eventually run of the defensive moves.
Georg Mohr:
31...b6 32.a4! Ke6 33.f3 Kd6 34.Kc3
Even more typical would be 34.a5! It is very
An isolated pawn in the
important to make room for penetration
endgame beside the isolated pawn.
34...Ke5 35.Kd3 Ke6 36.Kc3 Ke5 37.Kd3
An isolated pawn in the endgame is Ke6 38.Kd4 Kd6 39.a5!+- bxa5 40.bxa5
definitely a weakness. In different endings There is no choice left: Black must to give
this weakness indeed looks differently, but up and let White s king in.
the strategy is the same in all endings. We 40...Kc6 41.Ke5 Kb5
can choose between a blockade and After 41...Kc5 42.Kf6 Kb5 43.Kxg6 Kxa5
exploitation of the power of a blockade piece 44.Kxh5 Kb5 45.Kg6 a5 46.h5 White is
and between a direct attack on the isolated faster.
pawn. In the first part we will take a closer 42.Kxd5 Kxa5 43.Kc5
look at the isolated pawn in pawn endings Because of 43.Kc5 Ka4 44.e4 fxe4 45.fxe4
and bishop endings and in the end we will a5 46.e5 Kb3 47.e6+- 1:0.
get to know the endings where an isolated
pawn is protected by a passive bishop and But the task is not always so simple.
attacked by an active knight.
Let us start our journey with pawn endings. Barcza G. : Golombek H.
Budapest 1952
Ehlvest J. : Rausis I.
XIIIIIIIIY
Riga 1995
9-+-+-+-+0
XIIIIIIIIY
9+-+-+-zp-0
9-+-+-+-+0
9-+-mk-+-+0
9+p+-+-+-0
9zp-+p+p+p0
9p+-mk-+p+0
9P+-mK-+-zP0
9+-+p+p+p0
9+-+-+-zP-0
9-zP-+-+-zP0
9-+-+PzP-+0
9zP-+KzP-zP-0
9+-+-+-+-0
9-+-+-zP-+0
xiiiiiiiiy
9+-+-+-+-0
Seemingly the position is identical to the
xiiiiiiiiy
previous one; only White s pawn has not
31.Kd4 made it to fifth rank yet. A small but
On the diagram we can see a classical pawn significant detail!
ending with an isolated pawn. White blocked 34.f4?!
the pawn and attacked it with the king but White did not think about the position deep
Black managed to protect it. Clearly this will enough and he oversaw Black s additional
not be enough for White to win. The result option for defence. After he will break
of the game will be decided by the fact Black s defence, White s king will get to the
whether White s king will be able to g6-pawn (Black must not let White to get to
penetrate to one of the flanks. the queenside) and Black will in the mean
In our case White s task is simple, because time rush to the a-pawn, or even better, to
Black has holes on both flanks and he will the e-pawn and he will try to promote his d-
FIDE Surveys  Georg Mohr 1
pawn. That is why White needed to be more Yurtaev L. : Temirbaev S.
careful: 34.f3! g6 34.f4 Kc6 35.Ke5 Kc5 Elista (ol) 1998
36.Kf6 Kb4 (Black does not have time for
XIIIIIIIIY
Kd4-e3-e2 and what remains for Black is to
9-+R+-+-+0
attack the a-pawn) 37.Kg6 Ka4 38.Kf5 Kb4
9zp-+-+kzpp0
39.Kg5 a4 40.f5 a3 41.f6 a2 42.f7 a1Q
9-zp-+r+-+0
43.f8Q Qe5 44.Qf5 Qg3 45.Kh5 and with a
pawn up he would have good chances in the
9+-+p+p+-0
queen ending.
9-zP-+-+-+0
34& g6 35.e3 Kc6 36.Ke5 Kc5 37.Kf6 Kc4!
9zP-+-zPP+-0
White oversaw this! Black will win the e-
9-+-+-mKPzP0
pawn and the game will result in an
interesting draw.
9+-+-+-+-0
38.Kg6 Kd3 39.Kf5 Ke3 40.Kg5 d4 41.f5
xiiiiiiiiy
d3 42.f6 d2 43.f7 d1Q 44.f8Q Qa4!
29& Re8! 30.Re8 Ke8
That is the difference! Black won the a-pawn
Black evaluated the ending marvelously!
and got stronger.
The placement of the pawns a7-b6 cannot be
45.Qf5 Qb4 46.Kh5 a4 47.g4 a3 48.g5
destroyed and White s king will never be
Qb2! 49.g6 a2 50.Qg5 Ke4 51.Qg4 Ke3
able to penetrate trough the c5-square. Keep
52.Qg5 Ke4 53.g7 a1Q 54.Qg6 Kf4 55.g8Q
in mind this small but significant difference,
XIIIIIIIIY
you will need it whenever you will be
9-+-+-+Q+0
deciding about the transposition to this or
that ending.
