11:35 Be2 works, but Bb7 seems a bit more straightforward.

12:14 isn't bishop to b7 just straight up better and forces the same outcome except without losing a piece?

I think any human plays Bb7 at 11:35, not Be2. It still guarantees the pawn promotes, but doesn't sacrifice the bishop.

This is a puzzle where knowing theoretical endgames is helpful. The point is that (after pushing the pawn to c7) 1. White can only win by getting the king to b8 where it controls two squares on the short c8-a6 diagonal, and 2. As soon as the black king attacks the pawn, white king has to stay defending it and can no longer move. With this in mind, the moves make a lot more sense. 2 c7 must be played to prevent Kc4. 3 Ke3 instead of Ke4 to not walk into a check, making sure Kc4 is prevented due to the skewer threat 4 Be2 gaining a tempo on the black bishop into 5Kd4 is the only way to prevent the black King from reaching b6. After this point the video explains the logic pretty well. I had learned the bishop and pawn vs bishop endgame from an old video by chessexplained, though I must admit I did not remember what I learned and needed a refresher. Thanks for all the cool puzzles you keep posting.

At 11:30 in the video, Nelson goes on to say that B-e2 is the winning move, and I can see why that wins. But what about B-b7? I don't see a line for black that wins or draws from that move.

11:44 If Be2 works,then Bb7 also works. I thought that puzzle was simple,but it was complicated and cool and fun.

@11:30 Bb7 is a better move because it doesn't loose the bishop. Fascinating anyway, thank you.

I would have played Bb7 instead of Be2.

The logic is we only want the opposition when our bishop helps us blocking the straight up path for the black king. This way the black king has to either stay put or cede some territory: in the end it got boxed out entirely and black could only move its bishop around, while our old men slowly crawled around.

White's two goals are to force Black's Bishop onto the short (a6 to c8) diagonal, and keep Black from getting the King to b6, c6, or d6 where it can capture the pawn.. If Black can get the Bishop to b5 before the pawn is pushed, the game is a draw. Black has enough maneuvering room to keep White from driving the Bishop away. Also, if black can get the king to a7, the a6 and b7 squares on the short diagonal will be under Black's control. Note that the c6 square is critical to White's plan to get his King to b8. 1.c6 Necessary to negate Bb5. 1... Kb3 (or others). The silly Kc3 cuts off the Bishops access to a6 and makes White's task easier. 2.c7 This is necessary, to get the king out of a possible skewer and to force Black's Bishop onto the short diagonal. A king move doesn't work. 2 Ke3 Kc4, and now White has no useful place to put his King and prevent Black from approaching and capturing the pawn. 3.Be2+ Kc5 and 3.Ke4 Bg2+ both draw. 3.c7 is too late Bh3 4.Ke4, Kc5, and the pawn is history. Or 2.Kf4 with the idea of cutting off the Bishop with Bg4 fails to Kd4, 3.c7 Ba6 and Black can now march to c6 and capture the pawn. 2 ...Ba6 Forced. 3.Ke3 Other king moves don't work. 3.Ke4 Bb7+ (to keep the King from advancing to c6) 4.Ke5 Kc4 5.Kd6 Kb5 6.Kc7 (otherwise White can't drive away the Bishop) Ba6 7.Bg4 Bb7 8.Bc8 Be4 (or other squares), and Black owns the a6 and b7 squares, and White can't make progress. With Ke3, White assumes the opposition, not allowing Black to go to c4 (which loses the Bishop). 3... Bb7 Maintaining the opposition. 4.Be2 (4.Bf3 also works in a different way.) The idea is to limit Black's Bishop to two squares on the short diagonal and also hinder Black from reaching a6.. However Bg4 doesn't work. After Kc4, White can no longer prevent Black's King from reaching b6. With 4.Be2, White prevents Black's King from going to c4. 4...Bc8 Maintaining the opposition. 4...Kb4 5.Kd4 Ka5 6.Kc5 keeps Black out of b7 and ultimately a7, as in the main line. 5.Ke4 Bb7+ (5...Kb4 6.Kd4 leads to the previous.) 6.Kd6 (6.Kd4 leads to the main line, with a waste of moves) 6 ... Ka5 Moving the Bishop allows White to go to c6 and eventually reach b8 a move faster than in the main line. 7.Kc5 Reestablishing the opposition. This position occurs in several other lines. 7... Bc8 (7...Kc4 8.Kc6, followed by a7 and b8. Black's move stalls for time.) 8.Kc6 Finally White has the position on c6, and Black's Bishop has no good moves on the short diagonal. 8...Bf5 Other moves by King or Bishop will lead to the same position. 9.Kb7 Be6 (or others) 10.Kb8 Kb6 Now White repositions the Bishop to drive away the enemy. 11.Bc3 Bf5 12.Bb7 Bg4 13.Bc8 Be2 14.Bf5 Ba6 Black makes one last attempt to cover c8. 15.Bd3 (other moves also work.) Bb7 Of course, taking the Bishop allows the pawn to promote. 16.Be2 (The snarky 16.Bb5 also works) And Black is in Zugzwang. Moving the Bishop allows the pawn to promote, and any King move will lose the Bishop (i.e. 16... Kc6 Bf3+)

