Opposite Bishops: The Attacker Owns the Queening Square
White to play and win
PlayYour bishop runs on the dark squares, and b8, the b-pawn's queening square, is dark. So Black's bishop can never stand on b8, in front of that pawn. The rule: push the b-pawn, bring your bishop behind it, and only then break with e6+.
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When the Attacker Owns the Corner
White to play and win · Win against perfect defense
Waking the engine…
The theory
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With separated passed pawns, opposite-colored bishops usually draw when one is a knight's pawn and the defending bishop controls its promotion square. Flip that one color and the win appears: here the attacking bishop owns b8.
Run the knight's pawn. Push b5-b6 while the enemy king is too far to blockade. The defending bishop can chase along its diagonal, but it can never occupy b8, so it never really stops the pawn.
Reroute to a5. The key is Bd2-a5, guarding b6 from behind. From a5 the defender can no longer cover both pawns. Other bishop squares miss the break: with the bishop on d6, Kc6 and Kd7 stop e6+ and White is left grinding out a long king march. With the bishop on a5, e6+ breaks the position open and one pawn queens.
In this drill the defender will try to blockade the b-pawn and shadow your king. Advance the b-pawn, reroute the bishop to a5, and break with e6+.
Keep going
Central and Rook Pawn: Deny b7
Black to play and draw
The Overextended Knight Pawn
Black to play and draw
Knight Pawn Kept Back: Two Threats at Once
White to play and win
All 19 opposite bishops positionsFollow the full curriculum (free)