In
chess
Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...
endgames with a
bishop
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
, a
pawn
Pawn most often refers to:
* Pawn (chess), the weakest and most numerous piece in the game
* Pawnbroker or pawnshop, a business that provides loans by taking personal property as collateral
Pawn may also refer to:
Places
* Pawn, Oregon, an his ...
that is a may be the wrong rook pawn. With a single bishop, the result of a position may depend on whether or not the bishop controls the square on the
chessboard
A chessboard is a used to play chess. It consists of 64 squares, 8 rows by 8 columns, on which the chess pieces are placed. It is square in shape and uses two colours of squares, one light and one dark, in a chequered pattern. During play, the bo ...
on which the pawn would
promote. Since a side's rook pawns promote on opposite-colored squares, one of them may be the "wrong rook pawn". This situation is also known as having the ''wrong-colored bishop'' or ''
wrong bishop
In a chess endgame, a wrong bishop is a bishop that would have been better placed on the opposite square color; in other words, a bishop is unable to guard squares of the other color. This most commonly occurs with a bishop and one of its , but it ...
'', i.e. the bishop is on the wrong colored squares in relation to the rook pawn. In many cases, the wrong rook pawn will only
draw
Draw, drawing, draws, or drawn may refer to:
Common uses
* Draw (terrain), a terrain feature formed by two parallel ridges or spurs with low ground in between them
* Drawing (manufacturing), a process where metal, glass, or plastic or anything ...
, when any other pawn would win. A fairly common defensive tactic is to get into one of these drawn endgames, often through a
sacrifice
Sacrifice is the offering of material possessions or the lives of animals or humans to a deity as an act of propitiation or worship. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks, and possibly exi ...
.
In some endgames such as having a bishop and pawn versus a lone
king
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
(perhaps with pawns), the wrong rook pawn is the one whose promotion square is the opposite color as that on which the bishop resides, which makes the stronger side unable to win. This was known at least as early as 1623 because of an
endgame study
In the game of chess, an endgame study, or just study, is a composed position—that is, one that has been made up rather than played in an actual game—presented as a sort of puzzle, in which the aim of the solver is to find the essentially uniqu ...
by
Gioachino Greco
Gioachino Greco (c. 1600 – c. 1634) ( ελληνικά/greek: Τζοακίνο Γκρέκο), surnamed Cusentino and more frequently ''il Calabrese'', was an Italian chess player and writer. He recorded some of the earliest chess games kno ...
.
A less common situation is when the defense has a bishop versus a
rook
Rook (''Corvus frugilegus'') is a bird of the corvid family. Rook or rooks may also refer to:
Games
*Rook (chess), a piece in chess
*Rook (card game), a trick-taking card game
Military
* Sukhoi Su-25 or Rook, a close air support aircraft
* USS ...
and rook pawn; the wrong rook pawn is the one that promotes on the square not controlled by the bishop because the defending
king
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
and bishop can form a blockade in the corner (on the pawn's promotion square) and draw the game. This is also called the ''safe corner'' for the defending king.
Bishop and pawn
In this type of endgame, the wrong rook pawn is the one whose queening square is the opposite color as that on which the bishop resides. Many such positions are
drawn because of a
fortress
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
if the defending king can get to the corner in front of the pawn. (See the diagram.) With the bishop not able to control the a8-square, the black king cannot be forced away from the corner, so the pawn will not be able to
promote. This is the basic type of position for most of these endgames.
Defending king in front of pawn
In a
king and pawn versus king endgame
The chess endgame with a king and a pawn versus a king is one of the most important and fundamental endgames, other than the basic checkmates. It is an important endgame for chess players to master, since most other endgames have the potential of ...
with a rook pawn, the defending king only has to get in front of the pawn to draw the game. In contrast, in the endgame with a bishop and the wrong rook pawn, getting the defending king in front of the pawn will not necessarily draw. In this position from
Edmar Mednis
Edmar John Mednis ( lv, Edmārs Džons Mednis; March 22, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was a Latvian-American chess player and writer of Latvian origin. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 1980.
Biography
Mednis' family were ...
, White wins if it is his move.
:1. Kg8 Kg5
:2. Kg7
and the pawn promotes. Black to move draws by 1... Kh7! followed by 2... Kh8. The defending king must be in the corner or be next to it to be sure of a draw.
