FIDE Surveys – Viacheslav Eingorn

1

Viacheslav Eingorn:

2 Bishops vs 2 Knights: pawns
on the same flank

Usually we can watch the bishop’s
preponderance when the fight is going on
the whole chessboard, but that advantage is
significant also in the ”one wing” play. Such
endings happen in practice from time to
time: even despite the equal amount of
pawns and the absence of structural
weaknesses the defense may be quite
complicated for knight’s side.

1) Lonely extra pawn

The single pawn positions serve as basic for
all piece endings and the most of them are
drawn if the king of weakest side stays not
far from the battlefield. Here things look not
that simple.

Mehmeti : Yu Yangyi, Tromso 2014

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Both white knights must carefully watch
enemy’s a3 pawn. To achieve the final
success Black has to include the king into
the game and the question is how to do that.
69…Kf2 70.Nba2 Ke1 71.Kc2 Bf8 72.Nc1
72.Kc1 Bg6 led to mate.
72...Bg6 73.Kb3?
Instead of using his resources White simply
opens the way for intrusion. He could play
73.Nd3 Kf1 74.Kd2!, not allowing the
Black’s king to come in. Then after
74…Bh6 (74...Bg7 75.Na2) 75.Kc2 Bh7

76.Na2 the move 76…Ke2 doesn’t reach the
goal in view of reply 77.Nac1! Bc1 78.Kc1.
73...Kd2 74.N1a2
Sad story, even the usual “last chance” for
such positions is unavailable now: White
cannot drop his knight for the pawn, e. g.
74.Nb5 Bf7 75.Ka4 Be8!
74...Bf7 75.Ka4 Kc2 76.Ne2 Ba2 77.Nd4
Kb2 0:1.

With the pawn stopped at the more distant
boundary the defense becomes easier.

Zilka : Vaculik, Ostrava 2010

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Here white pawn stands far from the
“queening” point and doesn’t represent the
direct danger – thus it may be successfully
attacked if White’s king will go left in
attempt to find roundabout way to the
Black’s fortress.
87.Bg6 Nd5 88.Kd4 Ndf6
88...Ng3 led to equality.
89.Bd3 Ng7
And now 89...Nf4 (90.Bb1 Ng2) was not
bad.
90.Ke3 Ngh5 91.Ba6 Kf5 92.Bc8 Kg6
93.Bh3 Ng3 94.Kf4 Ngh5
The draw could be fixed by move 94...Nge4
and then 95…Kh5.
95.Ke5 Ng3 96.Ke6 Nfe4
Again missing the suitable possibility to
grab the pawn after 96...Nge4.
97.Bg4 Nf2?!
The variation 97...Nc5 98.Kd5 Nd3 99.Bc3
Nf4 100.Ke5 Ng2 was still good enough.
98.Bf3 Nd3 99.Bc3 Nf4 100.Ke5
White has made some progress, Black takes
up the next line of defense.

FIDE Surveys – Viacheslav Eingorn

2

100…Nfh5 101.Be1 Kg7 102.Bd1 Kf7
103.Bb3 Kg6 104.Bc2 Kf7 105.Bd3 Kg7
106.Bd2 Kf7 107.Bg5 Kg7?
This looks as decisive mistake, it was
necessary to play 107...Ng7.
108.Ke6 Kf8 109.Bh6 Kg8 110.Ke7 Nh1
All the rest loses even faster, but Black’s
affairs are already in the bad state – his
pieces have no coordination.
111.Bg6
After 111.Bc4 Kh7 112.Be3 (threatening
113.Kf7) Kg7 113.Bd3 White’s bishops
could get the full domination over the
knights.
111…N1g3 112.Ke6 Ng7 113.Kf6 N3h5
114.Kg5 Ng3 115.Kg4 Ne2 116.h5
The pawn made a step ahead and Black can
do nothing to prevent its further advance.
116…Nd4 117.Bf4 Nde6 118.Be5 Nf8
119.Bd3 Nd7 120.Bd4 Ne8 121.Bg6 Nef6
122.Kf5 Kg7 123.Kg5 Kg8 124.h6 Nh7
125.Kf5 Ndf6 126.Ke6 Kf8 127.Bc5 Kg8
128.Bf7 Kh8 129.Bd4 Ng5 130.Kf6 1:0.

2) The living space

If position offers no strong points then he
who has the knights must take care of all his
pieces: the lack of reasonable moves for any
of them easily may become a decisive
factor.

