First, let’s look at some basic rules for Bishop endings:

1) A King must be active. In general, the King must advance towards the center, and then depending on the situation, it should help its pawns to advance, or attack the opponent’s pawns.

2) Pawns belong on squares of the color opposite to your own Bishop’s color. For instance, if you have a light Bishop, you should put your pawns on dark squares.

The four rules work not only in Bishop endings, but in other endings as well.

3) “One fixes two.” When a pawn can hold two of the opponent’s pawns, it should do so in most cases.

4) Always advance your passed pawn first.

5) No pawn move should be played without a clear purpose.

6) Rule of two weaknesses: when possible, a player should create a second weakness in his opponent’s position. Such a weakness can be a weak square or weak pawn.

The following ending illustrates the above-mentioned rules. The great Estonian Paul Keres did not win the World Championship title, but he left us many wonderful games.

Vassily Smyslov – Paul Keres, Moscow 1951 

BLACK TO PLAY

First, let’s evaluate the situation on the board.

White has a few problems here. First, all of his queenside pawns present a perfect target for Black’s Bishop. Second, White has a weak pawn on e3. When a player has two weaknesses, the defense is very difficult, particularly when weaknesses are far from one another.

Paul Keres starts an immediate attack on his opponent’s pawns. As always in the endgame, one should create a plan before proceeding with any action. Black has a relatively simple plan here. First, he should attack his opponent’s queenside pawns, forcing Smyslov’s Bishop to retreat from f3. Second, he advances his King to e5, preparing a penetration into White’s position through e4-square.

1…Bb1 2.a3 a5!

Black prevents b3-b4, making the b3-pawn a permanent target. Also, White’s Bishop is now forced to assume a passive position on d1, making its further participation in the game very limited.

3.Bd1 Kg6

White’s Bishop is now tied up to b3-pawn, so Black now sets about making his King superior to his opponent’s.

4.Kg2 Kf5 5.Kf3 Ke5 6.a4

Perhaps 6.h4 was better here, but Smyslov decided to get rid of threats like …Bb1-d3 and …a5-a4. It makes little difference that now the a4-pawn also occupies a light square, since a loss of b3-pawn equals a loss of the game anyway.

6…g5!

Black follows a simple strategy. He advances his pawn on the dark square making h3-pawn vulnerable.

7.Ke2

In case of 7.h4, Black would play 7…Kf5, provoking g3-g4+. If 8.g4+, then 8... Ke5 9.hxg5 hxg5 and Black will later play …f6-f5, creating a passed pawn on the kingside. White will have to surrender the e4-square eventually.

7…Bf5! 8.g4

Unfortunately for White, this move is forced. If 8.h4, then 8…Bg4+ 9.Ke1 Bxd1 10.Kxd1 Ke4 11.Ke2 gxh4 12.gxh4 h5 and White is in zugzwang.

8…Bb1 9.Kf3 f5