Examples from games
Goglidze versus Kasparian
In this position from a 1929 game between Viktor Arsentievich Goglidze and
Genrikh Kasparian
Genrikh Kasparyan ( hy, Հենրիկ Գասպարյան; 27 February 1910 in Tbilisi – 27 December 1995 in Yerevan) was a Soviet chess player. He is considered to have been one of the greatest composers of chess endgame studies. Outside Armen ...
, Black uses the
tactic
Tactic(s) or Tactical may refer to:
* Tactic (method), a conceptual action implemented as one or more specific tasks
** Military tactics, the disposition and maneuver of units on a particular sea or battlefield
** Chess tactics
** Political tact ...
of offering the
sacrifice
Sacrifice is the offering of material possessions or the lives of animals or humans to a deity as an act of propitiation or worship. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks, and possibly exi ...
of his bishop for the pawn on the e- to leave White with the wrong rook pawn:
:1... Bg4+!
and the game was drawn twelve moves later. The bishop will remain on the c8–h3 diagonal and sacrifice itself for the e-pawn if it advances to e6. (Note that 1...Bb3+ 2.Ke7 Bxf7 does not work because of 3.h6+!)
Fischer versus Taimanov
In this game from the 1971
World Chess Championship
The World Chess Championship is played to determine the world champion in chess. The current world champion is Magnus Carlsen of Norway, who has held the title since 2013.
The first event recognized as a world championship was the World Chess ...
Candidate's Match, the second game between
Bobby Fischer
Robert James Fischer (March 9, 1943January 17, 2008) was an American chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he won his first of a record eight US Championships at the age of 14. In 1964, he won with an 11 ...
and
Mark Taimanov
Mark Evgenievich Taimanov (russian: Марк Евгеньевич Тайманов; 7 February 1926 – 28 November 2016) was one of the leading Soviet and Russian chess players, among the world's top 20 players from 1946 to 1971. A prolific ch ...
, Black could have drawn the game because of the wrong rook pawn. One way is:
:81... Nd3!
:82. h4 Nf4
:83. Kf5 Kd6!
:84. Kxf4 Ke7
:
In the actual game, Black made an incorrect move (81...Ke4) and lost because a knight has a hard time defending against rook pawns. The game continued 82.Bc8! Kf4 83.h4 Nf3 84.h5 Ng5 85.Bf5; see
Zugzwang#Fischer versus Taimanov, second match game for the game's conclusion. (Fischer went on to win the match 6–0 and advance to the next round, and subsequently became World Champion.)
Ķeņģis versus Kasparov
Ten-year-old
Garry Kasparov
Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born 13 April 1963) is a Russian chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist and commentator. His peak rating of 2851, achieved in 1999, was the highest recorded until being surpassed by ...
thought that he was winning this game as Black against
Edvīns Ķeņģis
Edvīns Ķeņģis (born 12 April 1959, in Cēsis) is a Latvian chess Grandmaster.
Ķeņģis is an eight-time Latvian Champion, winning the national contest in 1984, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1997, 2004 and 2005. He won the Baltic Chess Champion ...
, being two pawns ahead. Indeed, Black can win the white bishop (for two pawns), but then the game is a draw because of the wrong rook pawn. In the actual game, Black moved 48...Kh3 and the game was drawn after move 54. (No progress can be made with the bishops on opposite colors, see
opposite-colored bishop endgame
The opposite-colored bishops endgame is a chess endgame in which each side has a single bishop and the bishops reside on opposite-colored squares. Without other besides pawns, these endings are widely known for their tendency to result in a dra ...
.) In an alternative line, Black can win the white bishop:
:48... f4+
:49. Bxf4 d2
:50. Kxd2 Kxf4
but the position is drawn because the black rook pawn is on the wrong file for the bishop to help promote it.
Karpov versus Kasparov
Garry Kasparov
Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born 13 April 1963) is a Russian chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist and commentator. His peak rating of 2851, achieved in 1999, was the highest recorded until being surpassed by ...
used sacrifices to leave
Anatoly Karpov
Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov ( rus, links=no, Анато́лий Евге́ньевич Ка́рпов, p=ɐnɐˈtolʲɪj jɪvˈɡʲenʲjɪvʲɪtɕ ˈkarpəf; born May 23, 1951) is a Russian and former Soviet chess grandmaster, former World Ches ...
with the wrong rook pawn to save the twentieth game of their
1985 World Championship, after a long endgame. In this position, Black sacrificed two pawns for one (the ones on f5 and g6 for the one on a4):
:82... Bb3!
