The Bishop Sacrifice That Buries a King

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

This is the most spectacular use of semi-stalemate: you throw the bishop away to bury the enemy king in the corner, and then win a pawn race you appear to be losing on material.

The sacrifice. Bf3+ pushes the king to g1, and then Bh1 forces Kxh1, because there is nothing else. The black king now sits on h1 with his own pawn on h2 blocking the only way out.

The seal. Kf1! and the king has no legal move: g1 and g2 are covered by your king, and the h2 pawn cannot advance into its own king's square. That is the semi-stalemate, and Black has to touch a pawn.

The race. d5 exd5 e4 d6 e3 d7 e2+ Kxe2, and your d-pawn queens first. Black queens too and gets mated a few moves later, because his king never left the corner.

In this drill the first three moves are all only moves. Do not look for a safe square for the bishop, it is the price of the corner.