The Wrong Bishop Draw

Black to play and draw

Play

A bishop and a rook pawn look like an easy win, but this one is a famous draw. The queening square is h8, a dark square, and the light bishop can never touch it.

No signup needed. The opponent never gives up, and every mistake gets explained.

The Wrong Bishop Draw

Hold the draw against perfect play

Waking the engine…

The theory

Bishop and pawn versus a lone king is normally trivial, with one glaring exception that every player must know.

The wrong bishop. When the pawn is a rook pawn, the queening square sits in the corner. If the bishop cannot control the color of that corner, it can never dislodge the defending king from it.

The drawing method. The defender simply parks the king in the corner. White can bring king and bishop up, but the pawn can never advance past a king that refuses to leave h8.

In this drill you defend, and the engine will try every trick to lure your king out of the corner. Hold it and the half point is yours.

Keep going

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