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Chessville
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Basic Endgame StrategyKing vs King, Bishop, and Rook Pawn This combination of material at the end of the game occurs often enough, or the possibility of it arising in your game occurs often enough, that it is important to understand the significance of the pawn's placement on the rook file (a-file or h-file), and how you can use that information to your advantage to possibly salvage a draw in an otherwise lost position. A pawn on any other file is easily promoted as the king & bishop combine to force the enemy king out from one side of the pawn, and the king then moves in to facilitate promotion of the pawn to a queen. It's not quite so easy with a rook pawn, however, since there is no "other side" for the king to be forced out to. If the queening square (a8 or h8 for White) is of the same color as the bishop, then the win is still easy to secure, as the king escorts the pawn down to the 6th rank, then the bishop evicts the enemy king from the corner, or delivers mate!
White to move 1. a7+ Of course, you have to be careful to avoid stalemating your opponent too! 1.Bg4 forces the Black king into the corner; 1...Ka8, when 2.a7?? leaves Black without any moves. 1. ..... Kc8 If 1...Ka8 2.Bf3 mate! After 1...Kc8 the pawn promotes to a queen. What happens if the queening square is the opposite color of the bishop?
White to move How should White proceed? If 1.Bc4, Black is stalemated. Stalemate also occurs after 1.h7. On almost any other move Black plays 2...Kg8. Then it's back to h8 the following move. All Black needs to do is keep his king on three squares - g8, h8, and (if White moves his king) h7 - and White can not force him out of the corner. This knowledge can be useful in deciding the best way to defend an ending where you are behind in material:
Black to move How should Black proceed? He is down two pawns, and even if somehow White blundered away both pawns and the bishop, a knight and king can not checkmate a lone king, so the best Black can hope for in this position is a draw. If he takes the h-pawn, 1...Nxh4, White might have chances to promote the e-pawn. In fact, it would still be a tough fight for White, but the point for Black is - why take chances? Black should give up the knight for the e-pawn, the only pawn that offers White any hopes of winning:
1. ..... Nxe3!
Black to move Now Black simply waltzes his king over to the right, and takes up residence in the corner, from which he can not be evicted. Draw. Here is another well known example of this principle at work:
Black to move Black seems to be in trouble - he is two pawns down. How should he proceed?
1. ..... Ra1+
Black to move Now, if Black could just get rid of that g-pawn, we'd have a position like the one above, which we already know is a draw. How can Black get rid of White's g-pawn? 4. ..... Bh3! White would like to preserve his g-pawn by playing 5.g3, but he can't - the pawn is pinned! Now if 5.gxh3 Black merely heads for the h8 corner from which he can not be chased, and claims his draw. The extra pawn on the h-file is inconsequential, since it won't be able to advance either. On any other White move, Black plays 6...Bxg2, and once again heads for the corner. Draw.
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