develop a good sense for positions with bishops of opposite colour.

In this game Botvinnik aimed for having 2 distant passed pawns that his opponent's bishop could not block from the same diagonal. At the same time he was not concerned about giving opponent passed pawns - as long as his own bishop could stay on the same diagonal while guarding them.
Modern computer engines have a hard time correctly understanding the position and finding Botvinnik's moves. A lot of his play is very conceptual and requires calculation deeper than 10 moves ahead, but can be described verbally by a human.

Carlsen outplays Karjakin in a tricky endgame

Carlsen, Magnus - Karjakin, Sergey Tata Steel Chess 2013

The game is taken from my E-book about endgames with bishops of opposite colour:

The book is formatted for electronic readers and can be read on devices of various sizes, from tablets to phones. The free sample includes 3 thoroughly annotated games and the full book comes with dozens of training positions to help develop a good sense for positions with bishops of opposite colour.

This game has drawn a lot of attention due to the manner in which Carlsen outplayed his opponent.

53. f4  Carlsen wisely advances pawns on the dark squares to restrict Black's bishop - something we'll see very often in these endgames.

53. ... Bd6 54. Re8 Rb7 55. Ra8 Be7 56. Kg2 Rb1

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

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

 Question: How can White make progress?

Answer: by undermining Black's pawn chain and trying to advance f4-f5-f6, even if that involves some sacrifices.

67. g4

After some manoeuvring, Carlsen begins a major pawn breakthrough that aims against Black bishop and king that have been boxed on the kingside. Due to his active rook Black had his chances, but they were extremely difficult to exploit in the time trouble that Karjakin was in.

67. ... hxg4 68. h5 Rh1

( 68. ... gxh5! 69. f5 h4 70. f6+ Kg6 71. Rxf8
71. ... Kf5 White won the bishop, but Black gets enough counterplay due to his active pawns, king and rook. 72. Rh8 Rb2+ 73. Kg1 Rb1+ with a perpetual check. )

69. hxg6 fxg6 70. Re6

Temporarily Black has an extra pawn, but his pawns are now vulnerable, and Black's bishop still has no moves.

70. ... Kh6 71. Bd5 Rh2+ 72. Kg3 Rh3+ 73. Kxg4 Rxd3

74. f5

( 74. Be4!? was also possible. )

74. ... Re3 75. Rxg6+ Kh7 76. Bg8+ Kh8

77. Kf4

White's pawns are further advanced and better supported by his pieces.

77. ... Rc3 78. f6 d3 79. Ke3 c4 80. Be6 Kh7 81. Bf5 Rc2

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

82. Rg2+ Kh6 83. Rxc2 dxc2 84. Bxc2

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

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

Bishop Endgame – Find the Best move

Kiviharju – Ehrnrooth, Finland  1982  

 Black to move (Solution will be posted tomorrow)

This position is taken from my E-book about endgames with bishops of opposite color:

The book is formatted for electronic readers and can be read on devices of various sizes, from tablets to phones. The free sample includes 3 thoroughly annotated games and the full book comes with dozens of training positions to help develop a good sense for positions with bishops of opposite colour.

I think ebooks are a very promising media for chess content, and would be very interested to hear what you think about it.

The Importance of not Giving up In Chess

Here is a blitz game where I was losing, but was able to come back to win. This only goes to illustrate that in online blitz games, having a winning position in no way guarantees a full point, and tables typically turn many times. It is thus important to stay focused till the very end.
DDT3000-ERADICATOR, ICC, 2011
Black to move

Black played 26… Bxe5 which seems to be winning, but since White can’t recapture it because of back rank mate. I was about to resign, when I realized that I can stay in the game a bit longer by playing 27.g4

Black continued with winning two pawns, but because of opposite coloured bishops, the position is not so clear.
27… Bxh2+ 28. Kxh2 Bxg4 29. Re8+ Kg7 30. Bd4+ Kh6 31. Be3+

 Black to move. White has some counter play, but after 31… g5 Black can continue to play for a win

Instead he blundered twice with 31… Kh5? 32. Rh8 Bf3? 33. Kg3!