9+-+-+-+-0
Black s task will be simpler: besides the d5-
9-+-+-+Q+0
pawn he will need to defend the squares
9+-+-+-+K0
which are making the penetration on the
9-+-+-mk-zP0
kingside possible. Black s king will do that
easily over the d6 and e6 squares.
9+-+-+-+-0
31.Ke2 Kd7 32.Kd3 Kc6 33.Kd4 Kd6
9-wq-+-+-+0
34.h4 h5!
9wq-+-+-+-0
Black is not afraid of running out of tempos,
xiiiiiiiiy
because he only needs to defend one
An unusually ending where Black has no passage.
troubles drawing, due to his king being 35.a4 Ke6 36.a5 Kd6 37.a6 Ke6 38.e4
enough close to the right corner. This is the only way for White s king to
55& Qh8! 56.Qh6 Qh6 57.Kh6 Qf6! proceed.
58.Kh5 Ke5 59.Qg5 ½. 38& dxe4 39.fxe4 fxe4 40.Kxe4 g6 41.Kf4
Kf6 42.g3 b5 43.g4 hxg4 44.Kxg4 Ke6
A player with an isolated pawn can foresee 45.Kf4 Kf6 46.Ke4 Ke6 47.Kd4 Kd6
the possible endings and he can place his 48.Ke4 Ke6 49.Kf4 Kf6 50.Kg4 Ke6 ½.
pawns on the certain flank appropriately &
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 2
the other pawns is very important. The rule The fixing of the weakness on h2. Beliavsky
says that the active side needs at least one played this ending very instructively.
more object to attack if it wants to think 44.Bd2 Bc7 45.Be3
about winning (the principle of the second The bishop needs to control the diagonal c1-
weakness!), though two weaknesses are not h6. If 45.Bc3, then 45& f4!, with the idea
always sufficient. In bishop endings all the fg3, Bg3 +.
classical techniques, which are characteristic 45...Ba5 46.Bf4 Be1 47.Be3 Kd6! 48.Bf4
for this kind of endings are being used: Kd7 49.Be3 Kc6!
triangulation, opposition,& Let us see some The last three Black s moves are also
examples! instructive  a classical triangulation,
passing the move to the opponent.
Pritchett C. W. : Beliavsky A. 50.Kd3
Novi Sad (ol) 1990 He would have the best practical chances
after tactical 50.d5!? ed5 51.Kd4 a5!?
XIIIIIIIIY
(51...f4 52.Bf4 Bf2 53.Ke5 Bg1 54.Kf5 Bh2
9-+-+-+-+0
55.Kg4=) 52.Ke5 Bc3 53.Kf5 d4 54.Bf4 Kc5
9+-+-+kzp-0
55.Kg4 Kb4 56.Kh3 Ka4 in Kb3  +.
9p+-vlpzp-+0
50...Kd5 51.Ke2 Bc3 52.Kd3 Bb2
White has no moves left  game over.
9+-+-+-+p0
53.f4 gf3 54.Bf2 Bc1 55.Kc2 Bg5 56.Kd3
9P+-zP-+-+0
Bf6 57.Be3 Bd8 58.Bd2
9+-+-vL-zP-0
58.Bf2 Bb6 59.Be3 Ba7, with the idea e5 +.
9-+-+-zP-zP0
58...f2 59.Ke2 Kd4 60.Be3 Ke4 61.Bf2 Bc7
0:1.
9+-+-+K+-0
xiiiiiiiiy
When three (or more) pawns are placed on
On the diagram we can see the position
the same-colored squares as their bishop, the
where White has a fixed weakness - the
defender is left helpless.
isolated d4 -pawn and a dynamic pawn
structure. That is why White is close to
Averbakh Y. : Matanovic A.
drawing but first he has to place his pawns
Belgrade 1961
on the light-squares  Capablanca s rule!
XIIIIIIIIY
34.Ke2?
9-+l+-+-+0
It would be correct to play 34.h3! g5 35.g4!
34...g5 35.Kd3
9+-+-+p+p0
It is unreasonable that White left his pawns
9p+k+-+p+0
on the dark-squares. Why not 35.h3 g4
9zP-+p+-+-0
36.hg4 hg4? When the weaker side has three
9-mK-+-+-+0
pawns on the same-colored squares as its
bishop, the ending is almost certainly lost!
