Questions tagged [knights]

Questions relating to the Knight

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(black) why the pawn H6 is not good move in this position?

(My turn[black]) I want to attack the g5 knight, so I up the pawn at H6, but the chess engine evaluate 3.4 to 1.3 my winning points. Instead engine recommended pawn D6, pawn D5, king H8 is better move....
sung980824's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
224 views

Official knight move rule definition

Not a trivial question: How would you define the knight move rule on a d-dimensional chessboard (say an 8 X 8 X ... X 8 board) by extending the official knight move rule that states how a knight moves ...
Marco Ripà's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
130 views

Timeout vs Insufficient Material

This is not a new topic but it did happen in my game at chess.com. I was playing white and played the only legal move h7 and was checkmated on the next move. My question is: What will happen if I just ...
Zuriel's user avatar
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11 votes
3 answers
3k views

Why exchange bishop for knight in this endgame?

In this position, Stockfish gives black (me) -8.1 and recommends BxN. 8/5p2/4pkpp/p1n5/Pp6/1Bb1PP2/2PNK2P/8 b - - 7 28 Instead I played Kf5 and the evaluation plummets to -2.1. My understanding was ...
Steve Bennett's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
122 views

King + 2 Knights vs King + Pawn - win rate at master level at standard time controls?

After 80 moves of his game against MVL, Carlsen reached this theoretically winning endgame position, which ended in a draw: [Title "Carlsen - MVL, Superbet Rapid & Blitz Poland, 2023"] [...
Brian Towers's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
92 views

When and why should I develop my knight to e2 or f3 in the English Opening?

I have heard that in English opening white should play d4 and Nf3, unless black plays Bc5. In this case white plays d3 and Ne2 in order to block the black bishop. However, that lesson seems to be ...
Максим Фисман's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
168 views

Is better to lose a knight or a bishop when taking a queen/rook

I don't completely understand how knights and bishops (according to chess.com) have the same "piece value." If I were to be taking a queen (or rook), should I give up my knight or bishop? So ...
Peter Winn's user avatar
11 votes
4 answers
3k views

Bishop and Knight exchange with opponent's Rook and pawn

Chess games statistics In Chess, Are there advantages or disadvantages of exchanging your Bishop + Knight with opponent's Rook and Pawn in middle game? Knight 3 points Bishop 3 points Vs Rook 5 points ...
Prashant Akerkar's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
72 views

Trading bishops [closed]

In many cases a bishop pair is stronger than a bishop and a knight or two knights. The question is, if both sides have already traded one of their bishops, losing the bishop pairs, should the other ...
CAN GÜLLÜ's user avatar
6 votes
3 answers
4k views

How many moves does it take a knight to move 1 square forward?

How many moves does it take a knight to move 1 square forward? For example, if I wanted to move a knight from e5 to e4 what is the minimum number of moves it would take?
danday74's user avatar
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5 votes
1 answer
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Are bishops and knights more powerful than rooks on an 8x8x8 board given these rules?

Let's say that on an 8x8x8 board rooks can move any number of spaces, only moving through one dimension at a time. Bishops move the same number of spaces in exactly 2 dimensions at a time. Knights ...
Anders Gustafson's user avatar
12 votes
3 answers
939 views

Are knights more powerful in Duck Chess?

In the chess variant Duck Chess (full rules), each player moves the shared blocking "duck" piece to any free square on their turn, taking away one or more moves for the opponent. One ...
SE - stop firing the good guys's user avatar
7 votes
1 answer
442 views

How to checkmate with king + two knights vs king + pawn

King + two knights vs a king is a book draw, as the knights cannot get the enemy king into a checkmating position (only a stalemating position), because of the inherent clumsy nature of the knight. ...
Crystal's user avatar
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5 votes
2 answers
549 views

The ultimate decision of the eternal bishop vs knight question

The following is...disturbing. [FEN "bbbbkbbb/bbbbbbbb/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1"] Black is about 15*3-38, say 10 units up (as Black will also grab a pawn and exchange on b2 or ...
Hauke Reddmann's user avatar
18 votes
14 answers
5k views

Is there an equivalent to “a knight on the rim is dim” in other languages?

When explaining chess to beginners, I often use the famous rhyme, “a knight on the rim is dim”. Is there any equivalent (rhyming) phrase in other languages? I will accept any answer which shows at ...
hb20007's user avatar
  • 1,072
7 votes
1 answer
991 views

Can the "bishop pair advantage" be supported by statistics?

I heard a lot about the advantage of having a bishop pair and I am interested in the statistics about this. More specifically, if we collect a huge number of games (master games only, or games ...
Zuriel's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
7k views

Why did Andrea Botez ask Magnus Carlsen “How does the knight move?” after a game in the 2021 World Chess Championship?

