C&C Chess Club

Wrong bishop — the direction of capture decides everything

White wins White to move · Minor-piece endgames · Difficulty about Elo 1600

Position: 7k/8/B5p1/7P/8/6K1/8/8 w - - 0 1
White to move · FEN 7k/8/B5p1/7P/8/6K1/8/8 w - - 0 1

The plan

An extra piece and an extra pawn — and yet everything here hinges on a single decision: which direction to capture in. If the pawn stays on the edge file, White has the wrong bishop: the queening square in the corner is dark, the bishop is light-squared, and the black king already sits there. If White instead captures towards the centre, the pawn changes file — and the new queening square is light. The very same bishop that was worthless a moment ago is suddenly the right one. That is why in this position exactly ONE move wins, and all sixteen others give the point away. Right after that comes the second moment with no alternative: the freshly created pawn is undefended and under attack, and only a single bishop square covers it in time. The rest is technique — the king presses the opponent into the corner, and because the bishop now has the right colour, the matter even ends in mate.

Rule of thumb: before capturing on the edge, always ask what colour the queening square would be — and capture in the direction that matches your own bishop.

Why this level: The direction of capture makes the wrong bishop right

The solution, move by move

  1. 1. hxg6 The ONLY winning move out of seventeen. The capture is made TOWARDS THE CENTRE, not forward: the rook pawn becomes a g-pawn, and its queening square is light — exactly the bishop's colour. Whoever pushes the rook pawn forward instead keeps the wrong bishop and so a dead draw (first sideline); whoever does not capture at all loses the pawn to the black one (second sideline).
    Sideline 1. h6 The pawn goes forward instead of sideways — the move you make without thinking. That leaves it a rook pawn, and the bishop stays the wrong one. 1… Kg8 2. Kg4 Kh8 The black king sits down in the corner. It is dark, the bishop is light-squared — it can never attack this square. 3. Kg5 Kg8 4. Kf6 Kh8 And there it stays sitting. White has an extra piece and an extra pawn and still never gets further than a half point.
    Sideline 1. Kg4 The king comes closer, the capture is meant to come later. Except now the other side captures first. 1… gxh5+ With check, even. The white pawn is gone, and with it the whole win. 2. Kg5 Kg7 3. Kxh5 The pawn is won back, but king and bishop alone do not mate. A draw.
  2. 1… Kg7 The best try: the king attacks the new pawn, which nobody is defending yet.
  3. 2. Bd3 Again the ONLY winning move, this time out of fifteen. The bishop places itself on the long diagonal and covers the pawn from a distance. Every other square misses the point, and then the pawn falls (third sideline).
    Sideline 2. Kg4 Even after the right capture everything can still be spoiled. The king sets off instead of protecting the pawn — and the pawn stands within reach. 2… Kxg6 The ONLY move that holds for Black, and it is not hard to find. Without the pawn the game is over at once.
  4. 2… Kf6
  5. 3. Kf4 From here it is ordinary technique. The king comes closer; the pawn stands safe because the bishop covers it.
  6. 3… Kg7
  7. 4. Kg5
  8. 4… Kg8
  9. 5. Kh6 The king occupies the square next to the pawn and takes away the opponent's escape squares. With the WRONG bishop this is exactly where it would have ended — there nobody covers the corner.
  10. 5… Kh8
  11. 6. g7+ With check. The black king has only one square left.
  12. 6… Kg8 And that is its ONLY move — it has to go to the square in front of the pawn.
  13. 7. Bc4# Mate. The bishop brings the queening square under control, the pawn takes both neighbouring squares, the king the last one. This exact picture is impossible with a rook pawn and a light-squared bishop — that one capture at the start made the whole point.

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