Queen vs Bishop Pawn: Defend from the Corner Side
White to play and draw
PlayYou have a pawn on f7 against a queen, and the black king is far away. It is a draw thanks to stalemate. The rule: take your king round to the corner side of the pawn, to g7, g8 and h8. With your king on h8, taking the pawn on f7 is stalemate.
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Queen vs Bishop Pawn: King to the Corner Side
White to play and draw · Hold the draw against perfect play
Waking the engine…
The theory
Watch the method: press play to see the winning idea run, or step through it move by move.
Do not promote at once. After f8=Q, Qa3+ checks your king and attacks your new queen on f8 along the same diagonal. Black then takes your new queen.
A queen usually wins against a pawn on the seventh rank. Her checks force the defending king in front of its own pawn, which gives the attacking king time to come closer. With a bishop pawn and the attacking king far away, stalemate saves the defender.
Do not promote at once. A new queen can be lost at once to a check that also hits the promotion square.
The right side of the pawn. The defending king should go round to the side of the pawn nearest the corner. From there, the queen can no longer gain time for the attacking king to come closer.
The stalemate. With the king in the corner next to the pawn, White threatens to queen, and taking the pawn is stalemate.
In this drill you have the pawn. Hold the draw through the checks until the queen takes it and gives stalemate.
Keep going
Queen vs Rook Pawn: The Winning Zone
White to play and win
Queen vs Two Connected Pawns
White to play and win
Botvinnik's Method: Blocking the Check with the Queen
White to play and win
All 18 queen endgames positionsFollow the full curriculum (free)