9+-+LzPPzP-0
35...g4 36.Kc4 Ke7 37.Bd2 Kd7 38.Bc1
9-+-+-+-zP0
Kc6 39.Be3 Bc7!
9+-+-+-+-0
Tempo. Black has an unlimited amount of
xiiiiiiiiy
time and White needs to find the only
moves. White s task is simple: he needs to fix
40.Bd2 Bd8! 41.Bb4 f5 42.Bd2 h4! 43.Bf4 Black s pawns on the kingside (the a6 and
h3!
FIDE Surveys  Georg Mohr 3
d5 weaknesses are already fixed) and create Later on follows the maneuvering with the
yet another, third weakness. bishop and forcing Black to put his pieces on
39.f4! f5?! the unpleasant squares.
This move is against all fundamental 10& Be4
Capablanca s rules, though there was no
XIIIIIIIIY
solution left for Black. For example 39& h6
9-+-+-+-+0
40.e4! de4 41.Be4 Kd6 42.Kc4 Bg4 43.Kd4
9+p+-+L+-0
Be2 44.Bc2 Bg4 (it was threatening 45.Bb3)
9p+-mk-+p+0
45.Bd3 Bc8 46.h4 Bb7 47.g4! Bc8 48.g5
hg5 49.hg5 Bb7 50.Bc4 +-.
9zP-+p+-+p0
40.h4 Kd6 41.h5!
9-zP-mKlzP-zP0
We are familiar with the power of the threat
9+-+-zP-+-0
h5-h6 from the previous example.
9-+-+-+-+0
41& gh5 42.Kc3
Because of 42& Kc5 43.Bf1! Bb7 44.Be2
9+-+-+-+-0
Bc8 45.Bd3 d4 (what else?) 46.ed4 Kd5
xiiiiiiiiy
47.Bc4 Kd6 48.d5 Kc5 49.d6! Kd6 50.Kd4
11.f5!!
Bb7 51.Bf1 Bc8 52.Bd3 - 1:0.
A decisive tactical attack.
11& Bf5
It was similar in the next example:
11...gf5 12.Bh5+-.
12.Bd5 Bc8 13.e4 Ke7 14.Ke5 g5 15.hg5 h4
Polugaevsky L. : Mecking H.
16.g6 h3 17.g7 h2 18.g8Q h1Q 19.Qf7 Kd8
Mar del Plata 1971
20.Qf8 1:0.
XIIIIIIIIY
9-+-+-+-+0
We saw that the task is not too difficult with
three or more weaknesses on the board. The
9+p+-+-+p0
most interesting positions are the ones with
9p+-mk-+p+0
the opponent having two weaknesses.
9zP-+p+-+-0
Statistics show that approximately every
9-+-mK-zPl+0
second game is won by the attacker &
9+P+LzP-+-0
Matanovic A. : Uhlmann W.
9-+-+-+-zP0
Skopje 1976
9+-+-+-+-0
XIIIIIIIIY
xiiiiiiiiy
9-+-+-+-+0
1.h4 Bf3 2.b4
9+-+-+p+-0
Everything is evolving according to the
9-+-mkl+pzp0
know pattern: first fixation with the
placement of the pawns on the squares of the
9+p+p+-+-0
right color (all White s pawns are placed on
9-+-mK-+-+0
the dark-squares and all Black s pawns are
9+-zP-+L+P0
placed on the light-squares!)
9-zP-+-zPP+0
2& Bh1 3.Be2 Bg2 4.Bg4 Be4 5.Bc8! Kc7
6.Be6 Kd6 7.Bg8 h6 8.Bf7 h5 9.Be8 Bc2
9+-+-+-+-0
10.Bf7
xiiiiiiiiy
FIDE Surveys  Georg Mohr 4
The position on the diagram is very When there is only one weakness on the
interesting. Black has two fixed weaknesses board, the defence is simple. Even though
on b6 and d5 but White cannot create a third the attacker manages to block and fix the
one on the kingside. Black has enough time weakness it will not be enough if he will not
to place his pawns on the dark-squares. manage to create at least one more
39.h4 f6! 40.g3 g5 weakness. The only thing that the defender
The only thing White can do is to maneuver needs to know is Capablanca s rule  the
with his bishop and try to reach a favorable placement of the pawns on the squares of the
position. His only chance is to place his opposite color as his bishop!
bishop to the h1-a8 diagonal, from where the
d5-pawn is being attacked and Black will be Kochiev A. : Mikhalchishin A.
forced to defend it with the bishop on c6, b7 1976
or a8. In this kind of position White could 
XIIIIIIIIY
under certain conditions  prepare b3 and c4.