Andrea Botez asked world chess champion Magnus Carlsen “How does the knight move?” in a press conference after a game in the 2021 World Chess Championship. It seems like such an obvious question that ...
BCLC's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
154 views

Knight Moves Around the Board [duplicate]

It is well known that a lone knight can move all around the board covering each square once and only once. Is this possible when the lone knight starts only on certain squares ? How many unique ...
Autistic's user avatar
  • 409
2 votes
3 answers
386 views

Knights on c3 & f3, bishops on d3 & e3 - what is this called, and is it sound?

Sometimes when opening I fall into this odd rut of developing knights to C3 and F3, and bishops to D3 and E3. (Or, as black, C6, F6, D6 and E6). For instance, the position after 7.Be3: [FEN "&...
Steve Bennett's user avatar
20 votes
4 answers
4k views

How to move knights so that black moves first?

From move 0, what shortest-possible sequence of moves could be played so that the pieces are arranged exactly as standard board setup (with allowed swapping of same-color knights), but it is black's ...
theonlygusti's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
604 views

Why is Ne4 considered as an inaccuracy whereas it is one of very few moves which saves d3 pawn?

[FEN "r2q1rk1/1p3ppp/p4n2/2Pp4/1Pn5/P1Bp3P/3N2P1/R2QN2K b - - 4 21"] With Black to move Ne4 is not even in top 5 moves and engine says its an inaccuracy. I know it considers fastest winning ...
Shreyash Talpade's user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
678 views

I am trying to understand chess moves

Hi I am trying to learn chess, and when I review my moves, I just don't understand how Nd4 is a good move and how nh4 is a blunder. Thanks.
Sam's user avatar
  • 51
0 votes
0 answers
49 views

Is there a term for the position where two knights support one another? [duplicate]

Is there a term for the position where two knights support one another? I thought I might have seen such a term somewhere, but now I can't find it.
MathAdam's user avatar
  • 101
3 votes
4 answers
1k views

Non-Standard Knight Development

From its starting square, a knight has 3 legal moves: The “standard” one (c3, f3, c6, f6), the “weird” one (a3, h3, a6, h6) and the “other” one (d2, e2, d7, e7). In my games, I almost always do the ...
DongKy's user avatar
  • 1,193
5 votes
4 answers
432 views

Having knightmares, what to do?

I just hate when my opponent has the knights because most of my blunders happen due to them. I generally like endgames where my opponent doesn't have the knight. I also hate when the Knight enters my ...
bretlee's user avatar
  • 2,525
10 votes
2 answers
5k views

Maximum number of knights populating a chess board so that no knights are attacking one another

The 8 queen's puzzle is a well-known puzzle involving placing 8 queens on a chessboard so that no queen attacks another queen. It is more or less obvious that 8 is the maximum number of queens that ...
Scounged's user avatar
  • 7,988
-3 votes
1 answer
103 views

King and Three Knights v/s King in end game [duplicate]

Is it possible to checkmate with Three Knights and King v/s King in end game? If yes, is this possible within 50 moves? If no, Why?
Prashant Akerkar's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
54 views

Two Knights checkmate [duplicate]

Even though there are positions on the chess board with two knights checkmate by bringing the king in the corner, why it is not possible to checkmate the King? Is it difficult to bring the opponent ...
Prashant Akerkar's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
228 views

Bird's opening problems

I've played the reversed Leningrad Dutch for some time, and I have the problem that when I play Nd2, Black forks my rook and queen on f6->g4->e3. I never get to push my e-pawn before Black forks ...
user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
464 views

Rook+Knight Endgame-Play For Checkmate?

I found myself in this position as Black during a recent endgame situation with White to move. [FEN "8/7k/2R4p/2p3p1/2N2p2/P4PnP/1P2r1K1/8 w - - 4 43"] What is a good way to approach ...
TrancendentalObject's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
789 views

Why pin knights early in the opening?

I am a beginner amateur player, and I have been thinking about openings. On lots of occasions the opponent pins the white knight on Nc3 or Nf3 (as black) or the black knight on Nc6/Nf6. What is the ...
winawer's user avatar
  • 256
7 votes
5 answers
2k views

Why is Ne2 better than Nf3?

I played Nf3 for attacking on king side which is about to castle having some plans to make a battery in future after castling but I feel Ne2 is making a block for Re1 at some point. Any suggestions? [...
Shreyash Talpade's user avatar
11 votes
3 answers
2k views

Good Knight Against Bad Bishop Endgame - A More Constructive Plan?

