Although the most unfavourable situation for the knight involves a position with a rook’s pawn on the seventh rank, the knight may set up a sufficiently resistant barricade and draw provided its king is not too far away. Owing to the specific geometry of the knight’s leap as well as the peculiarity of double attack, the black knight, in addition to directly controlling squares a6, b5, d5, e6 and e8, also indirectly deprives the enemy king of the squares d4 and d6. In order to get through a “crack” in the barricade and attack the knight White must “circle” a great deal. This great loss of time will allow Black to reach the safe key-square c7.
