Queen vs Bishop Pawn: The Wrong-Side Win
Black to play and win
PlaySame bishop pawn, but his king stands on the wrong side of it, away from the corner where stalemate would save him. Keep it that way. The rule: with his king on this side, you win if your king is two steps from d7 or g6. From b5 it is two steps from d7. So first fence his king in with checks, and only then bring your king.
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Bishop Pawn: The King on the Wrong Side
Black to play and win · Win against perfect defense
Waking the engine…
The theory
Watch the method: press play to see the winning idea run, or step through it move by move.
Wrong side, wider zone. Put the defending king on the wrong side of a seventh-rank bishop pawn, away from the promotion corner, and the winning zone grows, wider even than against a rook pawn. Your king only has to be two steps from one of two key squares, here d7 and g6.
Fence first, then walk. The method has two phases. First use checks to stop the enemy king from crossing to the safe side of the pawn: rush your own king up one move too early and he escapes, and the win is gone. Only once he is boxed on the wrong side do you bring your king forward.
In this drill the promotion is harmless. If he promotes while your king stands on c6, Qd7, guarded by that king, is mate; if he promotes later, your queen simply takes the new one on f8. Learn the d7 pattern and the wrong-side zone becomes easy points.
Keep going
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
Queen vs Queen: The Skewer Check
White to play and win
All 18 queen endgames positionsFollow the full curriculum (free)