Bishop endings don’t occur as often as Rook endings, but deserve serious attention as well. Just as any single piece ending, Bishop endings are closely tied to pawn endgames, since the evaluation of many positions is based on underlying pawn endgame concepts.

D Gurevich - Franzoni,

Lucern, 1989 (analysis)

 WHITE TO PLAY 

White has an obvious advantage here because he is about to win the a5-pawn. But winning the game is not going to be simple – Black's King threatens to attack the f4-pawn in return.

White's number one priority should be to pick up the a5-pawn, clearing the way for his passed pawn. Once the a-pawn has been won, White should push his passed pawn before Black has a chance to get his h-pawn going.

1.Bxa5!

Instead, 1.Be3? would be a serious mistake. After 1...g6! Black saves the game.

Now (after 1.Be3? g6!) White wins the g-pawn but loses time, enabling Black to trade the remaining pawns and make a draw: 2.Bxg5 h5, Black now threatens 3...h4 and White simply has no time to pick up the a-pawn, (3.Bd8? h4 may even land him in trouble), therefore draw.

At first, after 1.Bxa5, it may look like 1...Bxa5 is good enough, when 2.Kxa5 g6 3.Kb6 h5 seems to allow Black to promote his pawn at the same time as his opponent, but after 4.a5 h4 5.a6 h3 6.a7 h2 7.a1=Q h1=Q 8.f4+! wins the Black Queen.

DEATH ALONG THE a8-h1 DIAGONAL

1...Bf2 2.Bc3+!

This check wins an important tempo. If 2.Bc7+, then 2... Kd5 3.a5 g6 4.Bb6 Bg3 5.a6 Bb8, or 4.a6 Ba7! 5.Bb6 Bb8 and White wins a piece, but the game is drawn. Or 2.Bb6 Be1 3.a5? Bxa5! 4.Bxa5 Kf4 and now White must fight real hard to achieve a draw.

2...Kf4

Here 2...Kd6 runs into the simple 3.Bxg7 and White wins.

3.a5 Kxf3 4.a6 h5!?

A great try. If 4...Kxg4 then 5.Bb4! Ba7 6.Bc5 Bb8 7.Kb6 h5 8.Kb7 h4 9.Kxb8 h3 10.Bd6 and White wins.

5.gxh5!?

Perhaps White does not need this. Instead, 5.Bb4! hxg4 6.Bc5 Bxc5 7.Kxc5 g3 8.a7 g2 9.a8=Q+, or 5...Ba7 6.Bc5 Bb8 7.gxh5 g4 8.Kb6 was also winning.

5...g4 6.Bxg7 g3 7.Be5 g2 8.Bh2

White stopped his opponent’s pawn, but Black's Bishop can not stop two pawns! Now Black has to attack h2-Bishop.

8...Kg4

Instead, 8...Bg3 loses to 9.Bg1! Bf2 10.a7! Bxg1 11.a8=Q+ Kg3 12.h6 Bd4 13.h7! and White wins.

9.h6 Kh3 10.h7 Kxh2 11.h8=Q+ Kg1

White has a decisive advantage.

12.Qg7

WHITE FORCES AN EASY THEORETICAL WIN

12…Kh2

If 12...Kf1 then 13.a7! Bxa7 14.Qa1+! and 15.Qxa7.

13.a7! Bxa7 14.Qh7+ Kg3 15.Qxa7, 1-0.

Black has to resign, since a theoretically winning position is reached.

Enders - Karsa, 1989

 WHITE TO PLAY

As in the game above, White is dominating here. His King is very active, he has a strong e-pawn, and Black has a long-term weakness on g7. Also, Black’s Bishop is more or less tied to f8 in view of a possible Bxh6 and g6-g7, promoting the pawn.

In spite of all this, White has to overcome some serious obstacles; Black’s strong c-pawn is one of them. Here Black threatens to play ...Bf8-e7-f6 and ...Ke8-f8 protecting his g-pawn with the King. If he succeeds, then a draw will be easy to achieve. White has to prevent that. First, he has to restrain his opponent’s pawns. Then, White's King will attack the c6-b5 pawn pair and destroy them.

1.a3!!

A great move! White prepares 2.Bc3, which was not immediately possible because of 1...b4. Other lines were:

I) 1.Be1 Be7! 2.Bc3 Kf8, unclear.

II) 1.Bc1 c3! 2.a3 c2 3.Kc6 Ke7 and Black would be fine.

1...Bxa3

Other lines would not have saved Black either:

I) 1...Be7 2.Bc3 Kf8 3.Kc6 Bxa3 4.Kxb5 with winning chances for White.

II) 1...Kd8 2.Bc3 Ke8 3.Kc6 Ke7 4.Bb4+ winning for White.

III) 1...Ke7 2.Bb4+ Ke8 3.Bc3 Ke7 4.Bb2! Ke8 5.Kc6 b4 6.axb4 Bxb4 7.Bxg7 Ke7 8.Kd5 and White wins.

2.Bxh6!

SUDDENLY BLACK IS BUSTED

A nice tactical solution! Now if 2...gxh6, then 3.g7 winning.

2...Bb2

Also losing were:

I) 2...Bf8 3.Bd2 (this takes both pawns under control and prepares the following maneuver) 3...Kd8 4.Bb4! (A nice shot based on 4...Bxb4 5.h6! and one of White’s pawns promotes to a Queen) 4...Ke8 5.Bxf8 Kxf8 6.Kd6 Ke8 (6...c3 7.Kd7 c2 8.e7+) 7.h6! and White wins.

II) 2...c3 3.Bxg7 c2 4.Bxh6 and the threat of g6-g7 decides the game.

III) 2...Kf8 3.Bf4! Be7 4.Bd6 c3 5.h6! gxh6 6.Bxe7+ Kg7 7.Ba3 Kxg6 8.Kd6 winning for White again.

3.Bg5

White threatens to move his h-pawn, so Black rushes there with his King.

3...Kf8 4.h6 gxh6 5.Bxh6+

Unfortunately, Black's King cannot stop both pawns.

5...Ke7 6.g7 Bxg7 7.Bxg7 b4 8.Bd4, 1-0.

Black gave up because 8...b3 9.Ke5, as well as 8...c3 9.Bc5+ Kf6 10.Bxb4 c2 11.Ba3 win for White.