Black to move. Rxh7 is a mate threat, and he has to give up a piece and went on to lose.
Checkmate in the endgame is rare, so the irony is that on the first diagram White seemed to be forced remain down a piece to avoid back rank mate, and only several moves later – Black was in the same boat, except for this time there was no way to save the piece.

Solving Susan Polgar’s puzzle

Solving this chess puzzle from Susan Polgar’s blog, I had a bit of a dilemma, choosing between transforming the position into one of two possible endgames.
Kulon – Juracz, 2011
 Black to move.
Everyone answering the question (other than me) – decided on the exchange sacrifice 1… Rxa2 2. Rxa2 Bb2.

OPTION 1 – “Pawn endgame”
  White to move. I quickly considered this position, which is practically equivalent to a pawn endgame, and it appeared slightly unclear. However because Black bishop covers ‘d4’ and ‘e5’, White will loose the d5 pawn and the game because of zugzwang. Everyone else who answered the puzzle in comments on the blog – went for this solution. I however chose a more complicated way, which I think is also sufficient for a win.

Why not just trade rooks with 1… Rxe2 2. Kxe2 f5 and go for endgame with bishops of opposite colour – which I am a big fan of:
OPTION 2 – Bishop Endgame
 White to move. Two passed pawns are hard to stop in the long run – in quick analysis I was unable to hold this for White. Black king threatens to break through to b2, so White has to guard against that, but otherwise Black forms a passed pawn on the kingside. For example: 3. Kd3 Kf8 4. Kc4 Ke7 5. Kc5 Bd6+ 6. Kc6 g5
Black pawns begin marching 7. Kb5 Kf6 8. Kc4 Ke5 9. Kc3 h5 10. Bb1 g4 11. hxg4 fxg4 12. Kd2 Kf4 13. Ke1 Kg3 14. Kf1 Kh2 15. Kf2 h4 16. Kf1 g3 17. Ba2
Black to move. 17…h3  wins on a spot.

If White chooses a different plan, and transfers the king to guard the ‘a’ pawn and free up the bishop, we can get a position like this:

Black to move. 1…f3!? 2. fxg4 g3!? creates an instructive position:

Black wins because his bishop guards both of White’s pawns from the same diagonal – as per Mark Dvoretsky’s teachings.

Success in chess depends on knowing typical ideas and recognizing those patterns on the board. Sometimes there is more than one way to win the chess game – in a tournament you only need to find one! In analysis, we can, however, muse around and come up with multiple solutions for our own entertainment…

Opposite Coloured Bishops – part 16 - Conclusion

This is the last post on the subject of endgames with bishops of opposite colours – all examples are from my article on the same subject published in Canadian chess magazine “En Passant” almost 10 years ago.

There is an attitude to endings with opposite coloured bishops that 'they are all drawn'. There is certainly a good reason for this. And yet almost all examples that I showed had a decisive result. Partly this is because in most of them one side had a material advantage. But some endings shown had even material in the starting position. Therefore, in a position with rooks on the board, it is often possible to outplay your opponent. If you are playing for a win, there might also exist a psychological effect that would help you: when seeing opposite coloured bishops, even strong players may relax and expect that even with second rate moves they will get their draw. Not necessarily!

I also hope that the readers’ thinking about types of endings will expand from "pawn endings" and "rook endings" to more complex combinations of material, such as “rooks + bishops of opposite colour”, “rooks + knights”. These are what Dvoretsky calls “simple positions” – not quite endgames, but nor middlegames either.  Studying ideas typical for each type of these simple positions will lead to a better understanding of chess.

To wrap up the series, here is the analysis/solution for the puzzle from the last post.

Topalov Veselin - Shirov Alexei, Linares (10), 1998
Black to move

47...Bh3 !! An amazing move, which initially does not seem to make any sense. The point is that Black's king needs to support the 'd' and 'a' pawns as soon as possible. The bishop on e4 was on his way. By going to h3, Black attacks the 'g2' pawn, so he wins a tempo. The reason why he is not afraid to lose the bishop, is because this bishop would not help him to advance the queenside pawns anyways. 48.gxh3 Kf5 49.Kf2 Ke4 50.Bxf6 d4 Diagram

51.Be7 Kd3 52.Bc5 Kc4 53.Be7 Kb3 Diagram

The Black king comes to c2. 0-1