Bishops of the same colour

Often we encounter beautiful technical endgames of opposite bishops. However interesting endgames with bishops of the same colour are much rarer. That doesn't sound abnormal to me as the bishops of the same colour fight eventually for the control of the same squares which implies an exchange happens more quickly. Often such endgame is rather easy to play correctly. It is no surprise that chessplayers often don't feel the danger in the exceptional cases.

I will show a few of those unique endgames in this article which at the same time proof people very regularly play too superficially endgames while instead accurate calculations are necessary. I start with an endgame from my practice of 2001 against the Frenchmen Guillaumat.

[Event "Open Val Thorens 3de ronde"] [Date "2001"] [White "Brabo"] [Black "Guillomat, J."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B41"] [WhiteElo "2232"] [BlackElo "2043"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "8/1p2kpp1/2p2b1p/1nP1p3/2B1P3/2K1BP2/6PP/8 w - - 0 34"] [PlyCount "79"] 34. Bxb5 cxb5 35. Kb4 Kd7 36. Kxb5 Bd8 37. Bd2 Bc7 38. Bc3 g6 39. Bd2 h5 40. g4 Bd8 41. Bc3 Bc7 42. Be1 Bd8 43. Bd2 Bc7 44. Bc3 $5 {(Very interesting is g5 and black suffers but I was not able to find anything decisive.)} (44. g5 Bd8 45. h4 Bc7 46. Bc3 Ke6 47. Ba5 Kd7 48. Bb6 Bb8 $1 49. Kb4 Ke7 $1 50. Ba5 Kd7 $1 51. Kc4 Ke7 $1 52. Kd5 f6 $1 53. gxf6 Kxf6 54. Bd8 Kf7 55. Bg5 Bc7 {(Again all my engines show a clear advantage for white but black is still in time to defend so with correct play the position remains drawn.)}) 44... f6 45. Bd2 Bd8 46. Be1 Bc7 47. Bc3 h4 $5 {(In my original superficial analysis I believed this was the decisive mistake but that is not correct. Anyway hxg4 was more simple.)} (47... hxg4 $1 48. fxg4 g5 $11 {(And it is pretty clear that white runs out of options.)}) 48. g5 $1 fxg5 $1 {(The only move to seek the draw.)} (48... f5 49. h3 $1 fxe4 (49... Bd8 50. exf5 gxf5 51. g6 Ke6 (51... Bf6 52. Kb6 Ke6 53. Kxb7 $18) 52. Bxe5 $18) (49... f4 50. Be1 Bd8 51. Bxh4 Kc7 52. Be1 Bxg5 53. Ba5 Kd7 54. Bc3 Bf6 55. Kb6 Kc8 56. c6 bxc6 57. Kxc6 $18) 50. fxe4 Bd8 51. Bd2 $1 Ke6 52. Be1 Bxg5 53. Kb6 Be7 54. Bf2 g5 55. Kxb7 Bxc5 56. Bxc5 g4 57. hxg4 h3 58. Bg1 Kf6 59. Kc6 Kg5 60. Kd5 Kxg4 61. Bh2 Kf3 62. Kxe5 $18) 49. h3 Ke6 50. Bd2 Bd8 51. Ba5 Be7 $1 {(Again the only move as after the exchange on a5, there remains a lost pawn-endgame for black.)} (51... Bxa5 52. Kxa5 Kd7 53. Kb6 Kc8 54. c6 bxc6 55. Kxc6 $18) 52. Bc7 Kf6 $2 {(The fatal error. Black probably missed my 54th move with the idea of Ba7. After Kd7 white wins an important pawn but I could not find any winning path for white.)} (52... Kd7 $1 53. Bxe5 Ke6 {(White can not win the b-pawn with Bc7 - Kb6 as black can counter with Kd7 - Bxc5. Black neither can be put into zugzwang so I do not see any win for white.) }) 53. Kb6 Ke6 54. Bb8 $1 {(I also looked at Bd6 during the game but correctly noticed this is not good.)} (54. Bd6 $4 {(This does not work.)} Bxd6 55. cxd6 Kxd6 56. Kxb7 Kc5 57. Kc7 Kd4 58. Kd6 g4 $3 59. fxg4 g5 $19) 54... g4 {(Black tries to complicate matters as waiting is for sure hopeless.)} (54... Bf8 55. Ba7 $18) 55. fxg4 Kd7 56. Bxe5 Kc8 57. c6 {(Much easier is Bd6 but the game-continuation is also beautiful.)} (57. Bd6 $1 Bd8 58. Ka7 Bc7 (58... Ba5 59. e5 Be1 60. e6 $18) 59. e5 Bxd6 60. cxd6 b5 61. Kb6 b4 62. Kc6 b3 63. d7 Kd8 64. Kd6 b2 65. e6 b1=Q 66. e7#) 57... bxc6 58. Kxc6 Kd8 59. Kd5 Kd7 60. Bf4 Bf6 {(The bishop must stay on this diagonal to prevent Ke5. Bd8 is also interesting with a study-like win for white.)} (60... Bd8 61. e5 Ba5 62. Be3 Bd8 63. e6 Ke8 64. Ke5 Be7 65. Bh6 Kd8 66. Bg7 Kc7 67. Bf6 Bd6 68. Kd5 Bg3 69. Be7 Be1 70. Bc5 Kd8 71. Ke5 Bc3 72. Bd4 Be1 73. Kf6 $18 {(I admit that with only 10 minutes on the clock remaining this is not easy to find.)}) 61. e5 Be7 62. Be3 Bd8 63. Bc5 Bg5 64. e6 Ke8 65. Ke5 Bd8 {(The alternative Kd8 is more stubborn especially as I had little time left to find the win.)} (65... Kd8 66. e7 $1 Kd7 67. Bb4 $1 Ke8 68. Ke6 Bf4 69. Kf6 g5 70. Bc3 Be3 71. Kg6 Kxe7 72. Bf6 Kf8 73. Bxg5 Bf2 74. Kh7 Kf7 75. Bh6 Bd4 76. g5 Ke6 77. g6 Kf5 78. Bg7 Bc5 79. Bc3 Bf8 80. Bd2 Ke4 81. Bh6 $18) 66. e7 Bxe7 67. Bxe7 Kxe7 68. g5 {(Black is in a fatal zugzwang.)} Kf7 69. Kd6 Kf8 70. Ke6 Kg7 71. Ke7 Kg8 72. Kf6 Kh7 73. Kf7 {(The pawns drop so black resigned.)} 1-0

