Opposite-coloured bishops · For club players · 13 min read
Opposite-Coloured Bishops: Shirov's 47...Bh3 Checked by Stockfish
Topalov traded queens into an opposite-coloured bishops ending that looked drawn. Shirov won it with 47...Bh3. Stockfish 19 says the sacrifice was the only winning move, and the ending was lost before it.
- plan
- outpost
- Queening squares
- pawn chain or line of force
In short
- Opposite-coloured bishops (each side's bishop moves on a different colour of square) draw most pure endings, because the defender's bishop can block a passed pawn that the attacker's bishop cannot touch.
- The rule has limits. A pawn up is usually a draw, but a second front (two far-apart passed pawns, or a king that can walk in) beats a lone bishop.
- At Linares in 1998 Topalov, White, was two pawns down but level with the queens on. Trading queens on move 43 gave Black the ending Black wanted: Stockfish 19 puts White more than four pawns down after it.
- Even then the win was narrow. 47...Bh3 is the only move that wins, at about seven pawns on the engine's scale; every other bishop move stays within a pawn of level.
- To use the idea: keep the queens on when you are the one defending, count the fronts before you trade into a bishops ending, and look for the sacrifice that opens the king's road.
How we know what we say
- Verified From the record: Stockfish's numbers, the players' own notes or interviews, or a cited source.
- Inferred Read from the moves and the position: a reasoned reconstruction, not the player's words.
- Speculative A guess about mood, intent or practical motives: plausible, not proven.
Part 1The setting: Linares 1998 and a trade that looked safe
On 4 March 1998, in round 10 of the Linares tournament in Spain, Veselin Topalov (White) met Alexei Shirov (Black). Topalov would go on to become world champion; Shirov was a feared attacking player. Black chose the Grünfeld Defence, and the game was decided after 53 moves. [2][3] Verified
The game is remembered for one move, 47...Bh3, a bishop sacrifice that wins an ending with opposite-coloured bishops. Most accounts treat that move as the whole story. The numbers say the story begins five moves earlier, at move 42, and that the real subject is a rule of thumb: opposite-coloured bishops draw.
| Moves | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1 to 25 | Grünfeld Exchange. White builds a centre, Black attacks it, and White gets a large advantage. |
| 26 to 41 | A tactical sequence of exchanges. Black wins two pawns, yet White's queen keeps the position level. |
| 42 to 43 | White checks, then trades queens. Each move is a slip. |
| 44 to 53 | The ending: Black is two pawns up and finds 47...Bh3. |
Part 2The idea at a glance: when opposite-coloured bishops draw, and when they win
An opposite-coloured bishops ending is one where each side has one bishop and the two bishops move on different colours of square. Because neither bishop can ever attack or trade for the other, the defender's bishop can sit on a square that blocks a passed pawn and stay there for ever. That is why such endings are so often drawn even when one side is a pawn ahead, and sometimes even two.
The same fact explains why the defence fails sometimes. The defender's bishop covers only squares of its own colour. If the attacker has two passed pawns, or one passed pawn and a king that can break in, the bishop must guard squares of both colours, and it cannot.
- target
- pawn chain or line of force
- target
- outpost
- pawn chain or line of force
The same bishops, one more pawn. A single extra pawn is rarely enough; a second creates a second front that a lone bishop cannot cover.
Part 3The opening: a big centre that Black takes apart
Shirov's Grünfeld lets White build a strong pawn centre with 5.e4 and then attacks it with pieces. After 10...e5 White's d4 pawn is under pressure from the bishop on g7, and the exchanges that follow trade most of the centre away. For the strategy the opening matters in one way: by move 20 White's queenside pawns are scattered and Black's a-pawn is ready to advance, which is where the passed pawns of the ending will come from. Inferred
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bb5+ c6 8.Ba4 O-O 9.Ne2 Nd7 10.O-O e5 +0.22about equal
The opening as played, up to 10...e5: White has the centre, Black has the long diagonal and the pressure on d4. Verified
- target
- pawn chain or line of force
Part 4The plans: White to hold, Black to trade
After the tactical sequence of moves 26 to 41, the position is level: each side has a queen, a bishop of opposite colour and a few pawns. White has two kingside pawns (g2, h3) and Black has four (a5, c6, f6, g6). Stockfish scores it equal. The question is what each side wants.
