FIDE Surveys – Georg Mohr

1

Georg Mohr:

An isolated pawn in the
endgame

An isolated pawn in the endgame is
definitely a weakness. In different endings
this weakness indeed looks differently, but
the strategy is the same in all endings. We
can choose between a blockade and
exploitation of the power of a blockade piece
and between a direct attack on the isolated
pawn. In the first part we will take a closer
look at the isolated pawn in pawn endings
and bishop endings and in the end we will
get to know the endings where an isolated
pawn is protected by a passive bishop and
attacked by an active knight.
Let us start our journey with pawn endings.

Ehlvest J. : Rausis I.
Riga 1995

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31.Kd4
On the diagram we can see a classical pawn
ending with an isolated pawn. White blocked
the pawn and attacked it with the king but
Black managed to protect it. Clearly this will
not be enough for White to win. The result
of the game will be decided by the fact
whether White’s king will be able to
penetrate to one of the flanks.
In our case White’s task is simple, because
Black has holes on both flanks and he will

eventually run of the defensive moves.
31...b6 32.a4! Ke6 33.f3 Kd6 34.Kc3
Even more typical would be 34.a5! It is very
important to make room for penetration
beside the isolated pawn.
34...Ke5 35.Kd3 Ke6 36.Kc3 Ke5 37.Kd3
Ke6 38.Kd4 Kd6 39.a5!+- bxa5 40.bxa5
There is no choice left: Black must to give
up and let White’s king in.
40...Kc6 41.Ke5 Kb5
After 41...Kc5 42.Kf6 Kb5 43.Kxg6 Kxa5
44.Kxh5 Kb5 45.Kg6 a5 46.h5 White is
faster.
42.Kxd5 Kxa5 43.Kc5
Because of 43.Kc5 Ka4 44.e4 fxe4 45.fxe4
a5 46.e5 Kb3 47.e6+- 1:0.

But the task is not always so simple.

Barcza G. : Golombek H.
Budapest 1952

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Seemingly the position is identical to the
previous one; only White’s pawn has not
made it to fifth rank yet. A small but
significant detail!
34.f4?!
White did not think about the position deep
enough and he oversaw Black’s additional
option for defence. After he will break
Black’s defence, White’s king will get to the
g6-pawn (Black must not let White to get to
the queenside) and Black will in the mean
time rush to the a-pawn, or even better, to
the e-pawn and he will try to promote his d-

FIDE Surveys – Georg Mohr

2

pawn. That is why White needed to be more
careful: 34.f3! g6 34.f4 Kc6 35.Ke5 Kc5
36.Kf6 Kb4 (Black does not have time for
Kd4-e3-e2 and what remains for Black is to
attack the a-pawn) 37.Kg6 Ka4 38.Kf5 Kb4
39.Kg5 a4 40.f5 a3 41.f6 a2 42.f7 a1Q
43.f8Q Qe5 44.Qf5 Qg3 45.Kh5 and with a
pawn up he would have good chances in the
queen ending.
34…g6 35.e3 Kc6 36.Ke5 Kc5 37.Kf6 Kc4!
White oversaw this! Black will win the e-
pawn and the game will result in an
interesting draw.
38.Kg6 Kd3 39.Kf5 Ke3 40.Kg5 d4 41.f5
d3 42.f6 d2 43.f7 d1Q 44.f8Q Qa4!
That is the difference! Black won the a-pawn
and got stronger.
45.Qf5 Qb4 46.Kh5 a4 47.g4 a3 48.g5
Qb2! 49.g6 a2 50.Qg5 Ke4 51.Qg4 Ke3
52.Qg5 Ke4 53.g7 a1Q 54.Qg6 Kf4 55.g8Q

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An unusually ending where Black has no
troubles drawing, due to his king being
enough close to the right corner.
55…Qh8! 56.Qh6 Qh6 57.Kh6 Qf6!
58.Kh5 Ke5 59.Qg5 ½.