9-+-+-+-+0
41.Be2 Bd7 42.Bh5 Bh3
9+-+-+-zpp0
42...Bc6 43.Bf3.
9-+-vlpzp-+0
43.b3! Bd7
43...Bf1 44.Bf3; 43...Bg2 44.Be2 gh4
9zp-+k+-+-0
(44...Kc6 45.hg5 hg5 46.f3 Bh3 47.g4 f5
9-+-zP-+-+0
48.gf5 in Ke5) 45.gh4 Kc6 46.Ke3 Bh3
9+-+KvL-+-0
47.Kf4 Bd7 48.b4Ä….
9-zP-+-zPPzP0
44.Bf7 Bc6 45.f4 gh4 46.gh4! Bb7 47.Bh5
Bc6
9+-+-+-+-0
47...Bc8 48.Be8 Ba6 49.b4+-.
xiiiiiiiiy
48.Bf3 Ba8
33.b3!
XIIIIIIIIY
Everything is simple: the pawns on b3, h3
9l+-+-+-+0
the g4 move and& draw.
33& g5 34.h3 h5 35.g4! hg4 36.hg4 Bc7
9+-+-+-+-0
37.f3 Bb6 38.Bd2 ½.
9-+-mk-zp-zp0
9+p+p+-+-0
And at the end let us see an interesting
9-+-mK-zP-zP0
ending where an isolated pawn is being
defended by a passive bishop and attacked
9+PzP-+L+-0
by a strong knight. Is this kind of advantage
9-+-+-+-+0
enough for winning?
9+-+-+-+-0
This question was answered by Jose Raoul
xiiiiiiiiy
Capablanca with an illustrative defence
An ideal moment for the penetration  the against Salo Flohr on Moscow s first big
final one. Therefore: tournament.
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.
FIDE Surveys  Georg Mohr 5
Flohr S. : Capablanca J. R. It would be better 40& Bg8! 41.Nf4 Bf7
Moscow 1935 42.h3 Be8.
41.Nf4 Be8 42.Nd5 Bb5 43.Nb6
XIIIIIIIIY
XIIIIIIIIY
9-+-+-mk-+0
9-+-+-+-+0
9+p+-+pzpp0
9+-+-+-+-0
9p+-+l+-+0
9-sN-mk-zp-+0
9+-+p+-+-0
9+l+-+p+p0
9-+-sN-+-+0
9-+-mK-+-+0
9+-+-zP-+-0
9+-+-zP-zP-0
9PzP-+-zPPzP0
9-+-+-+-zP0
9+-mK-+-+-0
9+-+-+-+-0
xiiiiiiiiy
xiiiiiiiiy
On the board we can see the position where
White achieved everything that he could. 43& Bc6!
The knight on d4 is eternal and very strong Black must not let the knight move to f4,
and Black s bishop is modest and having which is the only winning plan for White.
only one but very important assignment. It is 44.Nc4 Ke6 45.Nb2 Bb5! 46.Nd1 Be2
clear that White needs one more thing: he 47.Nf2 Bf1! 48.Nd3 Bd3
can attack the d5-pawn with his king on d4 Pawn ending is a draw.
and with his knight but Black is able to 49.Kd3 Ke5 50.Ke2 Ke4 51.h3 Kd5 52.Kf3
defend it two times. White needs to create at Ke5 1/2
least one more weakness, one hole in the
position, which would allow White s king to
Belavenets S. : Rauser V.
penetrate in Black s camp.
Moscow 1937
Everything was quickly clear to Capablanca:
XIIIIIIIIY
the king on d6, the pawns on dark-squares (!
9-+-+-+k+0
 the rule) and the bishop needs to be placed
9zp-+-+p+p0
so that it would be preventing White s king
from penetrating. 9-zpl+-+p+0
23& Ke7 24.Kd2 Kd6 25.Kc3 b6 26.f4 Bd7
9+-+p+-+-0
27.Nf3 f6 28.Kd4 a5 29.Nd2 Bc8 30.Nb1
9-+-+-+-+0
Be6 31.Nc3 Kc6 32.a3 h6 33.g3 h5?
9zP-sN-zP-+-0
Did a beautiful Russian woman just walked
in the playing hall? It is known that the great 9-zP-+-zPPzP0
Cuban lost his concentration for a minute
9+-+-+-mK-0
and his small mistake could easily turn into a
xiiiiiiiiy
big one.
We already know everything: White is better
34.b4 ab4 35.ab4 Kd6 36.b5 g6
but he needs something more to win. Black
Or 36& Bf7?! 37.f5! Bg8 38.Ne2 Bf7
needs to move his king in the center as soon
39.Nf4, with an advantage for White.
as possible and place his pawns on the dark-
37.Na4 Kc7 38.Nc3 Kd6 39.f5! gf5
squares&
39& Bf5 40.Nd5 Bd7 41.Nf6 Bb5 42.Nd5.