- plan
- Black's king
- plan
- Black's pawns
One position, two plans. Black has more pawns and wants the board simplified. White has fewer and needs the queens as a source of counterplay.
The detail that matters is the pawn count: four pawns against two, yet level. The queens are White’s compensation, because Black’s king is exposed and checks are available. Trading them would give up that compensation. The choice to trade was the choice to bet on the rule of thumb. Inferred
Part 5The critical moments: a check, a trade, then a sacrifice
Critical moment 1 of 3 · Move 42, White to play
Check, or a quiet queen move?
- target
- key square
Black is two pawns up, but White’s queen and the bishop on h6 keep the position level. White can give a check or play a quiet queen move. Which choice keeps the queens from coming off on Black’s terms?
Think it through on the boardWeigh the candidates
| Move | Stockfish | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| 42.Qa3 42...Kf7 43.Bd2 | −0.03about equal | Stockfish’s choice: level, with the queens on and a check in hand. Verified |
| 42.Qa4 | −2.85Black winning | Worse than Qa3: about three pawns down for White. Verified |
| 42.Qd1 | −5.53Black completely winning | Passive: about five pawns down for White. Verified |
| 42.Qg1 | −3.73Black winning | Passive: about three and a half pawns down for White. Verified |
What Topalov played
42.Qa2+−1.90Black clearly better
White checks with 42.Qa2+. Black answers 42...Qd5, offering a queen trade. Declining costs White more than a pawn, and accepting is worse still.
Stockfish preferred 42.Qa3 (−0.06); the game move gave up about 1.8 pawns. Depth 31.
What it revealed
The check looks forcing, but the reply gains a tempo for a trade that Black wanted. The queen on a2 ends up facing Black’s queen on the same diagonal, and the check has achieved nothing.
What Stockfish adds The check gives away about two pawns by Stockfish’s count: level before the move, clearly worse after it.
- Verified Stockfish prefers the quiet 42.Qa3, which keeps the queens on and the position level. The check leaves White about two pawns worse.
- Inferred A check is forcing only if the opponent's reply improves nothing for the checker. Here the reply gains a tempo for a trade Black wanted.
Critical moment 2 of 3 · Move 43, White to play
Take the queen into the ending?
- key square
- target
Black’s queen offers a trade on d5. White can accept and go into a bishop ending two pawns short, or retreat and keep the queens. What does the pawn count say about each?
Think it through on the boardWeigh the candidates
| Move | Stockfish | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| 43.Qa3 43...c5 44.Qg3 Qc6 45.Qb3+ | −1.41Black clearly better | Stockfish’s choice: the queens stay on, and Black is clearly better but not winning at once. Verified |
| 43.Qb2 | −7.73Black completely winning | Much worse: about seven pawns down for White. Verified |
| 43.Qd2 | −6.75Black completely winning | Much worse: about seven pawns down for White. Verified |
| 43.Qf2 | −7.59Black completely winning | Much worse: about seven pawns down for White. Verified |
What Topalov played
43.Qxd5+−5.62Black completely winning
White takes on d5 with check, and 43...cxd5 follows. White now has a bishop and two pawns against a bishop and four.
Stockfish preferred 43.Qa3 (−1.69); the game move gave up about 3.9 pawns. Depth 27.
What it revealed
The trade gives Black exactly the ending Black wants. The rule of thumb says opposite-coloured bishops draw, but the rule assumes the pawns are roughly level and that the attacker has one front.
What Stockfish adds The trade turns a position about a pawn and a half worse into one more than four pawns worse.
