Rook vs Bishop: Holding the Safe Corner
Black to play and draw, after Lequesne and Berger
PlayBishop against rook and pawn. Your king is in the safe corner: h8 is dark and your bishop is light-squared. The rule: your bishop stays on the b1-h7 diagonal, where it covers h7 and g6, and when the rook comes after it, it moves far down that diagonal, away from the rook. Your king may have to step out of the corner for a moment.
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Step Out of the Safe Corner
Black to play and draw · Hold the draw against perfect play
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The theory
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White threatens Ra8 mate, and every bishop move loses. After 1...Bc4? 2.Ra8+ Bg8 3.Kg5 your bishop is stuck on g8, far from the b1-h7 diagonal, and White wins.
The safe corner is the one opposite in colour to your own bishop, and reaching it is the whole plan. Knowing that is not enough, because the corner is not a chair.
You cannot just sit there. In this position, with the white king on h6 and the rook on the seventh, Ra8 is mate. Only 1...Kg8 saves the game. Every bishop move loses.
Berger's method: step out, come back. The king leaves the corner under check (2.Rg7+ Kf8) and returns to g8 once the rook lets go of the g-file. Wandering is fatal, but a short circuit out and back is the defence.
The bishop guards a diagonal. From b1 to h7 it covers g6 and h7, so the white king cannot come closer. When it is attacked, retreat it along that diagonal to c2 or b1 instead of stepping in front of the rook.
Check the pawn first. One rule decides this whole family. With your king in the safe corner, a rook pawn on its fifth or sixth rank wins nothing, and the defence you are drilling holds. The pawn only beats the safe corner while it is still in its own half of the board. Read its rank and you know the verdict before you calculate a move.
In this drill the rook checks and probes for the moment you stand still. Step out, keep the diagonal, come back.
Keep going
Winning Despite the Safe Corner
White to play and win
Take the Outpost, Then Hunt the Bishop
White to play and win
Stalemate, Not a Fortress
White to play and draw
All 30 rook vs minor positionsFollow the full curriculum (free)