The bishop supports a passed pawn splendidly: it controls the queening square and the squares beside it from a distance, and helps the king clear the path. The knight, meanwhile, struggles to chase the pawn and blockade it at the same time.
Here White has the king on c8, the bishop on f3 and a pawn on d7 on the brink of promotion; Black has the king on e7 and the knight on f7. White to move, and the position is won (per the tablebases): bishop and king escort the pawn home, and the knight cannot hold it.
The lesson: in bishop against knight, a passed pawn is the stronger side's decisive trump. The bishop's range is especially valuable when the game is about escorting a pawn.
Drag a piece onto the board, or click a piece and then click the squares. The cross beside the pieces sweeps every piece of that colour off the board, and a single piece can be dragged off the edge.
The pieces will be arranged into the chosen pattern.
It is the mating side to move. Find mate in one.
Openings, endgame positions and breakthrough studies - the set-up appears on the board.
It controls the queening square from a distance and covers the pawn's road, while the king pushes the blockading piece away.
The knight can plant itself directly in front of the pawn and stay there: only the king can dislodge it.
Squares of your own bishop's colour: there it is defended by a piece, and the knight cannot settle beside it.
Build your own position in the board editor, read up on the rules of chess or run a tournament on your own positions in the free app.
Pairings are computed by bbpPairings, an open-source engine implementing the Dutch system by FIDE rules: score groups, floats on an odd field, colour alternation. Free to use.
proper rounds with correct pairings, not random matchups
a full circle, with the round count derived from the field
a light format with no tournament machinery
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