The Bishop's Corner Fortress
White to play and draw
PlayA bare king and bishop against rook and a pawn one step from queening. It looks lost, but the king planted in front of the rook pawn builds an unbreakable fortress.
No signup needed. The opponent never gives up, and every mistake gets explained.
The Bishop's Corner Fortress
Hold the draw against perfect play
Waking the engine…
The theory
A rook pawn is the least of pawns, and a defending king that reaches the queening square in front of it builds a stalemate fortress even against an extra rook.
Sit on the queening square. With your king in the corner ahead of the rook pawn, the pawn can never promote, and attempts to force it usually stalemate.
Let the bishop wait. Idle the bishop on a harmless diagonal while the king holds firm. The rook's checks achieve nothing against the corner blockade.
In this drill the opponent presses with rook and advanced pawn. Hold the queening corner and the half point is secure.