Opposite-Colored Bishop Endings

There are many secrets in chess, knowledge of which distinguishes a chess virtuoso from an amateur. One of these secrets is the ability to play positions with opposite-colored bishops.

Why is it so important? The point is that the presence of opposite-colored bishops is not always a sign of an impending draw. Due to a number of factors, one of the bishops may turn out to be stronger than its opposite number. This can lead to a successful attack, material gains or obtaining some other advantages that contribute to winning the game.

Grandmaster Alexey Bezgodov and National Master Kevin Cotreau have written a book analyzing 175 positions with opposite-colored bishops as training material for advanced players who wish to deepen their endgame skills. Typical endgame theory, themes, tactics and strategy are all covered, which can in practice be applied to a wide range of endgames, and this will help strong improvers to grind out wins instead of draws, as well as to avoid losing in difficult positions. While this book focuses primarily on endgames, some of the opposite-colored bishop attacking positions in the final chapter begin in the middlegame. Most positions are taken from modern games, and they generally feature world champions and top grandmasters, including Carlsen, Anand, Kramnik, Kasparov, Karpov, Fischer, Tal, Korchnoi, Andersson, Shirov, Gelfand, Caruana, Nepomniachtchi, and others.

This new edition of Bezgodov’s classic textbook updates and significantly expands on his earlier work, taking account of the latest engine assessments while adding a total of 78 pages in new analysis and more detailed explanations to make the book accessible to less experienced players as well.