Bishop vs Knight Endgames: When the Bishop Dominates

Watch the method: press play to see the winning idea run, or step through it move by move.

Bishop versus knight is chess's oldest family argument, and endgames settle it case by case. This position is the bishop's showcase: passed pawns on opposite wings, where one long-range piece fights a two-square hopper on both flanks simultaneously.

Why the bishop is 'good' here. From a single central square the bishop controls a diagonal into each corner: it escorts its own rook pawn toward promotion AND permanently guards the entry square of the enemy passer. It does both jobs while standing still. The knight, magnificent in a small radius, needs four or five tempi to cross the board, and this position never grants them: whichever wing the knight serves, the other is lost.

The rim makes it worse. A knight fighting a rook pawn operates at the board's edge, where half its hopping squares do not exist. Blockading squares near the corner can each be attacked by the king with tempo, and the knight steadily runs out of places to stand. Knight versus escorted rook pawn is one of the piece's most famous failures.

The conversion rules: keep the bishop on the double-duty diagonal instead of chasing the knight; walk the king beside the pawn; and never swap your last pawn for the knight, since a lone bishop mates nobody. The defence never cracks, and it will offer you that trade in every tempting shape it can find.