A player with an isolated pawn can foresee
the possible endings and he can place his
pawns on the certain flank appropriately …

Yurtaev L. : Temirbaev S.
Elista (ol) 1998

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29…Re8! 30.Re8 Ke8
Black evaluated the ending marvelously!
The placement of the pawns a7-b6 cannot be
destroyed and White’s king will never be
able to penetrate trough the c5-square. Keep
in mind this small but significant difference,
you will need it whenever you will be
deciding about the transposition to this or
that ending.
Black’s task will be simpler: besides the d5-
pawn he will need to defend the squares
which are making the penetration on the
kingside possible. Black’s king will do that
easily over the d6 and e6 squares.
31.Ke2 Kd7 32.Kd3 Kc6 33.Kd4 Kd6
34.h4 h5!
Black is not afraid of running out of tempos,
because he only needs to defend one
passage.
35.a4 Ke6 36.a5 Kd6 37.a6 Ke6 38.e4
This is the only way for White’s king to
proceed.
38… dxe4 39.fxe4 fxe4 40.Kxe4 g6 41.Kf4
Kf6 42.g3 b5 43.g4 hxg4 44.Kxg4 Ke6
45.Kf4 Kf6 46.Ke4 Ke6 47.Kd4 Kd6
48.Ke4 Ke6 49.Kf4 Kf6 50.Kg4 Ke6 ½.

The endings with an isolated pawn get a new
dimension when we add two bishops. In
these positions we have to consider the rules
that are important in pawn endings and we
also need to know that here the placement of

FIDE Surveys – Georg Mohr

3

the other pawns is very important. The rule
says that the active side needs at least one
more object to attack if it wants to think
about winning (the principle of the second
weakness!), though two weaknesses are not
always sufficient. In bishop endings all the
classical techniques, which are characteristic
for this kind of endings are being used:
triangulation, opposition,… Let us see some
examples!

Pritchett C. W. : Beliavsky A.
Novi Sad (ol) 1990

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On the diagram we can see the position
where White has a fixed weakness - the
isolated d4 -pawn and a dynamic pawn
structure. That is why White is close to
drawing but first he has to place his pawns
on the light-squares – Capablanca’s rule!
34.Ke2?
It would be correct to play 34.h3! g5 35.g4!
34...g5 35.Kd3
It is unreasonable that White left his pawns
on the dark-squares. Why not 35.h3 g4
36.hg4 hg4? When the weaker side has three
pawns on the same-colored squares as its
bishop, the ending is almost certainly lost!
35...g4 36.Kc4 Ke7 37.Bd2 Kd7 38.Bc1
Kc6 39.Be3 Bc7!
Tempo. Black has an unlimited amount of
time and White needs to find the only
moves.
40.Bd2 Bd8! 41.Bb4 f5 42.Bd2 h4! 43.Bf4
h3!

The fixing of the weakness on h2. Beliavsky
played this ending very instructively.
44.Bd2 Bc7 45.Be3
The bishop needs to control the diagonal c1-
h6. If 45.Bc3, then 45…f4!, with the idea
fg3, Bg3–+.
45...Ba5 46.Bf4 Be1 47.Be3 Kd6! 48.Bf4
Kd7 49.Be3 Kc6!
The last three Black’s moves are also
instructive – a classical triangulation,
passing the move to the opponent.
50.Kd3
He would have the best practical chances
after tactical 50.d5!? ed5 51.Kd4 a5!?
(51...f4 52.Bf4 Bf2 53.Ke5 Bg1 54.Kf5 Bh2
55.Kg4=) 52.Ke5 Bc3 53.Kf5 d4 54.Bf4 Kc5
55.Kg4 Kb4 56.Kh3 Ka4 in Kb3 –+.
50...Kd5 51.Ke2 Bc3 52.Kd3 Bb2
White has no moves left – game over.
53.f4 gf3 54.Bf2 Bc1 55.Kc2 Bg5 56.Kd3
Bf6 57.Be3 Bd8 58.Bd2
58.Bf2 Bb6 59.Be3 Ba7, with the idea e5–+.
58...f2 59.Ke2 Kd4 60.Be3 Ke4 61.Bf2 Bc7
0:1.

When three (or more) pawns are placed on
the same-colored squares as their bishop, the
defender is left helpless.

