Thanks for the nice lesson. Let me add this for completion of the analysis of Tal game.

Tal needed to move his Rook away (below the 6th rank, without giving Zhidkov the time to move his King to h6. The only possible way is to do that while attacking the Bishop and forcing Z. to choose between saving his King or Bishop.

This would be possible if Wt managedto drive the Bishop below the 6th rank, then he can attack it and threaten checkmate simultaneously.

Zhidkov found a way to delay that a few moves by going to the 4th rank, with the idea that he can move theBishop and prevent the chckmate. And if Wt attacked the Bishop he would move his king to h6 defending it and fleeing the dnagerous corner. Alas now Bl Bishop stands on the fleeing square, so even if the King moves away, it will not be safe.

Now this leads us to ask: What if Z. refused to leave the top three ranks?

for example, if in place of 95.. Bf4 Black played 95.. Bg6 or 95.. Bd6, how would Tal proceed?

He would play Rc3 threatening checkmate, and when Bl moves King to h6, Wt. goes back Rc6 and takes the Bishop.

of course if Bishop goes to h file any time, then Wt would have similar way to capture the Bishopon that rank

Very nice entertaining and learning.-

Thanks for the Lesson, I now know a little more about endgames!

Nice, now I'd like to see Rook+Bishop versus 2 Bishops

Is a draw still possible if the bishop and king flee to the wrong corner? Are there any positions?

Thanks for the explanation, LikesForests. Much appreciated.

Malta, usually you can only force a win if your opponent flees to the wrong corner--specifically, a corner that is the same colour as his bishop. The winning method is demonstrated in Tal-Zhidkov. The weaker side has an easy draw if he flees to a corner that is not the same color as his bishop, as demonstrated in the second interactive diagram labelled correct defense.

The point I was making in the first diagram is that by centralizing, Neumann missed the simple draw and gave Losche practical chances. Further mistakes eventually led to his demise... Loesche did not have a forced win yet. I'll message you the full game score so you can compare his technique to your own.  :)

Dear LikesForests,

I am quite nonplussed by this endgame analysis. The first diagram, for instance, does not help me at all to understand how White obtained a win against Black. How was it done?

Recently I finished in a chess game precisely as shown in the first diagram. My opponent pursued a centralising strategy with his King, and I could not find a way to bottle him with my Rook and King, given that he still had his Bishop. So what is the secret to winning in the case? Please tell me how!