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That's right. If White loses both g-pawns AND his three queenside pawns for Black's two, the game is still a draw!

The extreme position in the last diagram didn't occur though, and the actual game ended without any adventures: 25…Kg7 26.a4 bxa4 27.Bxa6 Kg6 28.Bb5 Bxg3 29.Bxa4 Kxg5 30.Ke2 f5 31.Kf3 Bd6 32.c3 e5 33.Bc2, 1/2-1/2.

Okay, after seeing me label the last diagram (which we'll use for our new starting position) a dead draw, many of you might be thinking, “Someone let Silman loose in the pharmaceuticals again!” So, just in case you doubt this humble writer, let me try and prove my point of view.

We'll explore two different methods for Black.

METHOD ONE:

Black tries to bring his King to d4 without pushing his pawns.

1…Kf5 2.Be8!

So that the f7-pawn won't be defending the e6-pawn anymore.

2…f6 3.Bd7!

Now the Black King is stuck defending the e6-pawn. He has to give up his plan and try

3…Ke5 4.Bc8 Kd6 5.Ke4

But now Black will have to push his pawns if he wants to win, and that will be examined next.

METHOD TWO:

Black shoves his pawns forward!

1…f5 2.Bb3!

This fine move gives Black two choices: he can play …Kf6 and simply guard the pawn for the rest of the game (which means he'll make no progress whatsoever), or he can push the pawn to e5, which is clearly what Black was aiming for anyway.

2…e5

Now Black threatens (after something hideous like 3.Ba4??) 3…e4+ 4.Ke3 Bc5+ 5.Ke2 f4 when the pawns will soon make their way to the sixth rank: 6.Bc2 f3+ 7.Ke1 Kf4 8.Bb1 e3 9.Bd3 Bb4+ 10.Kf1 Ke5 (Black will march his King around to d2 so he can play …e3-e2+ without letting White sacrifice his Bishop for both enemy pawns. White can't do anything to prevent this plan.) 11.Ba6 Kd4 12.Bb5 Kc3 13.Ke1 Kc2+ 14.Kf1 Kd2, 0-1.

[[RULE THREE: In general (in the context of our subject matter), two connected passed pawns on the sixth are winning. To draw, the defender can't allow the pawns to get that far!]]

3.Bc2!

Believe it or not, this simple move, which stops …e4+ due to Bxe4, ends the game. Black is no longer able to generate any kind of threat whatsoever.

3…Kf6 4.Bd3 Ke6 5.Bc2

Black would have chances if he could get his King to d4 (which would help the e-pawn safely advance to e4), but White's attack on f5 freezes the enemy King in its tracks. Since White's defensive plan now calls for nothing more than Bc2-b1-c2-b1, the game should be declared drawn.

Caption: DRAW AGREED

This position is literally over (White didn't let the Black pawns get to the sixth, as mentioned in RULE THREE.), and should be agreed drawn. White will simply play Bg2-h1-g2-h1 and Black can't make progress since …f4-f3+ is always met by Bxf3.

However, our next position is won for Black.

Caption: WHITE LOSES!

Ah, the lovely sound of confused chess players screaming! Why is the previous diagram a dead draw while this one is dead lost? Understanding the difference will give you the true key to this whole endgame!

In the drawn version of this position, Black's King is forever doomed to baby-sit the e4-pawn. That means he can't get the King to g3 (which would allow a winning …f4-f3 push) because the e-pawn would hang. Of course, if Black tries …e4-e3, then White just moves his Bishop mindlessly (and endlessly!) along the h1-a8 diagonal, forming a perfect block to both enemy pawns.

In the losing version, the e4-pawn is not attacked by the White Bishop. Now the Black King is indeed free to roam, and after …Ke5-d4-e3, the …f4-f3 advance will seal the deal.

[[RULE FOUR: The correct defensive stance calls for the defender's Bishop to tie the enemy King down to the defense of its pawn.]]

Some of you might now be wondering what happens if Black leaves his pawns back a bit and instead strives to improve the position of his King (in an effort to avoid the drawn position we have just seen). If you glance back to METHOD ONE, you'll finally understand what I was trying to do (it probably didn't make much sense earlier!) – the defender will answer this strategy by attacking the pawns with his Bishop and forcing their advance!

Let's look at a simple example of this.

Caption: BLACK HAS ONE LAST SHOT

In this position, we're familiar with 1…d4 2.Bc2 when we have our basic dead drawn defensive posture. But suppose Black refuses to take the bait and instead tries to activate his King by 1…Kd4. Here's a quick white suicide that will serve as an example of what Black has in mind: 2.Bc2 Kc3 3.Bb1?? Kb2 when the Bishop, and the game, are lost!

Fortunately, after 1…Kd4 White can draw easily if he remembers to always restrict the enemy King's movements by forcing it to defend its pawns. Thus 2.Ba2! stops the King's march in its tracks! After 2…Bg5 (Hoping White will move his Bishop off the d5-pawn.) 3.Bb3 (Nope. White can go Bb3-a2-b3 all day!) 3…Kc5 4.Ba2 d4 5.Bb1! Kd5 6.Bc2 and we once again have our ideal drawing posture.

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