:83. Be8 Ke7
:84. Bxg6 Bxa4
:85. Bxf5 Kf6
:½–½
A
draw was agreed because the black bishop can stop the advance of the pawn on the f-file, sacrificing itself if necessary, leaving White with the wrong rook pawn (the one on the h-file). (Kasparov went on to win the match 13–11 and became World Champion for the first time.)
Korchnoi versus Karpov
In this game from the
1978 World Championship between
Victor Korchnoi
Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi ( rus, Ви́ктор Льво́вич Корчно́й, p=vʲiktər lʲvovʲɪtɕ kɐrtɕˈnoj; 23 March 1931 – 6 June 2016) was a Soviet (before 1976) and Swiss (after 1980) chess grandmaster (GM) and chess writer. H ...
and Anatoly Karpov, White's pawn is the wrong rook pawn. White went on to the black b-pawn on move 107, but was unable to force the black king far enough away from the a8-square to get to a winning position. The game ended in an intentional
stalemate
Stalemate is a situation in the game of chess where the player whose turn it is to move is not in check and has no legal move. Stalemate results in a draw. During the endgame, stalemate is a resource that can enable the player with the inferior ...
on move 124 (see
Stalemate#Korchnoi versus Karpov for the final position). Some commentators thought that Korchnoi might have missed a win in this endgame, but Karpov defended well and White never had a theoretically won position. (However, Korchnoi did miss a win earlier in the game.) Black's pawn on b5 is actually a liability. If the black king is forced into a position where he cannot move, Black would have to move the pawn and White would win the game. As of 2008, this is the longest game of a world championship. (Karpov retained his title by a score of six wins to five.)
An exception
In this position White wins because he is able to force the exchange of pawns to get his pawn on the b-.
:1. Be3 Kb8
:2. Bd4 Ka8
:3. Kc8
and
checkmate
Checkmate (often shortened to mate) is any game position in chess and other chess-like games in which a player's king is in check (threatened with ) and there is no possible escape. Checkmating the opponent wins the game.
In chess, the king is ...
in two more moves. If Black did not have his rook pawn, he could draw by 3...b5.
Opposite-colored bishops
Usually when each side has a bishop and they are on opposite-colored squares and one side has two widely separated pawns, the stronger side wins. However, if one of the pawns is the wrong rook pawn and the defending
king
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
is blocking it, the position is usually a draw because the defending bishop can stop the other pawn. If the defending bishop is
sacrificed for the other pawn, the resulting position is a draw like the ones above.
With opposite-colored bishops, two
connected pawns
In chess, connected pawns are two or more pawns of the same color on adjacent , as distinct from isolated pawns. These pawns are instrumental in creating pawn structure because, when diagonally adjacent, like the two rightmost white pawns, they f ...
win if they safely reach the sixth , except when one is the wrong rook pawn, i.e. the defending bishop is on the long diagonal that includes the square on which the rook pawn would promote.
Example from game
In this game between
FIDE Master
FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating an ...
Edgar Walther and Bobby Fischer, White has just made a bad move (54.a4?; 54.b4! wins). Black's defensive plan is to
sacrifice
Sacrifice is the offering of material possessions or the lives of animals or humans to a deity as an act of propitiation or worship. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks, and possibly exi ...
his bishop for the two pawns, leaving White with the wrong rook pawn (the h-pawn) for his bishop. The game was drawn nine moves later.
Rook and rook pawn versus bishop
The wrong rook pawn may come up in other situations, such as this position with a
rook
Rook (''Corvus frugilegus'') is a bird of the corvid family. Rook or rooks may also refer to:
Games
*Rook (chess), a piece in chess
*Rook (card game), a trick-taking card game
Military
* Sukhoi Su-25 or Rook, a close air support aircraft
* USS ...
and rook pawn versus a bishop. This time the bishop is defending against the rook pawn. If the pawn had not yet reached the fifth , White would win. Play might continue:
:1. Rb7 Bc2
:2. Kg5 Bd3
:3. Kh6 Kg8!