Afterwards being very satisfied about my play, I presented the endgame at the tournament-organisation so they would consider it for the beauty-prize. That was too optimistic as I never heard any feedback. Beauty-prizes are almost exclusively given to attacking-games while technical endgames are much less appealing.

The second example is from my interclub-practice. I wasted a big advantage in the middle-game but I continued to play for a win in the endgame which my opponent couldn't appreciate at all.

[Event "Interclub Deurne - Borgerhout"] [Date "2008"] [White "Brabo"] [Black "Khalid, F."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B32"] [WhiteElo "2301"] [BlackElo "2199"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "8/5k2/p2pq2b/4p3/P1p1PpQp/BP3P1P/8/7K w - - 0 55"] [PlyCount "49"] 55. Qxe6 Kxe6 56. bxc4 Bf8 57. Kg2 Kd7 58. Kf2 Kc6 59. Ke2 Be7 60. Kd3 Bd8 61. Bb4 Bb6 62. Be1 Bd8 63. Bf2 Be7 64. c5 d5 65. exd5 Kxd5 66. c6 {(My opponent was insulted by my stubbornness to continue playing but undeserved. Here I missed a good try to create complications with Be1.)} (66. Be1 $1 Bg5 67. c6 Kxc6 68. Ke4 Kd6 69. Bc3 Bf6 70. Kf5 Bh8 71. Be1 Kc5 72. Bxh4 Kb4 73. Bd8 Kxa4 74. h4 Kb4 75. h5 a5 76. h6 a4 77. Be7 Kb3 78. Bf6 Bxf6 79. Kxf6 a3 80. h7 a2 81. h8=Q a1=Q 82. Qb8 Kc4 83. Qxe5 Qa8 84. Qxf4 {(The tablebases show a draw but in practice this is very tricky.)}) 66... Kxc6 67. Ke4 Kd6 68. Ba7 Ke6 69. Bb8 Bd6 70. Ba7 Bb4 71. Bf2 Be7 72. Be1 Bd8 73. Bc3 Bc7 74. Be1 Bd8 75. Bc3 Bf6 76. Bb4 Bg7 77. Be1 Bf6 78. Bb4 Bd8 79. Bc3 1/2-1/2

My opponent was convinced it was already several dozens of moves a dead-draw but my analysis show much was hidden under the surface.