Averbakh Y. : Matanovic A.
Belgrade 1961

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White’s task is simple: he needs to fix
Black’s pawns on the kingside (the a6 and

FIDE Surveys – Georg Mohr

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d5 weaknesses are already fixed) and create
yet another, third weakness.
39.f4! f5?!
This move is against all fundamental
Capablanca’s rules, though there was no
solution left for Black. For example 39…h6
40.e4! de4 41.Be4 Kd6 42.Kc4 Bg4 43.Kd4
Be2 44.Bc2 Bg4 (it was threatening 45.Bb3)
45.Bd3 Bc8 46.h4 Bb7 47.g4! Bc8 48.g5
hg5 49.hg5 Bb7 50.Bc4 +-.
40.h4 Kd6 41.h5!
We are familiar with the power of the threat
h5-h6 from the previous example.
41…gh5 42.Kc3
Because of 42…Kc5 43.Bf1! Bb7 44.Be2
Bc8 45.Bd3 d4 (what else?) 46.ed4 Kd5
47.Bc4 Kd6 48.d5 Kc5 49.d6! Kd6 50.Kd4
Bb7 51.Bf1 Bc8 52.Bd3 - 1:0.

It was similar in the next example:

Polugaevsky L. : Mecking H.
Mar del Plata 1971

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1.h4 Bf3 2.b4
Everything is evolving according to the
know pattern: first fixation with the
placement of the pawns on the squares of the
right color (all White’s pawns are placed on
the dark-squares and all Black’s pawns are
placed on the light-squares!)
2…Bh1 3.Be2 Bg2 4.Bg4 Be4 5.Bc8! Kc7
6.Be6 Kd6 7.Bg8 h6 8.Bf7 h5 9.Be8 Bc2
10.Bf7

Later on follows the maneuvering with the
bishop and forcing Black to put his pieces on
the unpleasant squares.
10…Be4

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11.f5!!
A decisive tactical attack.
11…Bf5
11...gf5 12.Bh5+-.
12.Bd5 Bc8 13.e4 Ke7 14.Ke5 g5 15.hg5 h4
16.g6 h3 17.g7 h2 18.g8Q h1Q 19.Qf7 Kd8
20.Qf8 1:0.

We saw that the task is not too difficult with
three or more weaknesses on the board. The
most interesting positions are the ones with
the opponent having two weaknesses.
Statistics show that approximately every
second game is won by the attacker …

Matanovic A. : Uhlmann W.
Skopje 1976

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FIDE Surveys – Georg Mohr

5

The position on the diagram is very
interesting. Black has two fixed weaknesses
on b6 and d5 but White cannot create a third
one on the kingside. Black has enough time
to place his pawns on the dark-squares.
39.h4 f6! 40.g3 g5
The only thing White can do is to maneuver
with his bishop and try to reach a favorable
position. His only chance is to place his
bishop to the h1-a8 diagonal, from where the
d5-pawn is being attacked and Black will be
forced to defend it with the bishop on c6, b7
or a8. In this kind of position White could –
under certain conditions – prepare b3 and c4.
41.Be2 Bd7 42.Bh5 Bh3
42...Bc6 43.Bf3.
43.b3! Bd7
43...Bf1 44.Bf3; 43...Bg2 44.Be2 gh4
(44...Kc6 45.hg5 hg5 46.f3 Bh3 47.g4 f5
48.gf5 in Ke5) 45.gh4 Kc6 46.Ke3 Bh3
47.Kf4 Bd7 48.b4±.
44.Bf7 Bc6 45.f4 gh4 46.gh4‡ Bb7 47.Bh5
Bc6
47...Bc8 48.Be8 Ba6 49.b4+-.
48.Bf3 Ba8

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An ideal moment for the penetration – the
final one. Therefore:
49.c4 dc4?
Success! After 49...bc4 50.bc4 Bc6 51.Bd5
Be8 52.c5 Kc7= Black would easily endure,
because White cannot penetrate.
50.Ba8 cb3 51.Be4 b2 52.h5 b4 53.Kc4
1:0.

When there is only one weakness on the
board, the defence is simple. Even though
the attacker manages to block and fix the
weakness it will not be enough if he will not
manage to create at least one more
weakness. The only thing that the defender
needs to know is Capablanca’s rule – the
placement of the pawns on the squares of the
opposite color as his bishop!

