Opposite Bishops: Why a Knight's Pawn Only Draws
White to play and draw
PlayYou are two pawns down, on b4 and e3, two files apart. You still draw. The reason has a name: the b-pawn is a knight pawn, so the edge of the board crowds out the standard winning method.
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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.
Split the work by color. Your bishop works on the light squares, so it covers b1 and can hold the b-pawn by itself from the long b1-h7 diagonal. It can never touch e1. So the e-pawn is the king's job, and that job is urgent.
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 on b1-h7 (Bh7, Bg6, Bf7, Be6, Bf5) and Black's king, pressed against the a-file, can never attack the diagonal 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: The Defensive Draw
White to play and draw
All 19 opposite bishops positionsFollow the full curriculum (free)