Two Knights Endgame
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The two knights endgame is a chess endgame with a
king King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...
and two knights versus a king. In contrast to a king and two
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(on opposite-colored squares), or a bishop and a knight, a king and two knights cannot
checkmate Checkmate (often shortened to mate) is any game position in chess and other chess-like games in which a player's king is in check (threatened with ) and there is no possible escape. Checkmating the opponent wins the game. In chess, the king is ...
against a lone king (however, the superior side can force stalemate). Although there are checkmate positions, a king and two knights cannot them against proper, relatively easy defense. Although the king and two knights cannot checkmate of the lone king, there are positions in which the king and two knights can force checkmate against a king and some additional material. The extra material of the defending side provides moves that prevent the defending king from being stalematedor, less commonly, the extra material obstructs the defending king from escaping check. The winning chances with two knights are insignificant except against a few pawns. These positions were studied extensively by A. A. Troitsky, who discovered the Troitsky line, a line on or behind which the defending side's pawn must be securely blockaded for the attacking side to win. If the side with the knights carelessly captures the other side's extra material, the game devolves to the basic two knights endgame, and the opportunity to force checkmate may be lost. When the defender has a single pawn, the technique (when it is possible) is to block the pawn with one knight, and use the king and the other knight to force the opposing king into a corner or nearby the blocking knight. Then, when the block on the pawn is removed, the knight that was used to block the pawn can be used to checkmate.


Checkmate possibilities

In general, two knights cannot force checkmate, but they can force stalemate. Three knights can force checkmate, even if the defending king also has a knight or a bishop. Edmar Mednis stated that this inability to force checkmate is "one of the great injustices of chess." Unlike some other theoretically drawn endgames, such as a rook and bishop versus rook, the defender has an easy task in all endings with two knights versus a lone king. Players simply have to avoid moving into a position in which the king can be checkmated on the next move, and there is always another move available in such situations.


Two knights


In the corner

The player with the lone king has to make a blunder to be checkmated. In this position, 1.Ne7 or 1.Nh6 immediately stalemates Black. White can try instead: : 1. Nf8 Kg8 : 2. Nd7 Kh8 : 3. Nd6 Kg8 : 4. Nf6+ and now if Black moves 4...Kh8?? then 5.Nf7# is checkmate, but if Black moves : 4... Kf8! then White has made no progress. Johann Berger gave this position, a draw with either side to move. With White to move: : 1. Nf5 Kh8 : 2. Ng5 Kg8 : 3. Ne7+ Kf8! (Black just avoids 3...Kh8? which leads to a checkmate on the next move with 4.Nf7#) : 4. Kf6 Ke8 and White has made no progress. With Black to move: : 1... Kh8 : 2. Nf7+ Kg8 : 3. Nh6+ Kh8 : 4. Ng5 gives stalemate.


On the edge

There are also checkmate positions with the inferior side's king on the edge of the board (instead of the corner), but again they cannot be forced. In the position at right, White can try 1. Nb6+, hoping for 1...Kd8?? 2.Ne6#. Black can easily avoid this with, for example, 1... Kc7. This possible checkmate is the basis of some problems (see below).


Examples from games

In this position from a 1949 game between Pal Benko and David Bronstein, Black underpromoted to a knight. Black did not promote to a queen or any other piece because White could fork Black's king and his newly promoted piece (e.g. 104...f1=Q 105.Ne3+) immediately after the promotion. :104...f1=N+ :105. Kc3 Kf3. White made the humorous move :106. Nh2+ forking Black's king and knight, but sacrificing the knight. Black responded :106... Nxh2 and a draw was agreed. (A draw by threefold repetition could have been claimed on move 78 and at other times.) Another example is the eighth game of the 1981
World Chess Championship The World Chess Championship is played to determine the world champion in chess. The current world champion is Gukesh Dommaraju, who defeated the previous champion Ding Liren in the World Chess Championship 2024, 2024 World Chess Championship. ...
match between
Anatoly Karpov Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov (, ; born May 23, 1951) is a Russian and former Soviet Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster, former World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion, ⁣and politician. He was the 12th World Chess Champion from 1975 ...
and Viktor Korchnoi. Black forces a draw by :80... Nf7! :81. h7 Ng5! :82. Ne7+ Kb7 :83. Nxg6 Nxh7 :84. Nxh7 draw


Three knights

Three knights and a king can force checkmate against a lone king within twenty moves (unless the defending king can win one of the knights). Also, a complete computational retrograde analysis revealed that they can force checkmate only on the edge of the board.