Kochiev A. : Mikhalchishin A.
1976

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33.b3!
Everything is simple: the pawns on b3, h3
the g4 move and… draw.
33…g5 34.h3 h5 35.g4! hg4 36.hg4 Bc7
37.f3 Bb6 38.Bd2 ½.

And at the end let us see an interesting
ending where an isolated pawn is being
defended by a passive bishop and attacked
by a strong knight. Is this kind of advantage
enough for winning?
This question was answered by Jose Raoul
Capablanca with an illustrative defence
against Salo Flohr on Moscow’s first big
tournament.

FIDE Surveys – Georg Mohr

6

Flohr S. : Capablanca J. R.
Moscow 1935

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On the board we can see the position where
White achieved everything that he could.
The knight on d4 is eternal and very strong
and Black’s bishop is modest and having
only one but very important assignment. It is
clear that White needs one more thing: he
can attack the d5-pawn with his king on d4
and with his knight but Black is able to
defend it two times. White needs to create at
least one more weakness, one hole in the
position, which would allow White’s king to
penetrate in Black’s camp.
Everything was quickly clear to Capablanca:
the king on d6, the pawns on dark-squares (!
– the rule) and the bishop needs to be placed
so that it would be preventing White’s king
from penetrating.
23…Ke7 24.Kd2 Kd6 25.Kc3 b6 26.f4 Bd7
27.Nf3 f6 28.Kd4 a5 29.Nd2 Bc8 30.Nb1
Be6 31.Nc3 Kc6 32.a3 h6 33.g3 h5?
Did a beautiful Russian woman just walked
in the playing hall? It is known that the great
Cuban lost his concentration for a minute
and his small mistake could easily turn into a
big one.
34.b4 ab4 35.ab4 Kd6 36.b5 g6
Or 36…Bf7?! 37.f5! Bg8 38.Ne2 Bf7
39.Nf4, with an advantage for White.
37.Na4 Kc7 38.Nc3 Kd6 39.f5! gf5
39…Bf5 40.Nd5 Bd7 41.Nf6 Bb5 42.Nd5.
40.Ne2 Bd7?!

It would be better 40…Bg8! 41.Nf4 Bf7
42.h3 Be8.
41.Nf4 Be8 42.Nd5 Bb5 43.Nb6

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43…Bc6!
Black must not let the knight move to f4,
which is the only winning plan for White.
44.Nc4 Ke6 45.Nb2 Bb5! 46.Nd1 Be2
47.Nf2 Bf1! 48.Nd3 Bd3
Pawn ending is a draw.
49.Kd3 Ke5 50.Ke2 Ke4 51.h3 Kd5 52.Kf3
Ke5 1/2

Belavenets S. : Rauser V.
Moscow 1937

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We already know everything: White is better
but he needs something more to win. Black
needs to move his king in the center as soon
as possible and place his pawns on the dark-
squares…
1.Kf1 Kf8
It would be better Kg7–f6-e5.

