Opposite-coloured bishops
Each side has one bishop, on opposite colours — famously drawish in the endgame, sharp in the middlegame.
When only bishops remain and they travel on different-coloured squares, they can never challenge or trade each other. In pure endgames this is strongly drawish: the defender blockades on the bishop's colour and even an extra pawn or two may not be enough.
In the middlegame the same imbalance is dynamite for the attacker — with queens and rooks on, the attacking bishop operates on squares the defender's bishop can never cover, so 'opposite bishops favour the attacker'.
Knowing when opposite bishops mean a fortress draw versus a lethal attack changes which endgames you head for and which you avoid.
Trading into an opposite-bishop endgame a pawn up and expecting to win, when the defender simply blockades on the right colour.
Related terms
See Opposite-coloured bishops in your own games
Play the engine, train tactics, and analyse your games — ChessRanger points out these patterns as they come up so the word turns into a skill. Free to start.
Start playing