Two knights versus a pawn

In some positions with two knights versus a pawn, the knights can force checkmate by gaining a
tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...
when the pawn has to move, or having the pawn obstruct its king from escaping check.


Troitsky line

Even though two knights cannot force
checkmate Checkmate (often shortened to mate) is any game position in chess and other chess-like games in which a player's king is in check (threatened with ) and there is no possible escape. Checkmating the opponent wins the game. In chess, the king is ...
(with the help of their
king King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...
) against a lone king (with the exception of positions where White wins in one move), decreasing the material advantage and allowing the defending king to have a pawn can actually allow for a forced checkmate. The reason that checkmate can be forced is that the pawn gives the defender a piece to move and deprives him of a stalemate defense. Another reason is that the pawn can block its own king's path without necessarily moving (e.g. Kling & Horwitz position right). The Troitsky line (or Troitsky position) is a key motif in chess endgame theory in the rare but theoretically interesting ending of two knights versus a pawn. The line, assuming White has the two knights and Black the pawn, is shown left. The Russian theoretician Troitsky made a detailed study of this endgame and discovered the following rule: An example of the application of this rule is given in the diagram Müller and Lamprecht right; "... the position would be lost no matter where the kings are." However, the checkmate procedure is difficult and long. In fact, it can require up to 115 moves by White (assuming perfect play), so in competition a draw by the fifty-move rule will occur first. Troitsky showed that "on any placement of the black king, White undoubtedly wins only against black pawns standing on he Troitsky lineand above". John Nunn analyzed the endgame of two knights versus a pawn with an
endgame tablebase In chess, the endgame tablebase, or simply the tablebase, is a computerised database containing precalculated evaluations of chess endgame, endgame positions. Tablebases are used to analyse finished games, as well as by chess engines to evaluate ...
and stated that "the analysis of Troitsky and others is astonishingly accurate". He undertook this checking after the very ending occurred in a critical variation of his post mortem analysis of a game he lost to Korchnoi in the 1980 Phillips and Drew Tournament in London. Neither player knew whether the position was a win for the player with the knights (Korchnoi). Even when the position is a theoretical win, it is very complicated and difficult to play correctly. Even grandmasters fail to win it. Andor Lilienthal failed to win it twice in a six-year period, se
Norman vs. Lilienthal
an
Smyslov vs. Lilienthal
But a fine win is in a game by Seitz, se
Znosko-Borovsky vs. Seitz


Examples

This diagram shows an example of how having the pawn makes things worse for Black (here Black's pawn is past the Troitsky line), by making Black have a move available instead of being stalemated. :1. Ne4 d2 :2. Nf6+ Kh8 :3. Ne7 (if Black did not have the pawn at this point, the game would be a draw because of stalemate) :3... d1=Q :4. Ng6# If Black did not have the pawn move available, White could not force checkmate. The longest wins require 115 moves; this is one example starting with 1... Ne7. This position is winnable, but the white pawn can be allowed to move only after 84 moves, making the win impossible under the fifty-move rule.