1.Kf1 Kf8
40.Ne2 Bd7?!
It would be better Kg7 f6-e5.
FIDE Surveys  Georg Mohr 6
2.f3 suffering 22& Bd7 23.Nc3 Be6 24.Na2 Bf7
2.Ke2? d4! (24...Bc8 25.Nb4 Bb7 26.Nd3 Bc8 27.Ne5)
2...Ke7 3.Ke2 Ke6 4.Kd3 Ke5 5.f4 Ke6 25.Nb4 Be6 26.Nc6 a5 27.ba6! Kc6 28.a7
6.Kd4 Kd6 Kb7 29.Ke5 Bd7 30.Kf6 Ba4 31.Kg7 b5
White won even more space, but he will not 32.Kh7 b4 33.Kg6 b3 34.h7 Be8 35.Kf6 b2
made it without an additional weakness. 36.h8D b1D 37.a8D+-.
7.b4 Ke6 8.b5
This plan helped White to strengthen his If you closely examined the last two
position on the queenside but the knight will examples then Black s incorrect play in the
eventually have to move to the other flank next game will not be so unclear to you.
and then the pawns on the light-squares
could turn into attack targets. Chloupek S. : Stohl I.
8& Bb7 9.Na2 Kd6 10.Nb4 Ke6 Prague 1992
Better and according to Capablanca s rule
XIIIIIIIIY
would be 10...f6!
9-+-+-trk+0
11.g4!
9+-+-+pzpp0
The transposition to a pawn ending did not
9-zp-+p+-+0
lead to success: 11.Nc6 Bc6 12.bc6 Kd6
13.c7 Kc7 14.Kd5 f5!=.
9zp-+n+-+-0
11...f5
9-+-zP-+-+0
Black is too late and in big troubles. Even
9zPP+-+-zP-0
better would be 11...h6 12.Nc6! Bc6 13.bc6
9-vL-+-zP-zP0
Kd6 14.c7 Kc7 15.Kd5+- Kd7 16.e4 Kc7
17.e5 Kd7 18.f5 gf5 19.gf5 Kc7 20.e6 f6
9+-+R+-mK-0
21.h3 h5 22.h4 a6 23.a4 a5 24.Kc4 Kc6
xiiiiiiiiy
25.e7+-. (Belavenets)
30& Tb8!!
12.g5 Kd6 13.h3!
Black decided not to move his rook to the
The precise calculation of tempos was
only open file because White would offer
needed. After 13.h4?! Ke6 14.Na2 Kd6
him the exchange of the rooks with Rc1.
15.Nc3 Ke6 16.Ne2 Bc8 17.Ng3 Bd7 18.a4
Slovak Grandmaster knew old pawn endings
Be8 Black would prevent h4-h5.
and the rule that says that he cannot win the
13...Ke6 14.Na2 Kd6 15.Nc3 Ke6 16.h4
game with just one weakness in the position
Kd6 17.Ne2 Bc8?
despite the dominant knight. Therefore he
An opportunity for a counter play was
decided to exploit the coordination between
hidden in this moment: 17...a6! 18.Nc3
his rook and knight in a different way. This
(18.a4 a5) 18...ab5 19.Nb5 Kc6! 20.Nc3 Kd6
way he is not risking anything: Black s king
21.Na4 Kc6 22.Ke5 Kb5 23.Nb2 Kc5
needs to move to d7 and White s rook
24.Kf6 d4 25.ed4 Kd4 26.Kg7 Ke4 27.Kh7
cannot penetrate anywhere.
Kf4 28.Kg6 Kg4 29.h5 f4 30.h6 Be4 31.Kf6
31.Rc1 Kf8 32.Kf1 Ke8 33.Ke2 Kd7
Kh5, with good drawing chances.
34.Kd3
18.Ng3 Bd7 19.a4 Ke6 20.h5!+- Be8
White could choose 34.h4 but after 34& h5
20...gh5 21.Nh5 Bc8 22.Kc3! Kf7 23.Kd3
his pawns would stay on the dark-squares.
Ke7 24.Nf6+-.
Blacks plan would be clear and simple: f6,
21.h6 Kd6 22.Ne2 1:0.
Rg8 and g5 and after that he would create a
The possible continuation says enough and
past pawn or he would create a weakness for
therefore Black decided to shorten his
White on h4 (after gh4-gh4).
FIDE Surveys  Georg Mohr 7
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.
FIDE Surveys  Georg Mohr 8