One important factor you did not mention was that white wants to force the black bishop onto the short diagonal. Actually, white needs to do this two times. The reason behind this is that the diagonal a6-c8 has only 3 squares. White can cover 1 with the bishop, and 2 with the king. If the diagonal had only 1 more square, we could not force the bishop out. First, the early c7 forces Ba6, which places the bishop on the less flexible diagonal compared to c8-h3. When the white king lands on c6, the black bishop can be forced to let the king in on the side the black king is, so the black king can't intervene. And once the King is on b8, covering two of the three squares of the a6-c8 diagonal, we can push the bishop around, until it is back on the short diagonal, where it only has one square, which our bishop can easily take away.

12:05 Why not Bishop to B7?

At 12:20, why not Bb7? Seems like they can’t take it, and can’t go anywhere else to stop the pawn.

At 2:50: After white king to e4 the bishop can deliver a check, and than simply take the pawn.

There seems to be a lot going on. You push the pawn to keep it as far away from the Black King as possible. Then you avoid putting the White King on light squares in order to avoid checks and because you want your own Bishop to move freely so that it can cause a deflection. It's amazing that someone was able to work all of this out before the Tablebase.

I mostly like puzzles Mate in 2 or Mate in 3 but this puzzle Mate in 33 is also nice

I didnt see anyone else explain the logic you missed so I try White has to get the king to b8 since the a6-c8 diagonal is short enough for the king to guard so that the bishop trade can be forced. The whole point of many of the maneuvers is stopping black king from getting there first and blocking white king from entering. You cannot force bishop trade from Kd8, as whenever you go Bc8 black just moves away from either of the 2 diagonals and waits for you to choose where you mive to unblock your pawn, and then guards the promotion square from the other way.

I think the idea behind the king moves, was that once you play Be2 at ~7:00 min mark, you are preventing black king from moving up the board. Yes he can go to A5, but after Kc5, bishop prevents black king from reaching 6th rank, or going around ( because of opposition you kept).

Just amazing. Please, do this type of video more often. This hard position puzzles brings a lot to a table. Especially end-games. Very educational. Amd you are great in explanations. Wish you all the best!

The key seems to be to not let black king gets to b6

11:44 why isnt bishop to b7 an option?

Great video!! We need more of these end game concepts to take advantage of these common positions. Please do more of these videos.

The key point is that Black's bishop can control the square in front of the White pawn from two different directions, so for White to win, White has to not only drive the Black bishop away from one diagonal, but also block with his own bishop when Black tries to switch his bishop to the other diagonal. To do this, White needs to position his forces carefully. With the White pawn on c7, he needs his king on d8 and his bishop ready to occupy d7 when Black moves his bishop to the c8-h3 diagonal. But this maneuver works only if Black's king is *not* posted on d6, where it would prevent White's bishop from moving to d7 to intercept the Black bishop. Many of the variations can be understood if you realize that White is trying to prevent Black's king from getting to d6. If White's king is on d8 and Black's king is on d6, then White cannot make progress, because whenever White tries to challenge Black's bishop, Black just switches his bishop to controlling c8 from the other side.