FIDE Surveys – Georg Mohr

7

2.f3
2.Ke2? d4!
2...Ke7 3.Ke2 Ke6 4.Kd3 Ke5 5.f4 Ke6
6.Kd4 Kd6
White won even more space, but he will not
made it without an additional weakness.
7.b4 Ke6 8.b5
This plan helped White to strengthen his
position on the queenside but the knight will
eventually have to move to the other flank
and then the pawns on the light-squares
could turn into attack targets.
8…Bb7 9.Na2 Kd6 10.Nb4 Ke6
Better and according to Capablanca’s rule
would be 10...f6!
11.g4!
The transposition to a pawn ending did not
lead to success: 11.Nc6 Bc6 12.bc6 Kd6
13.c7 Kc7 14.Kd5 f5!=.
11...f5
Black is too late and in big troubles. Even
better would be 11...h6 12.Nc6! Bc6 13.bc6
Kd6 14.c7 Kc7 15.Kd5+- Kd7 16.e4 Kc7
17.e5 Kd7 18.f5 gf5 19.gf5 Kc7 20.e6 f6
21.h3 h5 22.h4 a6 23.a4 a5 24.Kc4 Kc6
25.e7+-. (Belavenets)
12.g5 Kd6 13.h3!
The precise calculation of tempos was
needed. After 13.h4?! Ke6 14.Na2 Kd6
15.Nc3 Ke6 16.Ne2 Bc8 17.Ng3 Bd7 18.a4
Be8 Black would prevent h4-h5.
13...Ke6 14.Na2 Kd6 15.Nc3 Ke6 16.h4
Kd6 17.Ne2 Bc8?
An opportunity for a counter play was
hidden in this moment: 17...a6! 18.Nc3
(18.a4 a5) 18...ab5 19.Nb5 Kc6! 20.Nc3 Kd6
21.Na4 Kc6 22.Ke5 Kb5 23.Nb2 Kc5
24.Kf6 d4 25.ed4 Kd4 26.Kg7 Ke4 27.Kh7
Kf4 28.Kg6 Kg4 29.h5 f4 30.h6 Be4 31.Kf6
Kh5, with good drawing chances.
18.Ng3 Bd7 19.a4 Ke6 20.h5!+- Be8
20...gh5 21.Nh5 Bc8 22.Kc3! Kf7 23.Kd3
Ke7 24.Nf6+-.
21.h6 Kd6 22.Ne2 1:0.

The possible continuation says enough and
therefore Black decided to shorten his

suffering 22…Bd7 23.Nc3 Be6 24.Na2 Bf7
(24...Bc8 25.Nb4 Bb7 26.Nd3 Bc8 27.Ne5)
25.Nb4 Be6 26.Nc6 a5 27.ba6! Kc6 28.a7
Kb7 29.Ke5 Bd7 30.Kf6 Ba4 31.Kg7 b5
32.Kh7 b4 33.Kg6 b3 34.h7 Be8 35.Kf6 b2
36.h8D b1D 37.a8D+-.

If you closely examined the last two
examples then Black’s incorrect play in the
next game will not be so unclear to you.

Chloupek S. : Stohl I.
Prague 1992

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30…Tb8!!
Black decided not to move his rook to the
only open file because White would offer
him the exchange of the rooks with Rc1.
Slovak Grandmaster knew old pawn endings
and the rule that says that he cannot win the
game with just one weakness in the position
despite the dominant knight. Therefore he
decided to exploit the coordination between
his rook and knight in a different way. This
way he is not risking anything: Black’s king
needs to move to d7 and White’s rook
cannot penetrate anywhere.
31.Rc1 Kf8 32.Kf1 Ke8 33.Ke2 Kd7
34.Kd3
White could choose 34.h4 but after 34…h5
his pawns would stay on the dark-squares.
Blacks plan would be clear and simple: f6,
Rg8 and g5 and after that he would create a
past pawn

or he would create a weakness for

White on h4 (after gh4-gh4).

FIDE Surveys – Georg Mohr

8

34…g5! 35.f3
In similar position it is difficult for the
defender to evaluate what is better f3 or h3.
35…h5 36.Rc2 g4!
We already know the principle: we need to
fix the pawns on the squares of the opposite
color as our bishop.
37.Rf2 f5 38.Bc1 b5!
It is time for action on the queenside –
another weakness needs to be created.
39.fg4
Or 39.h3 h4! 40.fg4 hg3 41.Rf3 f4 42.Bf4
Nf4 43.Rf4 g2 -+.
39…hg4 40.Bf4 Rc8 41.Bd2 a4 42.ba4 ba4
43.Bb4 Rc1 44.Rb2 Nf6!
Black’s knight did its job on d5 and now he
is moving to a better square.
45.Bc5 Ne4 46.Rb7 Kc6 47.Rb6 Kc7
48.Re6
After 48.Rb2 Rc3 49.Ke2 Kc6 in Kd5 White
would be helpless.
48…Rc5 49.dc5 Nc5 50.Kd4 Ne6 51.Ke5
Kd7 52.Kf5 Nd4 53.Kg4 Nb5 54.Kf4 Na3
55.Ke4 Nc4 56.Kd3 a3 0:1.