Andersen : Blom, Nykobing 1961

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Black must make a difficult decision: his
king is arrested at the corner and the
variation 46...Ned6? 47.Be6 leads to
immediate collapse. Also the line 46...Ncd6
47.Bb3 Nb5 48.Kf2 Ned6 49.Ke2 Nс8 looks
not encouraging as then black knights will

fight against the whole White’s army. But
that was the best choice here.
46…Ng7?
Now already two black pieces went out of
play and they desperately need a resque
service. Will the help come on time?
47.Kf2
White’s king starts his journey to f8.
47…Ne7 48.Bf6!
In order to hobble the second knight also
after 48...Ng8? 49.Bg5 as the exchange
49…Nh6 50.Bh6 is baneful for Black.
Therefore the knight must head for square
h6 in bypass.
48...Nc6 49.Ke2 Nb4 50.Kd2 Nd3 51.Kc3
Nf2 52.Kc4?
The annoying delay: White could win by
attack in variation 52.Kd4 Ng4 (52...Nh1
53.Kd5) 53.Be5 (also 53.Bg5 is OK) Kh6
(53...Nh6 54.Bb3 Ne8 55.Kd5 Kg8 56.Ke6
Kf8 57.Bd4) 54.Kd5 Ne3 55.Kd6.
52...Ng4 53.Bd4 Nh6
Thanks to his colleague the prisoner of
square g7 goes at large.

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54.Bd5 Ng8?!
Bad is immediate 54…Ne8? in view of
55.Bc6 but 54…Ng4, followed by 55…Ne8
(55.Bc6 Kg8) looks much safer.
55.Kc5
Also the line 55.Bc6!? Ne6 (clearly not a
desired route to freedom) 56.Bc3 Nh6
57.Ba5 deserved serious attention.
55…Ne8 56.Bf7?!
Now Black’s knights get away from the
trouble zone and he can stop worry. There
still was a chance for White in variation
56.Bc4 Nef6 57.Be2! Ng4 58.Bg4 fg4
(58...hg4 59.Kd6) 59.Bc3 Ne7 60.Be1 Nf5
61.Bf2 Kg7 62.Kd5.

FIDE Surveys – Viacheslav Eingorn

3

56...Nef6 57.Kd6 Ng4 58.Bc4 N8h6 59.Ke7
Nf2 60.Kf8 Nh1 61.Bc3 Nf2 ½.

Mamedyarov : Dominguez, London 2012

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The situation partly remains the previous
example: to establish connection between
his knights and king Black must try to get
rid of the white pawn f6.
39...Nc7?!
Not the well considered move. Black could
do better by means 39...Nb6 40.e4 (the reply
40.Be2!? with idea of 40…Nbd7 41.Bb5 e5
42.Ba3 is a bit more slyly) Nbd7 41.Ke3 e5,
achieving the wanted result.
40.e4 Nd7
This is definitely step to nowhere. 40…Ne8
was more logical still although after 41.e5
(41.Be2 Nd7 42.Bb5 Ndf6 43.Ba4 e5
44.Be5 Kf8) Nc7 42.Ke3 Kf8 the living
space for Black looks too slim.
41.Ba4 Nb6 42.Bc6 Nc4 43.Bc3 e5 44.Ke2
Ne6 45.Kd3 Nb6 46.Bxe5 Nd7 47.Bc3 g5
48.Kc4 Ndf8 49.Kd5 Ng6
Black’s knights joined their king in his
castle, but now the extra White’s pawn will
tell.
50.Kd6 Kf8 51.Bb4 Kg8 52.Bd5 Nef4
53.Kd7 Nh5 54.Be7 Ne5 55.Ke8 g4 56.Bd8
Nf4 57.Bc7 Nfd3 58.Be5 Ne5 59.Ba2 h5
60.Bd5 h4 61.Ba2 h3 62.Bd5 Kh8 63.Bf7
g3 64.fg3 Ng4 65.Ke7 1:0.

3) Free navigation
We will finish with 3 endings where both
sides have a possibility to arrange their
pawns in the way they want. In any of these
positions the drawish outcome is well
expected but not evident.

Rozum : Faizrakhmanov, Kazan 2013

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34.g4
The initial White’s actions are standard: he
tries to seize space in order to limit the
flexibility of black pieces. 34.e4!?
34...Nd7 35.h4 Ne7 36.h5 f5 37.gf5 ef5!?
Not bad, although 37...Nf5 (keeping the
pawn holder on e6) looked natural.
38.Be2 Kf8 39.Kg2 g5 40.hg6 Ng6
Now the pawn f5 withstands two enemies
but h6 is the passer.
41.Kg3 Kf7 42.Bc4 Ke7 43.Ba3 Kf6
44.Bb5 Nde5?
Falling into the trap. Black could play
44...Ke6 45.Bc4 Kf6 46.Bb3 h5 47.f4 h4.
45.f4!
Suddenly the pawn f5 is lost because of
unfortunate location of pieces.
45…Nf7
45...Ng4 46.e4 was not better.
46.Bd7 Nge5 7.fe5 Ke5 48.Bc6 Ng5 49.Bf8
h5 50.Bg7 Kd6 51.Be8 Ne6 52.Bh6 1:0.

Romanishin : Tukmakov, Yerevan 1982

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Here Black has quite enough living space.

FIDE Surveys – Viacheslav Eingorn

4

To prevent any further opponent’s activity
he wants to fix the white pawns.

