Bishop vs Knight and Rook Pawn: The Corner Draw
White to play and draw
PlayA rook pawn is the knight's best friend and the bishop's worst nightmare: near the corner one stopping diagonal shrinks to nothing. But there is a hidden save. Let the pawn come to the seventh, then give the bishop back for it and trap the enemy king in the corner.
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The Rook Pawn: A Draw in the Corner
White to play and draw · Hold the draw against perfect play
Waking the engine…
The theory
Rook pawns give the defender the most trouble in bishop-versus-knight endings, because one of the bishop's stopping diagonals shrinks near the edge, or vanishes entirely once the pawn reaches the seventh rank.
The hidden resource. When the diagonal is gone, do not fight the pawn from afar. Let it advance to the seventh, then give the bishop back for it. What remains is king and knight against a lone king, which cannot win.
The knight cannot lose a tempo. With the enemy king boxed in the corner, its knight is helpless to free it, because a knight always changes the colour of its square and can never simply pass. Park your king on a square of the knight's own colour: the knight may check it but can never occupy the square it stands on.
In this drill the defender will try to promote or to prise your king off its square. Give back the bishop at the right moment, keep to the knight's colour, and hold the draw.
Keep going
The Knight Blockade vs Bishop and Pawn
Black to play and draw
The Bishop's Long Diagonal vs Knight and Pawn
Black to play and draw
Knight & Pawn vs Bishop
White to play and win
All 15 bishop vs knight positionsFollow the full curriculum (free)