Maizelis: Bury the Bishop, Then Squeeze

Black to play and win, after Maizelis

Rook and an h-pawn against bishop and an h-pawn. One check buries the bishop in the corner, and everything after that is zugzwang.

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Maizelis: Bury the Bishop, Then Squeeze

Black to play and win · Win against perfect defense

Waking the engine…

The theory

Rook against bishop with a pawn each is usually drawn. Maizelis showed how to win it when the defending bishop can be imprisoned, and this position is the model.

Rh1+ is forcing. White has exactly one legal reply, Bh2. The bishop is now buried behind the h4-pawn with no diagonal to breathe on.

Do not capture it. Rxh2+ is an instant draw. The bishop is worth more to you as a piece of dead wood on h2 than as a scalp, because while it sits there White is effectively a piece down.

Then squeeze. Ke4, Rd1, and the king walks to g4. White has nothing to move, and the zugzwang finishes him. Note what never happens: no rook sacrifice, no pawn race.

The refuted plan. Our position "Imprison the King, Then Zugzwang" carries the same family. Imprisonment and zugzwang, not brute force, are what convert this material.

Keep going

Rook vs Knight: The Stranded Horse

White to play and win

Rook and Bishop vs Rook: The Second Rank

Black to play and draw

Rook vs Bishop: The Safe Corner

Black to play and draw

All 29 rook vs minor positions Follow the full curriculum (free)