“In order to improve your game, you must study the endgame before everything else, for whereas the endings can be studied and mastered by themselves, the middle game and the opening must be studied in relation to the endgame.” – José Raúl Capablanca
Owing to the flexibility of the knight’s leap and possibility of approaching the target by two different routes, it is advisable, as a rule, to wait for the knight’s reaction by playing a useful pawn move rather than show one’s intentions by moving the king immediately. This is a study by F. Prokop, 1925.
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The knight and the rook’s pawn also win relatively easily against two connected backward pawns. The ending of the game Gligoric – Marovic, Zagreb, 1965, bears it out. ← Basic EndingsBasic Endings →
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A most instructive draw denouement occurred in the game Tseshkovski – Bagirov, Lvov, 1978. Despite his pawns being blocked, White to play draws transposing into a position where the knight defends the pawn from the unfavourable front side! Salvation is possible thanks to the black king being momentarily too far away from the action […]
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Although in similar positions with pawns on the rook’s file Black may put up a strong resistance, White, as a rule, wins provided his king is near enough. ← Basic EndingsBasic Endings →
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← Basic EndingsBasic Endings →
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Among positions with pawns on the same file of great theoretical importance is the ending which arose in the 13th game of the match Zukertort – Blackburne, 1881. The evaluation of this position depends on who has the move. ← Basic EndingsBasic Endings →
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A true “Reti-like” study on the theme of the pawn defence from the rear was composed by the Russian Skril in 1979. At first sight it might appear that is impossible for White to win since the knight defends the pawn from the unfavourable front side and in addition to this the white king […]
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3. Knight and Pawn (s) vs. Pawn (s) When the stronger side in addition to the knight also has one or more pawns, the win against one or more pawns is usually quite simple. However, there are many exceptional cases where the weaker side may avoid defeat in a study-like manner. Considering the essentially […]
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The border-line to block the pawn in order to be able to execute mating attack, is pictured in the following diagram. The position is won provided the rook or central pawn has been stopped at least on the fourth rank; the c- or f-pawn must be stopped at the latest on the fifth, whilst b- […]
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3.2.4. Two Knights versus One Pawn Of special significance for the theory of endgame as well as indispensable for acquiring a high-level technique in converting minimal advantages, are endings of two knights against one pawn. In the introductory chapter on elementary endings with minimum mating material, we have seen that two knights cannot force a […]
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