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A cramped opposite color Bishop endgame

Chess Asked by Stefano on November 28, 2020

From "Modern Endgame Manual" by Mikhalchishin, the following position is analysed and determine to be a winning position for White.

Is Mikhalchishin’s analysis correct or does the defensive capabilities of modern engines make this a position a draw?

[Event "Russian Championship Higher League"]
[Date "2013.06.23"]
[White "Boris Grachev"]
[Black "Daniil Dubov"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D47"]
[WhiteElo "2683"]
[BlackElo "2638"]
[FEN "1b4k1/p4p1p/5p2/2P1pB2/8/8/P4PPP/5K2 w - - 0 33"]
[EventDate "2013.06.19"]

2 Answers

Being played by good players, it sure looks like a win for white but it will take some work.

In real life anything can happen especially depending on the clock situation. And it depends on how hard white wants to work to get that extra half point.

And in positions like this there could often be a hidden gotcha that is not obvious until more moves are played so it could be a draw.

Answered by fischmann on November 28, 2020

The analysis of this position seems quite reasonable based off an immediate glance of the board. Grachev has the advantageous position as he is first to move in this position which is essential for this end game play out. The c5 pawn is key to Grachevs success and without playing out the whole game immediately moving to defend it with the King is the most route to success. Dubov is incapable of promoting on the King side of the board and the double pawns do provide somewhat of a hinderance to Dubovs position.

This is effectively how the game rolled out to my understanding of it, Grachevs king charged at the c5 pawn, Dubovs and Grachevs Bishops began gobbling up pawns and White ultimately used the king to progress the queen side pawns on the A and C file to the point Dubov resigned.

In regards to the definitively analysing with modern engines. Using Komodo Dragon against itself for 10 games, in all 10 games White won. In this position, white is better in all key lines ranking from +3.53 (in the best line for White) to +1.4 in the worst line.

Answered by David Bateman on November 28, 2020

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