It isn't seldom that only the analysis reveal the hidden possibilities. Recently I was very amused by analyzing the extraordinary bishop-endgame which could've appeared in my game against Christophe Gregoir (a fragment already popped up in the article password).

[Event "Interclub KGSRL - Deurne"] [Date "2015"] [White "Gregoir, C."] [Black "Brabo"] [Result "*"] [ECO "A90"] [WhiteElo "2250"] [BlackElo "2330"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "5r2/7p/1pb5/p3kpp1/P1P1p3/1P2P1P1/3RK2P/5B2 w - - 0 36"] [PlyCount "48"] 36. Ke1 $5 {(White can only wait. Rd1 was played by my opponent but Ke1 is more accurate.)} (36. Rd1 $6 {(The win is also very difficult after Bg2 or Kf2.)} Rg8 $6 {(With only a few minutes left on the clock, I did not dare to steer into complications with f4.)} (36... f4 $1 37. exf4 {(Maybe best is Bh3 but also after fxe3 the endgame is very bad.)} gxf4 38. gxf4 Rxf4 39. Bg2 Rh4 40. h3 Rh6 41. Rd8 {(I had calculated till here in the game and wrongly evaluated this as too dangerous with the infiltrated rook.)} Rg6 42. Kf1 {(Kf2 fails due to e3.)} Rg3 $19) 37. Rd2 Rf8 38. Rd1 $6 { (A draw-proposal which I accepted too quickly. I understand my decision not to risk anything with f4 without serious study of the position but I could have played some waiting moves like Rc8 just to reach the timecontrol at move 40 and get an extra hour on my clock.)}) 36... f4 37. Rf2 $5 f3 $1 38. Rd2 Rf6 $1 {(You need to help the computer a bit as otherwise it is a draw. Black should not play g4 as that square is later needed for the bishop.)} 39. Bh3 Rd6 $1 {(Not h5 as after Bc8 the win is again far away.)} 40. Rxd6 Kxd6 {(The endgame of bishops from the same colour is absolutely not trivial.)} 41. Bf5 h6 42. h3 Kc5 43. Kf2 Kb4 44. Be6 g4 {(With the bishop on f1 this was bad but now matters are different. The king must keep an eye at the f-pawn. Black must be patient as immediately Kxb3 is only a draw. Besides g4 is not the only win in the position.)} (44... Kxb3 $4 45. Bd5 Kxa4 (45... Bd7 $4 46. c5 Kxa4 47. cxb6 $18) 46. Bxc6 Kb4 47. Bxe4 a4 48. Bd5 (48. Bb1 Kb3 (48... Kxc4 49. Ba2 Kc3 50. e4 Kd4 51. Kxf3 $11) 49. e4 Kb2 50. c5 bxc5 51. Bd3 Kc3 52. Bb1 Kb2 53. Bd3 $11) 48... a3 49. c5 bxc5 50. Ba2 Kc3 (50... c4 $4 51. Kxf3 $18) 51. e4 Kb2 52. Bf7 a2 53. Bxa2 Kxa2 54. e5 c4 55. e6 c3 56. e7 c2 57. e8=Q c1=Q $11) 45. hxg4 {(The variation with H4 explains what happens if white does not capture the pawn.) } (45. h4 $2 Kxb3 46. Bd5 Kxa4 47. Bxc6 Kb4 48. Bxe4 a4 49. Bd5 $5 (49. Bb1 $5 Kxc4 50. Ba2 Kc3 51. e4 Kd4 $19) 49... a3 50. c5 bxc5 51. Ba2 c4 $19) 45... Bb7 {(Black must again wait with Kxb3.)} (45... Kxb3 $4 46. Bd5 Kxa4 47. Bxc6 Kb4 48. Bxe4 a4 49. Bd5 $5 (49. Bb1 $5 Kb3 (49... Kxc4 50. Ba2 Kc3 51. e4 Kd4 52. Kxf3 $16) 50. e4 a3 51. e5 Kb2 52. e6 Kxb1 53. e7 a2 54. e8=Q a1=Q $14) 49... a3 50. c5 bxc5 51. Ba2 Kc3 $1 (51... c4 $2 52. Kxf3 $18) 52. e4 Kb2 53. Bf7 a2 54. Bxa2 Kxa2 55. e5 c4 56. e6 c3 57. e7 c2 58. e8=Q c1=Q $14) 46. Ke1 Ba6 {(Kxb3 is answered again by Bd5 but after this exact move it becomes a real threat.)} 47. Bd5 (47. Kf2 $2 Kxb3 48. c5 Kxa4 49. c6 (49. cxb6 Bb7 $19) 49... Kb4 50. c7 a4 51. c8=Q Bxc8 52. Bxc8 a3 53. Be6 Kc3 $19) 47... Bc8 { (Now the concept of blacks previous moves is revealed.)} (47... Kxb3 48. c5 Kxa4 49. cxb6 $18 {(Black can not play Bb7.)}) 48. Kf2 Bxg4 49. Bf7 Bd7 {(The square g4 is free. Now white still must maneuver the bishop to d1)} 50. Bd5 {(White again eliminates Kxb3.)} (50. Ke1 Kxb3 51. c5 Kxa4 $4 ( 51... Kb4 52. cxb6 Bc6 53. Be8 Kc5 $19) 52. cxb6 Bc6 53. Be8 Kb5 54. b7 $18) 50... Kc3 51. Ke1 {(White is in zugzwang.)} (51. Bf7 Kxb3 52. c5 Kb4 (52... Kxa4 $4 53. cxb6 Bc6 54. Be8 Kb5 55. b7 $18) 53. cxb6 Bc6 54. Be8 Kc5 $19) 51... f2 52. Kxf2 Bf5 53. Ke2 Bg4 54. Kf2 Bf3 55. Ke1 Kd3 56. Kf2 Bg4 {(Not too fast as it is not too late to let the win escape. Black again uses zugzwang as weapon.)} (56... Bd1 $4 57. b4 axb4 58. c5 bxc5 59. a5 b3 60. a6 b2 61. a7 b1=Q 62. Bxe4 Kxe4 63. a8=Q Kd3 64. Qd5 $11) 57. Bc6 (57. Bf7 Bd1 58. b4 axb4 59. c5 bxc5 60. a5 Ba4 $19) (57. Bb7 Bd1 58. b4 axb4 59. c5 b3 $19) 57... Bd1 58. b4 axb4 59. c5 Bxa4 $19 *