It would be interesting to know whether Crum had any kind of life.

Well done, Nelson. Aspirin in the medicine cabinet.

All I can see/say is that you need to keep "forcing the issue" as white. The idea seems to be reducing (if that's the right word) black's options. White eventually gets the Queen. Far easier said than done. Marvellous puzzle. Keep em coming!!!

When I saw the puzzle, my immediate thought is to use my King to help to trade Bishops.

Bishop to b7 works just as well at the end doesn't it?

4:16 “The only winning move is Ke3” but I beat the engine with Ke4. I was able to get (and keep) my queen on move 39. Here’s how it went: 1. c6 Kc3 2. c7 Ba6 3. Ke4 Kb4 4. Be2 Bb7+ 5. Kd4 Bc8 6. Kd5 Bh3 7. Kc6 Ka5 8. Kb7 Be6 and I figured I pretty much had it after that (which proved to be correct). So, I got my queen on move 39, but once I realized what I had to do, I was able to play it again and get my queen on move 17.

This and a few other of the other presented puzzles show how being ahead 2 pawns by doubled pawns is not "basically 1 pawn ahead." The addition of a white pawn on c3 would make the endgame trivial.

12:00 why not bishop to b7? Edit: Reading the comments, I see I’m not the only one asking this, hehe.

This study is a masterpiece. So deep.

This puzzle is divided into three key phases: 1) How fast should white push the pawn? Answer is, as you explained, white has to get the pawn to c7 as fast as possible (immediately) to limit the bishops blocking possibilities. If let's say the bishop can block the pawn at c6 (1. Any other move other than c6) the bishop has tons of possibilities to stay on the key diagonals. By pushing the pawn as fast as possible (1. c6, 2. c7) white also ties the bishop to stop the pawn immediately, leaving white's bishop and king to box out black's king. Also crucial is that if white pushes to c6 but doesn't follow up with 2. c7, black's king has time to move which gives enough time for the king to cooperate with the bishop, which would make it 2 vs 2 for that square and a draw. 2) King moves: As explained perfectly by one of the comments already written, it's basically a zugzwang - the key is that white wants to have their bishop dominating the a6-g1 diagonal to stop black's king from ever reaching a7. that's why opposition is key! White opposes the king from ever stepping in the feasible dark squares (not opposing the king would give black vertical opposition, which black would use to their favor, dictating white king's movement into allowing it into key dark squares as the bishops have a waste off) and then finally, as white pins black's king, once it reaches b4, be2 proves crucial as it blocks both Kb5 and Ka6, which allows the white king to sneak into b8 and control the a7 square, which means that it is white's king that dominates the a6-c8 short diagonal, which white will force the bishop into in the next phase. 3) Forcing black's bishop into the short diagonal - this part is less key, there's loads of ways to do it and the key is again to keep the zugzwang idea in the back of the mind - sometimes moving to a certain square doesn't matter much, it's all about them diagonals :)

At 6:32 I think be2 is played to stop the king from moving up as it not only blocks the b5 square but attacks the bishop forcing a reaction out of black and preventing kc5 or ka5

I would have thought white bishop to b7, so they either take and lose their bishop, or the white space is free. With the bishop to e2, I think you have to do it to keep the black king from moving to b5 and having to go to the a row.

At the very end, I finally understand all the manouvering. It is indeed a stalemate because black will just keep moving the bishop away, and it is that why you have to attack it in a very specific way. At many times I was like, just put the king on D8 first, then our bishop on C8, and the next move we can move it out of the way to promote to a queen and if they take our bishop, then we just take back. But black is not going to do that. They'll keep moving the bishop in and out and using tempo to ensure that its not being captured to force a stalemate.

You should try to collab with some GMs and have them explain positions like this.

What an instructive puzzle. Fine end game study it’s pretty deep.