- Verified Stockfish scores the queen retreat as better than the trade by more than four pawns.
- Speculative White may have hoped that the opposite-coloured bishops would hold two pawns down, as such endings often do when the defender's king can reach the pawns.
Part 6The turning point: 47...Bh3
By move 47 Black is two pawns ahead, but the position looks like the textbook draw: White’s king is on g1, the bishop is on c3 and Black’s king is not yet near the pawns. Stockfish finds that any ordinary bishop move leaves Black within about a pawn of level. Only the sacrifice changes the structure.
Critical moment 3 of 3 · Move 47, Black to play
A bishop for a pawn?
- target
- key square
Black is two pawns up in an opposite-coloured bishops ending, but White’s bishop and king can still defend. Black’s bishop on f5 can retreat along a diagonal or do something stranger. What is the idea behind giving it up?
Think it through on the boardWeigh the candidates
| Move | Stockfish | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| 47...Be4 | −0.95Black clearly better | Keeps an edge of about a pawn, no more. Verified |
| 47...Bd3 | −0.16about equal | Close to level; the win slips away. Verified |
| 47...Bg4 | −0.48Black slightly better | Under a pawn for Black; the win slips away. Verified |
| 47...Bb1 | −0.64Black slightly better | About two-thirds of a pawn: not enough to win. Verified |
What Shirov played
47...Bh3−7.32Black completely winning
47...Bh3. After 48.gxh3 Black's king walks to f5 and e4, and the pawns on d5 and a4 cannot both be stopped.
Stockfish's first choice too. Depth 39.
What it revealed
The sacrifice removes White's kingside pawn and opens the king's road to e4. With no bishop of its own, Black's king becomes the second front that opposite-coloured bishops cannot stop.
What Stockfish adds Stockfish gives about seven pawns after 47...Bh3 and under one pawn for every alternative.
- Verified Stockfish says 47...Bh3 is the only move that wins; every other bishop move leaves the game within about a pawn of level.
- Inferred The sacrifice works because the bishop's job, guarding g2 and the long diagonal, is less valuable than the king's walk.
47...Bh3 48.gxh3 Kf5 49.Kf2 Ke4 50.Bxf6 d4 51.Be7 Kd3 52.Bc5 Kc4 53.Be7 Kb3 −9.04Black completely winning
The finish: the king walks in, the d-pawn advances and the a-pawn makes the second threat. White resigns after 53...Kb3. Verified
- plan
- Queening squares
Part 7What could White have done?
By move 44 the ending was lost: Stockfish rates every bishop move for White as more than five pawns down. The saving ideas come earlier: keep the queens, with 42.Qa3 and, even after the check, 43.Qa3.
- plan
42.Qa3 Qe1+ 43.Kh2 Qb4 44.Qa2+ Kh7 45.Bd2 Qd6+ 46.Kg1 Be6 47.Qxa5 Bxh3 −0.06about equal
Stockfish’s defence, searched deep: White keeps the queens, uses the checks and takes the a-pawn, so the opposite-coloured bishops attack Black’s king rather than defend a pure ending. Verified
Part 8A fresh perspective: the trade, not the sacrifice, lost the game
Another fact the story leaves out: White did not have to be here at all. After 25...Nd5, Stockfish gives White an advantage of more than four pawns, and 26.Rf3 keeps it. The game continued 26.Bd2, after which the evaluation was zero. Verified
| Move | What changed |
|---|---|
| 26.Bd2 | From winning, about four and a half pawns up, to level. |
| 42.Qa2+ | From level to about two pawns worse. |
| 43.Qxd5+ | From about a pawn and a half worse to more than four pawns worse. |
| 47...Bh3 | From a game any ordinary move leaves near level, to about seven pawns up for Black. |
The lesson for a club player is not that the sacrifice is clever, though it is. It is that the sacrifice was only possible because the defender walked into a position with too many fronts. Inferred
Part 9How to use it in your own games
Before you go into an opposite-coloured bishops ending
- Count the pawn difference.One pawn is usually a draw. Two pawns are enough only if you can open a second front.