Pawn beyond the Troitsky line

In this study by André Chéron, White wins even though the pawn is well beyond the Troitsky line. Black to move is quicker. With White to move, he must maneuver to give the move to Black, as follows. 1.Kc3 Kb1 2.Kd2 Ka1 3.Kc1 Ka2 4.Kc2 (White then maneuvers to get the same position with vertical instead of horizontal opposition) 4...Ka1 5.Kb3 Kb1 6.Nb2 Kc1 7.Kc3 Kb1 8.Nd3 Ka1 9.Kc4 Ka2 10.Kb4 Ka1 11.Ka3 Kb1 12.Kb3 (Now White has enough time to bring the blockading N in to generate a mating net in time) 12...Ka1 13.Ne3 g2 14.Nc2+ Kb1 15.Na3+ Ka1 16.Nb4 g1=Q 17.Nbc2# In the situation with Black's rook pawn blockaded on h3, if the black king can enter and remain in the area marked with crosses in the adjacent diagram, the game is a draw. Otherwise, White can force the black king into one of the corners not located in the drawing zone and deliver checkmate. Black cannot be checkmated in the a8-corner because the knight on h2 is too far away to help deliver mate: Black draws by pushing the pawn as soon as White moves the knight on h2. White to play in the diagram can try to prevent Black to enter the drawing zone with 1.Ke6, but Black then plays 1...Kg5 aiming to attack the knight on h2. White is compelled to stop this with 2.Ke5 which allows Black to return to the initial position with 2...Kg6, and White has made no progress.


Topalov versus Karpov

Anatoly Karpov Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov (, ; born May 23, 1951) is a Russian and former Soviet Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster, former World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion, ⁣and politician. He was the 12th World Chess Champion from 1975 ...
lost an endgame with a pawn versus two knights to
Veselin Topalov Veselin Aleksandrov Topalov (pronounced ; ; born 15 March 1975) is a Bulgarian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster and former FIDE World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion. Topalov became FIDE World Chess Champion by winning the FIDE ...
although he had a theoretical draw with a pawn past the Troitsky line; because of its rarity, Karpov seemed not to know the theory of drawing and headed for the wrong corner. (Depending on the position of the pawn, checkmate can be forced only in certain corners.) In this "rapid play"
time control A time control is a mechanism in the tournament play of almost all two-player board games so that each round of the match can finish in a timely way and the tournament can proceed. For turn-based games such as chess, shogi or go, time cont ...
, the position in the game was initially a draw, but Karpov made a bad move which resulted in a lost position. Topalov later made a bad move, making the position a draw, but Karpov made another bad move, resulting in a lost position again.


Wang versus Anand

This position from a blindfold game between Wang Yue and Viswanathan Anand leads to an example with a forced win even though the pawn is past the Troitsky line. The game continued :61... Kc5, blocking the pawn with the wrong piece. Black should have played 61...Ne4 62. c4 Nc5!, blocking the pawn on the Troitsky line with a knight, with a forced win. The game continued: :62. c4 Ne4 :63. Ka4 Nd4 :64. Ka5. Black still has a theoretical forced win in this position, even after letting the pawn advance past the Troitsky line: :64... Nc6+ :65. Ka6 Kd6!! :66. c5+ Kc7 and Black has a forced checkmate in 58 more moves. However, the actual game was drawn.


More pawns

Two knights can win in some cases when the defender has more than one pawn. First the knights should blockade the pawns and then capture all except one. The knights cannot set up an effective blockade against four connected pawns, so the position generally results in a draw. Five or more pawns usually win against two knights.


Example from game

In this 1991 game between Paul Motwani and Ilya Gurevich, Black has blockaded the white pawns. In ten moves, Black won the pawn on d4. There were some inaccuracies on both sides, but White resigned on move 99.


Position of mutual zugzwang

There are positions of mutual zugzwang in the endgame with two knights versus one pawn. In this position, White to move draws but Black to move loses. With Black to move: : 1... Kh7 : 2. Ne4 d2 : 3. Nf6+ Kh8 : 4. Ne7 (or 4.Nh4) d1=Q : 5. Ng6# With White to move, Black draws with correct play. White cannot put Black in zugzwang: : 1. Kf6 Kh7 : 2. Kf7 Kh8 : 3. Kg6 Kg8 : 4. Ng7 Kf8 : 5. Kf6 Kg8 : 6. Ne6 Kh7! (but not 6...Kh8? because White wins after 7.Kg6!, which puts Black to move) : 7. Kg5 Kg8 : 8. Kg6 Kh8 and White has no way to force a win.