4:31, 5:32 the reason these exact moves are winning ones is cause e3 field is the only one where king guards e2 and f3 for bishop to keep both of diagonals 'safely attacked'. The idea is not the opposition of kings, i guess. Moreover, this is the reason why we didnt move king far from e3 earlier, we pushed the pawn instead to force black bishop into top left corner with just 3 reasonable options left. Great puzzle!

I think the somewhat odd king and bishop moves at the beginning of the puzzle are all about the fact that the white king needs to be able to infiltrate to b8 rather than d8. In the lines that are a draw (e.g. at 6:04) the black king has prevented the white king from getting to b8. Having the white king on b8 eliminates any waiting moves that the black bishop would otherwise have had on the a6-c8 diagonal.

at 3:15 Black could play Bh3 and white does not have a good way to stop the bishop from controlling c8. The puzzle involves finding a way to get the king to b8. The king on d8 will not be able to stop the bishop from controlling c8. I can explain about bishop endgames with one side having a pawn on the 7th rank. With a bishop pawn, the king has to be in a certain position to win. A knight pawn is winning if the king is defending the pawn. If it helps, I can make a video explaining this.

The whole purpose of moves like Ke3(Protecting e2) and Be2 was to get control of the diagonal, so when the King gets boxed in he cant go up

I thought I recognised the position and yes, this exact position is on my book "Laeufer und Springer endspiele" by Juri Awerbach (German translation) on page 99 (diagram 180). The book is dedicated only about endgames with bishop and or knight and some pawns. Not 1... Ba6 because of 2.Ke4! Kc3 3.Kd5 Kb4 4. Bg4! Ka5 5. Kc5! Bb5 6.c7 Ba6 7.Kc6 At 2:47 2.Ke4?? is an immediate draw after 2...Bg2+ ... Bxc6

3:24 If you move your king to e4 the bishop can go to g2 with check and then get the pawn

11:43 can we also go Bb2? It also cuts off the bishop from that diagonal (which was not possible before since the king would defend black's bishop if they took on b2). If black moves away, queen. If they don't, trade the bishops and get a queen later.

At 3:23 moving the white Ke4 allows the black bishop to cover the c8 square via h3. Moving the pawn first forces black to cover the c8 by moving the black bishop to a6. I will also add that white's aim is not to get the king to the pawn but to get to black's bishop. So the king and the bishop need to manoeuvred around to push the black king to the left and stop it from protecting the bishop.

I would call that an "endgame study" instead of a puzzle.

this is a good illustration of why there will never be a mathematical way to calculate chess moves. Future positions are essentially chaotic with all manner of "butterfly effects", that can only be consistently solved by exhaustive search. Only the most basic combinations (like king vs king and rook) can be proven in advance.

10:55 Be2 - Bb7 Bb5 - Kb5 Kb7 and win for white.(similar idea like in 14:00)

Why didn't the black bishop go to e2 next to the black king on d2. That way the white bishop on h5 could be taken as the white king would need to be moved. The game then ends in a draw.

3:30 if you move Ke4, black can also go Bg2, skewering the king, take the pawn and it's a draw

Nelson, this is a variation on an old Centorini puzzle ( 1856 ) with the white king on c8, the bishop on d8 and a pawn on b7 , the black king on c6 nd the black bishop on h2

12:26 I saw Bb7, giving better result because on the next move, either it will be a queen vs king or queen and bishop vs bishop, while Be2 makes the endgame as queen vs bishop. Or so I think. Can you tell me if it's a bad move and why, please? Thanks by advance.

Very interesting puzzle! At the end, the black's bishop was forced to moved out from a6 because it was controlling b7, & c8 square which white's pawn couldn't pass through!

7:54 bishop f1 stops king to b5 which if black had their king on b5, it would allow the black king to gain a drawn opposition.

Blimey……well done John Crum. And he created this without an engine.

An interesting thing about bishops and knight. Normaly it is a draw (king and bishop vs king) and king and bishop vs king and bishop is a draw too by agreement but it is possible to checkmate if your opponent puts his king in corner and bishop beside the king (blocking his only escape square)!

4:19 The whole beginning of the puzzle is to prevent black king from getting C4 because if you do that, then you can box out the king that is the whole point behind the 2 pawn moves and ke3

2:57 can’t black do Bg2 skewering with an immediate draw?