57...g4?!
But this careless move creates a problem.
The right way seems to be 57...Na6 58.Be7
Nac5 59.Bd5 e4.
58.Bc2 Nd5 59.Ba3 Nf8
Now pawn h5 is doomed. There was a
tactical defense in variation 59…N7b6 60.h3
Nc4 61.Bc5 gh3 62.Kh3 Nd2 and, if 63.Kh4
(63.Bf5 Nf3), then 63…Nf3 64.Kh5 f5!
60.h3 gh3 61.Kh3 Ng6 62.Bc1
More energetic line 62.e4!? Nc7 63.Bd1
Ne6 64.Bh5 Ng5 65.Kg4 could present
Black with a difficult choice: he may
continue playing without pawn or try to
build the fortress by means 65…Ne4!?
66.Kf5 Nf2 67.Bg6 Nh1 68.Be8 Ng3
69.Kd5 Ne2.
62...Nc7 63.Bd1 f5 64.Bh5 Nd5

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65.Bf3?
Spoiling the advantage while 65.Bb2 Nf6
66.Bd1 secured the very pleasant position
for White (66.e4 67.g4)
65...Nf6 66.Bb2 Kf7 67.Bd1 e4
Black establish blockade, White’s extra
pawn is not of big significance now.
68.Be2 Ke6 69.Ba6 Kf7 70.Kg2 Ng4
71.Bc8 Ne7 72.Bd7 Kg6 73.Bc3 Nd5
74.Bd4 Kg5 75.Bb5 Ndf6 76.Bc6 Kg6
77.f3 ef3 78.Kf3 Kg5
Further progress is impossible but White
kept trying 44 moves more, ½.

L'Ami : Laznicka, Liverpool 2008

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The careful analysis of this example may be
very useful because here the game will pass
through all possible stages of such ending.
26.g4
The first stage: White grabs the space. Black
also pushed forward his pawn as he bewares
of too restricted position.
26...Nd5 27.f4 Nce7 28.Kf3 f5 29.e4
The line 29.gf5 ef5 30.e4 fe4 (30...Nb4
31.Bc4 Kh7 32.h4) 31.Ke4 seems more
logical: White immediately activates his
king and doesn’t allow the possibility of
alternative scenario on the next move.
29...fe4 30.Be4 Kf7
30...g6!? 31.Bc2 Kf7 32.Ke4 h5 comes into
consideration. Such fortress may be taken
only by starvation – as it happened in the
game Janovsky : Dolmatov (Dortmund
1992, with colors reversed).
31.f5 ef5 32.gf5 Nf6 33.Bc2 g6
Both sides willingly exchange pawns: Black
reduces material while White increases the
range of his bishops.
34.fg6 Ng6

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Second stage: in fully opened position

FIDE Surveys – Viacheslav Eingorn

5

white bishops begin to demonstrate their
power. Black’s pieces are not well
coordinated and he meets with difficulties.
Indeed, it is not easy to defend the pawn h6
and counter the threats relating to the
invasion of white king at the same time.

35.Bb3 Kg7 36.Kg3 Ne7 37.Kf4 Kg6
38.Ke5 Ned5
Black stands too passive. The counterplay
has to be found, e.g. 38...Nc6 39.Ke6
(39.Kd6 Nb4 40.Ba3 Ne4 41.Ke5 Nc5!
42.Bc4 Ncd3 43.Ke4 Kh5= ) Nd8 40.Kd6
(40.Ke7 Nc6 41.Kd6 Nb4) Ne4 41.Kd5 Nf6.
39.Bc2
Of course, White avoid the variation
39.Bd5? Nd5 40.Kd5 Kg5, but immediate
39.Bc1 (not allowing 39...Kg5) was more
precise.
39...Kf7 40.Bb3 Kg6 41.Bc1 Nb4 42.Be3
Nc6 43.Kd6 Nd8?
Black had to come back (43...Nb4).
44.Bc2 Kg7 45.Bd4 Kf7 46.Bb6!
Now one of the knights will be lost and
there is no other chance than to sacrifice it
for white pawn.
46…Ne6 47.Bb3 Ne4 48.Kd7 Nf6 49.Kd6
Ne4 50.Ke5 N4g5 51.h4 Nf3 52.Kd6 Nh4
53.Be6 Kg6 54.Bf2 Nf5 55.Ke5 Ng7
56.Bb3 Nh5 57.Bc2 Kf7 58.Be3 Ng7
59.Bh6

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The last stage: two bishops against knight.
Grandmaster Baburin explains: “This is a
theoretical win for White. The knight is
ideally located though - it should be on b2,
b7, g7 or g2, with the black king around it.
The old endgame theory believed that, while
the stronger side could force the defender
out of the corner, he would be able to set up
shop in another corner. Computers refuted

that - there is no fortress. In this position
White checkmates in 55 moves against the
best defense.” But in the present game
White doesn’t manage this job.
59...Nh5 60.Bc1 Ng7 61.Bb2 Ne8 62.Bb3
Kg6 63.Ke6 Ng7 64.Ke7 Nf5 65.Kf8 Kg5
66.Kf7 Kf4 67.Kf6 Ne3 68.Bc1 Kf3 69.Ba4
Ng2 70.Bc6 Kf2 71.Ba3 Kg3 72.Kg5 Kf2
73.Bd6 Ne1 74.Kg4 Nd3 75.Be4 Ke3
76.Kf5 Kd4 77.Bd3 ½.