Checkmate in problems

The possible checkmate on the edge of the board is the basis of some composed chess problems, as well as variations of the checkmate with two knights against a pawn. ;Angos, 2005 In this problem by Alex Angos, White checkmates in four moves: :1. Ne6! Nd8 :2. Nf6+ Kh8 :3. Ng5 N–''any'' (Black is in zugzwang and any knight move must abandon the protection of the f7-square) :4. Nf7# ;;Berger, 1890 A similar problem was composed by Johann Berger in 1890. The solution is: :1. Nf7! Nd6 :2. Nh6+ Kh8 :3. Ng5 followed by :4. Ngf7#. ;de Musset, 1849 In this composition by Alfred de Musset, White checkmates on the edge of the board in three moves with: :1. Rd7 Nxd7 :2. Nc6 N–''any'' :3. Nf6#. ;Sobolevsky, 1951 In this study composed by Sobolevsky, White wins by checkmating with two knights: : 1. Nh8+ Kg8 : 2. Kxg2 Bf4 : 3. Ng6 Bh6! : 4. Ng5 Bg7! : 5. Ne7+ Kh8 : 6. Nf7+ Kh7 : 7. Bh4! Bf6! : 8. Ng5+ Kh6 : 9. Ng8+ Kh5 : 10. Nxf6+! Kxh4 : 11. Nf3# ;Nadanian, 2009 In this study composed by Ashot Nadanian, White wins by checkmating with two knights: : 1. Rg8!! Rxg8 If 1...Re7, then 2.N6f5! Re1 3.Rxg6+ Kxh5 4.Rxh6+ Kg5 5.Nf3+ and White wins. : 2. Ne4+ Kxh5 : 3. Ne6 and checkmate on the next move, due to zugzwang; two white knights deliver four different checkmates: * 3... R–''any'' 4. Ng7# * 3... Nd–''any'' 4. Nf6# * 3... Ng–''any'' 4. Nf4# * 3... f3 4. Ng3#


History

The first known composition where two knights win against one pawn is, according to Lafora, by Gioachino Greco in 1620. In 1780, Chapais did a partial analysis of three positions with the pawn on f4 or h4. In 1851 Horwitz and Kling published three positions where the knights win against one pawn and two positions where they win against two pawns. The analysis by Chapais was revised by Guretsky-Cornitz and others, and it was included by Johann Berger in ''Theory and Practice of the Endgame'', first published in 1891. However, the analysis by Guretsky-Cornitz was incorrect, and the original analysis by Chapais was, in principle, correct. Troitsky started studying the endgame in the early 20th century and published his extensive analysis in 1937. Modern computer analysis found it to be very accurate. Master games with this ending are rare — Troitsky knew of only six when he published his analysis in 1937. In the first four (from c. 1890 to 1913), the weaker side brought about the ending to obtain a draw from an opponent who did not know how to win. The first master game with a win was in 1931 when Adolf Seitz beat Eugene Znosko-Borovsky.Znosko-Borovsky vs. Seitz
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References

Bibliography * * * * * * * * * * * Reprint: (1996) * * * * * * * * * * * * The last part (pages 197–257) is a supplement containing Troitsky's analysis of two knights versus pawns.


External links

* Grandmaster and endgame specialist Karsten Müller wrote a helpful two-part article on this endgame called ''The Damned Pawn'' (in PDFs):
Part 1
about the Troitsky line and the technique
Part 2: the second Troitsky line solved
the winning line taking into account the 50-move rule, and more winning techniques and drawing zones.
Two Knights vs King and Pawn TrainerSmyslov vs. LilienthalNorman vs. Lilienthal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Two Knights Endgame Chess endgames Chess problems Chess theory