4:35, the reason the king moves left orthogonally there is for the bishop to move to attack black's bishop.

At 2:55; 2:Ke4 is followed by ... BG2+ followed by Bxc6 Edit: never mind: BG2+ goes 3. Bf3 Bxf3 3. Kxf3 with a win.

Greetings. You haven't explained why at 11:42 after Black kc5 White bb7 isn't winning given if Black b captures White k recapture followed by pawn promotion to Queen regardless of where Black k moves.

I think that the main thing for why you have to do the move order in the beginning is because you need to be on the left side of the pawn in order to play against the bishop when it's on the left side of the pawn.

At 11:30 it also works if you move bishop to B2

6:01 That's a win for White if played correctly. Keeping opposition wins the game

@4:15 Ke3 because it protects your Bishop when you go Be2. If Ke4 then you can't get your Bishop to e2, so it doesn't get to that diagonal in time. @1:07 If Ke4 then I *think* black goes Bh3 and gets your Bishop out of the game. Not sure about that though.

2:57 I see... Bishop check, take the pawn when the king moves.

White is achieving 2 things: not being boxed out a partial diagonal with king and bishop that black king can't use, delaying it enough to create the opportunity to get to later positions. Pretty fascinating.

4:35 prevents the "option" to put white king in check, maybe?😮 3-4 steps ahead which changes momentum/tempo of White's pieces and ultimately draws/prevents the window to win?

You should run this through Stockfish, I'm not convinced by a lot of the draws either.

Second line had a cooler resolve imo. 😋

Wanted to mention Bb7, but everyone else already did... crazy position.

So White's plan was to sacrifice the White Bishop in such a way that it causes the Black Bishop to lose control of the C8 square?

The puzzle that hurt your brain. Looks like a simple endgame. 1. Kf4 ( to get the king to escort the pawn) 1... Ke4 ( 2. Bf3 ) 2. Ke5 and from here I think its just technique. Get the King to d8; play ring around the rosie with the bishops until black can no longer control the c8 squre then promote.

1:49 don't bissop to e2 work because it skewer the king and the bishop

2:56 you have to push the pawn. Ke4 doesn't work with the pawn on c6 due to the check skewer. Any other king move is a drawn endgame because the black king and bishop can block out the white king.

ke3 defends e2, you're threatening to put the bishop there and force the bishop to move

What I think I saw back with the early bishop en-prise offer is that not doing that allows the black king to get to the pawn by way of B5, B6. Other than that, like ravi12346 said, once the white king is in to b8 there's more than 1 way to win.

3:04 after the King push to e4, Bishop G2 check gets the pawn.

bishop b7 at the end would work all the same as bishop e2 right?

Couldn’t you also go Bb7 at 3:21? Blocking the bishop out, they can’t take or you take with king. If they move their bishop you promote. I believe that also works, correct me if I’m wrong.

I think the key move to win this puzzle is bring the king to b6 to invade to the b8 square, on that white can chase the black bishop away

I’m no master but it seems like Be2 at 6:18 serves the purpose of cutting off the king from a6 in later parts of the puzzle like at 7:55