I reached the position below in a recent tournament game [Event "Recent Tournament"] [Site "Deepest, Darkest Oxfordshire"] [Date "Feb 2020"] [White "Ian Bush"] [Black "A Young Victim"] [Result "1-0"] ...
Ian Bush's user avatar
  • 4,357
20 votes
6 answers
7k views

What is a "monster knight"?

I was watching an agadmator video explaining a game between two chess engines, and at one point in the video after a knight move, agadmator talks about how that knight then became "basically a monster ...
bpromas's user avatar
  • 799
19 votes
12 answers
8k views

Why does a knight combine better with the queen than a bishop does?

From this question, the couple queen + knight is strong in attacking the opponent's king. I searched why the knight combines better than the bishop with a queen, and all I could find, from this ...
user avatar
9 votes
4 answers
4k views

Chess.com insufficient material draw

I played a game at chess.com and the endgame was KNN vs KP. When the pawn was captured, the server automatically give a draw due to "insufficient material". I am confused about chess.com's ...
Zuriel's user avatar
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14 votes
7 answers
3k views

Arrange 5 non-attacking knights on a 5x5 toroidal board

The celebrated British mathematician and lover of public transport, Simon Norton, passed in 2019. He was the subject of a wonderful biography. He was not a particular fan of chess, but here is a tiny ...
Laska's user avatar
  • 11k
2 votes
1 answer
234 views

Games with two knight promotions in them

Games with two knight promotions are extremely rare, but a few have existed. In an article of his, Tim Krabbe stated that, about the game Zurakhov - Koblentz, "This is one in only 5 games with two ...
Rewan Demontay's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
332 views

Knight promotion percentages

Knight promotion is the second most common promotion. Most of the time it is to give an otherwise undeliverable check. But it doesn’t always come with check. Statistically speaking, what percentage of ...
Rewan Demontay's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
293 views

List of numerous possible reasons to promote to a knight

While this asks for a reason/any reason in general, I wish to make a list of numerous posssible unique reasons. I already have an exhaustive list of my own. Are there any more possible reasons out ...
Rewan Demontay's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
318 views

Is there any game where AlphaZero wins against Stockfish thanks to a knight pair?

I have seen some of the games that were published in the match between AlphaZero and Stockfish. In many games, as when it beats Stockfish as black playing the Berlin Defense, AlphaZero appears to ...
user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
462 views

A question regarding "The Horse Concoction"

Long ago in 2000, Tim Krabbe presented, a now classic, problem by Harry Goldsteen in his article “The Horse Concoction” on his site. It has blossomed across the Internet, as some of us know. The task'...
Rewan Demontay's user avatar
13 votes
3 answers
4k views

A case where Bishop for knight isn't a good trade

I have played recently a game. In the position below Stockfish is saying that Nxe6 is a mistake and Rad1 is suggested but I'm having a hard time figuring out why. Can someone provide some insights ? ...
MrMaxPayne's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
633 views

How many different knight's tours are there?

How many solutions does the Knight’s Tour puzzle have when the knight first moves from square a1, through all squares (on each square once), and return back to a1? Please give some solutions. Also, ...
Ginger Bread's user avatar
8 votes
2 answers
354 views

Is this the only opening that allows one side to end up with three knights?

In Queen's Gambit Declined, Albin counter-gambit, Lasker trap, black ended up with three knights, which should be rare. Here white should not capture the additional knight in the next move (8. Rxg1 ...
Zuriel's user avatar
  • 8,819
-4 votes
1 answer
215 views

What is the total number of KNN vs K checkmate positions?

What is the total number of KNN vs. K checkmate positions? Assume that White is checkmating. Firstly the Black king must be mated on a corner. It is impossible to do it on the edge. The calculations ...
Rewan Demontay's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
692 views

What are the shortest possible games with a) 20 Bishops, b) 20 Knights, and c) 20 Rooks?

The fastest move sequence to reach 18 queens is known. Similarly, what are the shortest possible games with a) 20 Bishops, b) 20 Knights, and c) 20 Rooks?
Rewan Demontay's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
322 views

Setting up the knights [closed]

When playing chess on a physical board, which way should the knights face? Sideways (as in chess diagrams) or straight ahead? If there is nothing in the rules about this, how do the professionals ...
bof's user avatar
  • 3,762
13 votes
1 answer
4k views

What is the least number of knights needed to cover the entire board?

I’ve seen the solutions to the lowest amount of queens, bishops, and rooks are needed to cover an entire board, as in they can attack all squares and are the only type of piece on the board. What is ...
Rewan Demontay's user avatar
8 votes
6 answers
2k views

At what playing strength level should one be able to mate with King Bishop and Knight vs King?

As in title above, at what playing strength level should one be able to mate with King, Bishop and Knight vs King without much effort (with reasonable time left for the game)?
A. N. Other's user avatar
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