I am well aware about long analysis, wrong analysis but I challenge the reader to refute above analysis. In any case I admit never would I discover the lines without a strong computer. The one finding this at the board with a ticking clock, must be an absolute endgame-magician. The task appears to me completely impossible if you have to play solely on an increment of 30 seconds per move.

Now even in much simpler positions happen already serious blunders. In the chapter of bishops of the same colour in Dvoretsky's endgame manual there are some nice examples of tragic-comedies.

[Event "USSR"] [Date "1989"] [White "Savchenko"] [Black "Krivonosov"] [Result "0-1"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "8/8/2k2B2/8/8/p1P5/4K2b/8 b - - 0 0"] [PlyCount "5"] 1... Be5 $4 {(Kd7, Kd6, Kd5 and a2 are winning but not this interference.)} 2. Bxe5 Kd5 3. Bg7 $4 {(Time-trouble? I could not find the game in the databases to extract some additional information.)} (3. Kd3 a2 $4 (3... Kxe5 4. Kc2 $11) 4. Bd4 a1=Q 5. c4 $18) 3... Kc4 0-1

Both players were maybe confused by the famous endgame-composition of Heuacker in 1930.

Each of above examples are unique so I admit very little or nothing of the analysis will be reusable in the future. Regarding reusable knowledge I also want again to criticize Chessbase. Chessbase regularly badly informs their readers (as mentioned before in my article desinformation by chessbase). In the advertisement for the endgame turbo is stated that this new product is a necessity to train. Nonsense of course as not only the diversity in the endgame-positions is too large but also in many solutions there is no logic to detect. Above there is also the price of the product. There are free alternatives: Knowledge4IT or Finalgen. The last one can handle even more than the 6 pieces of the endgame turbo. Besides why would you spend 60 euro for tablebases till maximally 6 pieces while there exists a rather cheap alternative for tablebases till maximally 7 pieces on chessok.

If you want to become a better player then you better buy a good book of endgames instead of analyzing unique endgames or buying tablebases. However today becoming a stronger player is no priority for me. On the other hand enjoying a rich endgame by spending time at researching small details is something which I don't want to miss.

Brabo