1st move: c6, because you have to clear that square before the bishop can cover it. ...Kc3 2nd move: c7. Ke4 lets the black king stay on the same file and approach. ...Bh3 will cover the capture square and you can no longer block with Bg4 because the white is out of reach to defend the it. Therefore, playing c7 demands the black bishop decide h3 or a6 NOW, preventing Bh3 in the future. ... Ba6 3rd move: Ke3. Now and ONLY now that the black bishop is on the left side of the black king, does he has to worry about the skewer on ...Kc4 4. Be2!, which would leave him without a way to stop the promotion. ...Kd4 needs to be stopped or the black king will interpose between your king and the pawn and force the draw. So to stop that we need opposition. We don't, however, really need to 'race' to the pawn, we just need to block Kd4 with opposition. Ke4 would open up Kc4 (letting the black king stay on your pawn's file), after 3. Ke4 Bb7+! 4. Ke5 (the king notably can't take the opposition from the pawn's file because its being attacked from that diagonal), ...Kc4. Kc4 becomes an option again and black again can stay on the file with your pawn because Be2 is no longer a skewer once the black bishop is on b7. Letting him move there with tempo is bad. Ke3 is the only way to oppose ...Kd4 without inviting Bb7+ ... Kb4 4th move: Be2. Now, with the black king only 3 moves away from taking your pawn, he no longer cares about the skewer. He doesn't care about losing his bishop via 4. Kd4 Kb5 5.Be2+ Kb6 6. Bxb6 Kxc7. As shown 5. Kd5 or others are no better because the black king will successfully control his bishop's corner. Instead, the white king and bishop need to work together again to timely cover the squares the black king wants. 4. Be2 prevents ...Kb5 entirely. If ...Kc5 5. Bxa6 and the king is too slow to stop promotion. If ... Bxe2 5. Kxe2 and the king is too slow to stop the promotion. So the black bishop has to move again. This was a repeat of the last theme and principle of the puzzle: For black, keeping the opposition/staying on the file with your pawn is only valuable if he is not at risk of losing his bishop with no way of catching your pawn. Previously that mean leaving the file to avoid stepping into the Kc4 skewer. Now it means not returning to the file with Kc5 because of the attack on the bishop. ...Bb7 or Bc8 5th move: In either scenario, the key thing is the same as it always was: keeping the black king cut out of the action. Now, and only now, that both the b5 square is no longer passable for the black king, we need to cover c5 by taking opposition. We were only able to ignore this last move because the initiative brought by attacking his bishop. Black's king can't go forward because your bishop controls the white diagonal. You hold opposition so he can't 'cut across' the bishop's attack pattern. He can only climb towards the edge of the board. His bishop is tied to the defense of the promotion square on one diagonal, but can be attack along the other. After some shuffling, black must move his king to the edge of the board or otherwise invite white's king into controlling the b7 square, after which white can bring the bishop in there in such a way that black can't circle around to cover promotion fast enough.

The reason you couldn't move the king towards the pawn was it opened up the square to allow the opponent to skewer the pawn with the bishop and if you move the king to any other square, their king can hunt down the pawn while boxing your king out as it's too far away

4:17 push the pawn to promote and check the king

Why sacrifice your bishop if you can trade it? 11:50 in this position, B-b7 would work better

Keep Black's king out of A6, get White king onto A7/B8 and push the black bishop out of C8, out of C8 line of sight & Queen = win.

I've seen a lot of these on Chess-endgame-trainer. Especially on the C file. Each time untill the promotion there is only one move otherwise stockfish can find a draw. And the engine says it takes about 45-46 moves.

2:54 the reason it doesn't work to do any other move is that it will allow for black Bxh3 without king cover for block

Sign me up for the second channel. As for the position I was expecting it. You are amazing at the puzzle explanations.

Instead of Bf3 , I can’t see why Be2 doesn’t work . Black is forced to play Bb7 and then White can play Bf1 . After Kc6 , Bg2 + wins .

The point of Be2 is because you are trying to trade off the bishops, which is not going to happen but also taking the b5 square from the king WITH TEMPO so then after the bishop moves then play King d4, keeping the black king away from the pawn

3:09 there's Ba6 And the original idea to stop that is Bg4 and run the king to b7 but the king is blocking you from going to b7!

Bro im so good at puzzles like this but in the real chess game i have pressure and dont know what to do

Very cool puzzle!

Flu must have caused brain fog since Bb7 in the final position is not hard to see at all - Furthermore, this is more a theoretical same-color Bishop + Pawn vs Bishop ending than a puzzle - There was a famous Fischer vs Keres game where a young Bobby demonstrated the winning technique in this endgame quite impressively.

Zugzwang is always a strong weapon

Not the new channel in the description being removed for youtube TOS 😭💀 def remake it, seems cool 👍

You should take a break if your brain hurts from a simple box the enemy king out puzzle and maybe after 30 minutes it will finally click, seeing the solution and trying to work backwards to see how it wins will only make it more complicated as all the moves have their purpose and its just generally a good idea to box out the enemy king on the endgame.