Endgame Technique: Winning Opposite Colored Bishop Ending

Endgame Technique: Winning Opposite Colored Bishop Ending

Avatar of DanielGuel
| 15

What's up, guys and gals?

Ready for another quick and hopefully instructive post? Well, a few days ago, I played an internet blitz game and won (surprise! ). While I am not generally all that devout about those games, I thought this one, in particular, introduced an interesting concept. 

null

I have a few options. 39... Kxf5 seemed like the automatic reply, and I almost played that, and that move is probably fine as well. However, note that the situation is an opposite-colored Bishop ending, which are generally hard to win even if up a pawn or two. How do you maximize winning chances? Create more weaknesses for the opponent to deal with. The move I elected to play 39... Kxh5! gives my opponent two nuances to worry about: my passed b-pawn, and my passed h-pawn! 

I will note that 39... e5! was also a possibility, though either move is still consistent with the current theme in giving the opponent more tribulations to worry about. 

Let's look at the rest of the game:

I hope you enjoyed this short and sweet post. Feel free to leave a comment. 

This is Daniel Guel, signing off.

Link to the game: https://www.chess.com/live/game/2963824208

Hello to all, and welcome to my blog! Visit my profile for more info about myself!

 

(more description here coming soon)