- Count the passed pawns and the distance between them.Two passed pawns three or more files apart need the defender’s king and bishop in two places at once.
- Find the king’s road.If your king can reach the pawns, the bishop alone cannot defend.
- Check the colour of the queening squares.A pawn that queens on the colour of the defender’s bishop will be stopped. Aim for the other colour.
- Look for the sacrifice.If giving a bishop for a pawn opens the king’s road, calculate it to the end.
- Keep the queens on when attacking; opposite-coloured bishops favour the attacker.
- Trade queens when defending only if pawns are level.
- Put the bishop where it covers both queening squares, if one square can do it.
- Bring the king to the centre early.
Your turnPractise it
Set each position up, decide your plan before you look, then play it out against Stockfish to see whether it holds.
White to play, two pawns down but level with the queens on. Give a check, or play a quiet queen move?
Hint
Which move keeps the queens on?
A good answer
Qa3, the quiet queen move, as in the defence line. The check 42.Qa2+ allows Black to trade queens on good terms.
White to play, with a large advantage after 25...Nd5. Find the move that keeps it; the game move gave it away.
Hint
Which piece joins the attack?
A good answer
Rf3, bringing the rook into the attack, as Stockfish suggests. The game move 26.Bd2 allowed exchanges that left the position level.
Black to play with an extra pawn and passed a- and d-pawns. Can Black force a win?
Hint
Where can White's king and bishop stand?
A good answer
Not by force. Stockfish scores this position level: one extra pawn is not enough with opposite-coloured bishops.
Black to play, two pawns up in an opposite-coloured bishops ending. Which move wins, and why do the others not?
Hint
What does the king need?
A good answer
Bh3, giving up the bishop so that the king can walk in. Every other bishop move leaves Black within about a pawn of level.
Part 10Takeaways
- One extra pawn rarely wins; two need a second front.
- A second front beats a lone bishop.
- The defender should keep the queens when behind.
- The loser’s decision comes before the winner’s brilliancy.
- Check the sacrifice with the king’s road in mind.
Questions readers ask
Are opposite-coloured bishops always a draw?
No. They draw most pure bishop endings, even a pawn or two down, but two far-apart passed pawns, or a king that can break in, win. Shirov’s 47...Bh3 against Topalov in 1998 is the classic example: ordinary moves would have kept the game near level.
How do you win an opposite-coloured bishops ending?
Create a second front: two passed pawns on different wings, or a king walk around the defender's bishop. Keep the pawns off the colour of the defender's bishop and bring the king in.
Why is 47...Bh3 so famous?
It sacrifices a bishop to open the road for the king and wins an ending that looks like a draw. Stockfish 19 confirms it is the only winning move; the other bishop moves leave the game within about a pawn of level.
Do opposite-coloured bishops favour the attacker in the middlegame?
Yes. With queens and rooks on, the attacker's bishop has no opposing bishop to trade and the defender cannot cover the squares of that colour near the king. That is why queens should stay on when attacking.
Should the defender trade queens in opposite-coloured bishops positions?
Only if the pawns are level or close. When two pawns down, the queens are the defender's counterplay, and White's decision to trade at move 43 against Shirov lost the game.
Sources and method
The game score was checked against two independent sources. Every position, line and candidate in this article was replayed for legality, and every engine number was produced by Stockfish 19 WASM Multithreaded for this article (depth 14 to 40, deepest at the critical moments), not copied from elsewhere. What the players thought is reconstructed from the moves, their published notes and later analysis; it is labelled as verified, inferred or speculative, and nothing is presented as a quotation unless a source is cited for it.
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Turn reading into skill
Strategy sticks when you use it. Practise real positions with Stockfish's verdict at once, or play the plans out from any diagram above.