Bishop and Pawn vs Knight: Pawn on the Seventh Wins
White to play and win
PlayThe pawn is one step from queening, and Black guards d8 twice, with the king and the knight. It looks like a fortress. On the seventh rank it is not: the defender runs out of moves, and exactly one bishop square springs the trap.
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Pawn on the Seventh: Zugzwang, Not a Chase
White to play and win · Win against perfect defense
Waking the engine…
The theory
When the pawn has reached the seventh rank, bishop and pawn beat a knight almost every time, and always for the same reason: the defender is one tempo short and gets caught in zugzwang.
Two drawing tries, and how they fail. The knight has only two resources: a perpetual check, or a stalemate when the pawn is a rook pawn. Here neither survives. A hasty attack on the knight with Bd5 hands Black the perpetual, Nd6+ and Ne8+ forever, because the king can never leave the pawn to chase it.
Take the checks away first. Bc6 covers the checking squares before the knight can use them. With no check and no safe waiting move, Black is in zugzwang: the knight must give up d8 or the king must move, and the pawn promotes.
In this drill the defender will look for a knight check on every move. Refuse the natural capture, control the checks with the bishop, and let zugzwang finish the job.
Keep going
Good Bishop vs Bad Knight
White to play and win
When the Bishop's Diagonal Is Too Short
White to play and win
The Rook Pawn: A Draw in the Corner
White to play and draw
All 15 bishop vs knight positionsFollow the full curriculum (free)