In this type of endgame, the wrong rook pawn is the one whose queening square is the opposite color as that on which the bishop resides. Many such positions are
drawn because of a
fortress if the defending king can get to the corner in front of the pawn. (See the diagram.) With the bishop not able to control the a8-square, the black king cannot be forced away from the corner, so the pawn will not be able to
promote. This is the basic type of position for most of these endgames.
Defending king in front of pawn In a
king and pawn versus king endgame with a rook pawn, the defending king only has to get in front of the pawn to draw the game. In contrast, in the endgame with a bishop and the wrong rook pawn, getting the defending king in front of the pawn will not necessarily draw. In this position from
Edmar Mednis, White wins if it is their move. :
1. Kg8 Kg5 :
2. Kg7 and the pawn promotes. Black to move draws by
1... Kh7! followed by
2... Kh8. The defending king must be in or near the corner to be sure of a draw.
Examples from games Goglidze versus Kasparian In this position from a 1929 game between Viktor Arsentievich Goglidze and
Genrikh Kasparian, Black uses the
tactic of offering the
sacrifice of his bishop for the pawn on the e- to leave White with the wrong rook pawn: :
1... Bg4+! and the game was drawn twelve moves later. The bishop will remain on the c8–h3 diagonal and sacrifice itself for the e-pawn if it advances to e6. (Note that 1...Bb3+ 2.Ke7 Bxf7 does not work because of 3.h6+!)
Fischer versus Taimanov In this game from the 1971
World Chess Championship Candidate's Match, the second game between
Bobby Fischer and
Mark Taimanov, Black could have drawn the game because of the wrong rook pawn. One way is: :
81... Nd3! :
82. h4 Nf4 Now White must dislodge or capture the knight in order to allow the pawn to safely advance, but doing so allows the black king into the corner: :
83. Kf5 Kd6! :
84. Kxf4 Ke7 = In the actual game, Black mistakenly moved his king further from the corner (81...Ke4) and lost because a knight has a hard time defending against rook pawns. The game continued 82.Bc8! Kf4 83.h4 Nf3 84.h5 Ng5 85.Bf5; see Zugzwang#Fischer vs. Taimanov, second match game for the game's conclusion. (Fischer went on to win the match 6–0 and advance to the next round, and subsequently became World Champion.)
Ķeņģis versus Kasparov Ten-year-old
Garry Kasparov thought that he was winning this game as Black against
Edvīns Ķeņģis, being two pawns ahead. Indeed, Black can win the white bishop (for two pawns), but then the game is a draw because of the wrong rook pawn. In the actual game, Black moved 48...Kh3 and the game was drawn after move 54. (No progress can be made with the bishops on opposite colors, see
opposite-colored bishop endgame.) In an alternative line, Black can win the white bishop: :
48... f4+ :
49. Bxf4 d2 :
50. Kxd2 Kxf4 but the position is drawn because the black rook pawn is on the wrong file for the bishop to help promote it.
Karpov versus Kasparov Garry Kasparov used sacrifices to leave
Anatoly Karpov with the wrong rook pawn to save the twentieth game of their
1985 World Championship, after a long endgame. In this position, Black sacrificed two pawns for one (the ones on f5 and g6 for the one on a4): :
82... Bb3! :
83. Be8 Ke7 :
84. Bxg6 Bxa4 :
85. Bxf5 Kf6 :
½–½ A
draw was agreed because the black bishop can stop the advance of the pawn on the f-file, sacrificing itself if necessary, leaving White with the wrong rook pawn (the one on the h-file). (Kasparov went on to win the match 13–11 and became World Champion for the first time.)
Korchnoi versus Karpov In this game from the
1978 World Championship between
Victor Korchnoi and Anatoly Karpov, White's pawn is the wrong rook pawn. White went on to the black b-pawn on move 107, but was unable to force the black king far enough away from the a8-square to get to a winning position. The game ended in an intentional
stalemate on move 124 (see Stalemate#Korchnoi versus Karpov for the final position). Some commentators thought that Korchnoi might have missed a win in this endgame, but Karpov defended well and White never had a theoretically won position. (However, Korchnoi did miss a win earlier in the game.) Black's pawn on b5 is actually a liability. If the black king is forced into a position where he cannot move, Black would have to move the pawn and White would win the game. Until the
sixth game of the
World Chess Championship 2021, this was the longest game of a world championship. (Karpov retained his title by a score of six wins to five.)
An exception In this position White wins because they are able to use zugzwang to force Black to allow the white pawn to capture the black b-pawn and thus reach the b-. :
1. Be3 Kb8 :
2. Bd4 Ka8 :
3. Kc8 and
checkmate occurs in two more moves. If Black did not have his rook pawn, he could draw by 3...b5. ==Opposite-colored bishops==