Opposite Bishops: Why a Knight's Pawn Only Draws
White to play and draw
PlayYou are two pawns down, against pawns on b4 and e3, and you still draw. The rule: split the work. Your king blocks the e-pawn, your bishop stops the b-pawn. A knight's pawn is close to the edge, so his king has too little room to help it past your bishop.
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The Knight's Pawn Saves the Draw
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.
Your bishop runs on the light squares. It covers b1, where the b-pawn queens, but never e1, which is dark. So the e-pawn is your king's job, and it is urgent: every bishop move loses now.
Two separated passers usually beat an opposite-colored bishop. The famous exception is the edge of the board: when one of the passers is a knight's pawn, the attacking king runs out of room and the win evaporates.
Divide by color. White's bishop is light-squared. It covers b1, so it can stop the b-pawn alone from the long b1-h7 diagonal. It can never cover e1, so only the king can stop the e-pawn.
The king move is forced. Ke2 and Ke1 are the only moves that draw. Any bishop move loses, because nothing else stops the e-pawn. After Ke2 and Kd1 the king is planted in the pawn's path for good.
Why the b-pawn never queens. The bishop shuffles between b1-h7 and a2-g8 (Bh7, Bg6, Bf7, Be6, Bf5), the second diagonal attacking the b-pawn as soon as it steps to b3, and Black's king, pressed against the a-file, can never attack the diagonals or shepherd the pawn to b1. With the pawn one file further from the edge, the black king would have the space to do it. Here it does not.
In this drill you defend against an attacker who will test every push. King to the e-pawn, bishop on the long diagonal, and the half point holds.
Keep going
The Opposite-Colored Bishops Fortress
Black to play and draw
Opposite Bishops: Two Pawns Win
White to play and win
Opposite Bishops: Guard the Square the Pawn Must Cross
White to play and draw
All 19 opposite bishops positionsFollow the full curriculum (free)