:4. Rg7+ Kf8
4...Kh8?? loses.
:½–½
White cannot win because his king cannot move to the h5-square. If the bishop were on the other colored squares, White would win.
If the defending king is in the corner controlled by his bishop then the pawn can be sacrificed at the right moment to get to a winning rook versus bishop position. If the defending king is in the corner opposite his bishop's color, sacrificing the pawn does not work because the defender easily forms a
fortress in the corner. This is also referred to as the defending king being in the "safe" corner, since with the king in the corner with the bishop next to it, he is safe from the rook.
Examples from games
In this position from a game between future
World Champion
A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
Max Euwe
Machgielis "Max" Euwe (; May 20, 1901 – November 26, 1981) was a Dutch chess player, mathematician, author, and chess administrator. He was the fifth player to become World Chess Champion, a title he held from 1935 until 1937. He served as ...
and
Karel Hromádka
Karel Hromádka (23 April 1887 in Großweikersdorf, Austria – 16 July 1956) was a Czech chess player, two-time Czech champion, 1913 and 1921 (jointly).
Hromádka played in the 1st unofficial Chess Olympiad, Paris 1924, and scored 6.5/ ...
, Black should win but he errs by advancing his pawn too soon. Play continued:
:1... h4??
Black wins easily after 1...Kh3!
:2. Bd4 Kh3?
Black still could have won here with 2...Re2!, but it is complicated.
:3. Be5 Rg2+
:4. Kf1! ½–½
This 2013 game between
Loek van Wely
Loek van Wely (born 7 October 1972) is a Dutch chess player and politician. He was awarded the title Grandmaster by FIDE in 1993, and was rated among the world's top ten in 2001 with a rating of 2714. In March 2019, he was elected to the Dutch ...
and
Hikaru Nakamura
Christopher Hikaru Nakamura[endgame study
In the game of chess, an endgame study, or just study, is a composed position—that is, one that has been made up rather than played in an actual game—presented as a sort of puzzle, in which the aim of the solver is to find the essentially uniqu ...](_blank)
by
Vsevolod Rauzer
Vsevolod Alfredovich Rauzer (16 October 1908 – 29 December 1941, Leningrad) was a Soviet Ukrainian chess master known for his great contributions to chess opening theory, especially of the Sicilian Defence.
Achievements
Vsevolod Rauzer tied ...
, White can force a win if the black king is on or below the line indicated, and white king and bishop are placed to prevent the black king from escaping. It may take up to 33 moves to capture the black pawn. Similar positions were studied by
Josef Kling
Josef Kling (19 March 1811 – 1 December 1876), also found in English-language sources as Joseph Kling, was a German chess master and chess composer. He has been called "a pioneer of the modern style of chess." Although Kling was an expert on e ...
and
Bernhard Horwitz
Bernhard Horwitz (1807 in Neustrelitz – 1885 in London) was a German and British chess master, chess writer and chess composer.
Horwitz was born in Neustrelitz and went to school in Berlin, where he studied art. From 1837 to 1843, he was part ...
in 1851 and by
Johann Berger
Johann Nepomuk Berger (11 April 1845, Graz – 17 October 1933) was an Austrian chess master, theorist, endgame study composer, author and editor.
In September 1870, he won the first tournament in the Austro-Hungarian Empire at Graz. In 1875, ...
in 1921. A very similar position occurred in the Korchnoi–Karpov game above.
Greco
The theme is used in this 1623 composition by
Gioachino Greco
Gioachino Greco (c. 1600 – c. 1634) ( ελληνικά/greek: Τζοακίνο Γκρέκο), surnamed Cusentino and more frequently ''il Calabrese'', was an Italian chess player and writer. He recorded some of the earliest chess games kno ...
. Black draws:
:1...Ra1+
:2. Rf1 Rxf1+
:3. Kxf1 Bh3!
and Black will
sacrifice
Sacrifice is the offering of material possessions or the lives of animals or humans to a deity as an act of propitiation or worship. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks, and possibly exi ...
his bishop for the g-pawn or it transforms into an h-pawn after 4.gxh3.
Notes
References
Bibliography
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Further reading
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{{Chess
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Chess terminology
Chess theory