Barring blunders on the defending side is there a way to reliably force mate with king and rook against king and bishop? Ended up facing king and bishop and accepting a draw after my opponent kept using the bishop to keep my king out of the squares I needed him in.

It depends on the location of the pieces.

I strongly advise playing on even if you don`t know how to make progress you will most likely win accidentally unless you are psychologically resigned to not trying to win in the first place.

If the defending king makes it to a corner not covered by the bishop, the draw is simple, as there is nothing the rook can do. Barring an unusual condition, the draw is relatively easy.

Paul

Originally posted by National Master Dale
It depends on the location of the pieces.

I strongly advise playing on even if you don`t know how to make progress you will most likely win accidentally unless you are psychologically resigned to not trying to win in the first place.

I use a similar technique for winning a Queen versus a rook.

I have no idea what I`m doing but I just check randomly all over the place and don`t agree to a draw after a while I accidentally win his rook.

This technique might not be popular amongst Grandmasters but its very effective at coffee shops.

Cover your mates again... It'll solve the vision issue here. You'll notice that if the
defending king is not resigned to move his king in the K+R mate, you cannot deliver mate.

Unless the situation is aided by pawns or other pieces, and its not #2, or immediately
winning the Bishop as material - a draw is certain in correct play.


-GIN

Originally posted by National Master Dale
I use a similar technique for winning a Queen versus a rook.

I have no idea what I`m doing but I just check randomly all over the place and don`t agree to a draw after a while I accidentally win his rook.

This technique might not be popular amongst Grandmasters but its very effective at coffee shops.

Originally posted by Nowakowski
Cover your mates again... It'll solve the vision issue here. You'll notice that if the
defending king is not resigned to move his king in the K+R mate, you cannot deliver mate.

Unless the situation is aided by pawns or other pieces, and its not #2, or immediately
winning the Bishop as material - a draw is certain in correct play.


-GIN

I thought this would be of passing interest. In my database of 3.4 million games, there are 572 examples of pure rook vs bishop endings. 73% (414 games) were draws, with the other 27% (obviously) were decisive- I assume the guy with the rook won.

GM Ian Rogers calls it a draw- "easy, if the defending king runs to the correct corner.

He adds: "If the white king runs to a corner not covered by the bishop, there's nothing the rook can do. It is worth playing on with the rook, but only until your opponent's king is at the right corner."

Paul

I've had the bishop side four or five times in blitz and it's been a ridiculously easy draw... the one that is tough is KRB vs KR

Fine says :

"In the general case (pieces arbitrarily placed) this is a draw. It can be won by force only if the black king is in the 'wrong' corner or in the center with his opponent having the opposition."

BCE p. 459