One player has a light bishop; the other has a dark bishop.
Why it matters
When the bishops travel on different colours they can never meet, and neither can defend against the other. That makes these endgames the most drawish in chess: two extra pawns are often not enough.
The reason is the blockade. One bishop can hold a whole group of pawns if it stands on a square of its own colour in front of them, and the enemy bishop can do nothing about it.
See it on a board
Two extra pawns and no way through: the black bishop covers b6 and d6 from one square, and White's light-squared bishop can never attack it.
Checked: the position really has the feature described.
How to play it
- As the defender, blockade the pawns on squares of your bishop's colour, and put your king in front of the rest.
- As the attacker, do not trade into this endgame without a real reason — passed pawns on both wings, or a target the bishop cannot cover.
- Attack on both sides of the board. One bishop and one king cannot hold two separated fronts.
At each level
The same idea, said the way it is taught at each age.
Knight · ages 4–6
If the bishops are on different colours, a single bishop can stop several pawns. Blockade on your own colour and the position usually holds.
Queen · ages 8–11
With other pieces still on, opposite bishops favour the attacker instead, because the extra bishop is effectively an extra attacker on one colour. The drawishness only applies to pure bishop endgames.
What goes wrong
- Trading into opposite bishops while a pawn up and expecting to win.
- As the defender, blockading on the wrong colour, where the bishop can be driven away by the king.
Questions people ask
- How many pawns do I need to win with opposite bishops?
- Usually two connected passed pawns far apart, or three, and even then it depends on whether the defending bishop can cover both. Many two-pawn endgames are dead drawn.