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Occasionally, when the enemy king is boxed-in at the rim of the board, the knight may draw by perpetual check. A case in point is a study by A. Seleznev.
Continue ReadingOccasionally, when the enemy king is boxed-in at the rim of the board, the knight may draw by perpetual check. A case in point is a study by A. Seleznev.
Continue ReadingA similar, very instructive position also arose in the game Hug – Calvo, Palma de Mallorca, 1972. Black to move draws by forcing the enemy king into the open.
Continue ReadingWhite can save the game in a similar situation with less separated pawns despite the enemy king being very active. This position arose in the game Sidorov – Aleksandrovich (Riga, 1954).
Continue ReadingThe prospects of the knight against three isolated pawns are much slimmer. When the pawns are separated by at least three files and have the adequate king support, the knight is helpless.
Continue ReadingWhite to move draws since he has sufficient time to block in time the a-pawn by the knight allowing the king free hands to take on the less dangerous b- and c-pawns.
Continue ReadingCritical is also a position where only one of the three connected pawns has not reached the fifth rank. Although White has blocked the pawns, Black’s threat of deflecting the white king by advancing the a-pawn is quite serious.
Continue ReadingBlack to move draws as he manages to prevent the advance of the three pawns on to the fifth rank by means of the persistent checks and timely blockade.
Continue ReadingA critical case with connected pawns is shown in the following diagram. White to move wins; Black to move draws. When White has the move he wins since all three pawns can reach the fifth rank!
Continue Reading3.2.3. Knight versus Three Pawns Three pawns are more powerful than knight and generally win since knight is unable to achieve the absolute blockade. The knight may only draw against connected pawns or pawns very near each other provided it is strongly supported by the king. A typical case of a successful blockade is […]
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