Queen vs Bishop Pawn: Winning Beside the Corner
Black to play and win
PlayYou know the bishop pawn usually draws when your king is far away. Here it is not. With the defending king next to the promotion corner, the winning zone shrinks to almost nothing: your king has to be one step from a key square, g6 or e7. It is. So prove it.
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Bishop Pawn: Winning With the Defender by the Corner
Black to play and win · Win against perfect defense
Waking the engine…
The theory
The bishop pawn is the drawish one, until your king is close. A lone queen cannot beat a bishop pawn on the seventh by herself: the corner stalemate keeps saving the defender. The win only appears when the attacking king is near enough to add the missing tempo.
The winning zone is a pair of squares. When the defending king sits on the right side, next to the promotion corner, the zone shrinks to almost nothing. You win only if your king is one step from a key square, here g6 or e7. Start with the pin along the seventh rank, spend your one tempo to reach g6, and the stalemate trick never gets going.
In this drill the pawn will queen and it will not matter. With your king on g6 the escape squares are gone, and the check on the h-file is mate. Move your king one square farther away and the same position is a draw.
Keep going
Bishop Pawn: The King on the Wrong Side
Black to play and win
The Corner Trick: Invite the Promotion
Black to play and draw
Queen and Pawn versus Queen: Getting the King in Front
Black to play and draw
All 18 queen endgames positionsFollow the full curriculum (free)