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Thetwo knights endgame is achess endgame with aking and twoknights versus a king. In contrast to a king and twobishops (on opposite-colored squares), or abishop and a knight, a king and two knights cannotforcecheckmate against a lone king (however, the superior side can forcestalemate[1][2]). Although there are checkmate positions, a king and two knights cannotforce them against proper, relatively easy defense.[3]
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Although the king and two knights cannotforce 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.[5] The extra material of the defending side provides moves that prevent the defending king from being stalemated[6] or, 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.[7] These positions were studied extensively byA. 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.[8]
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In general, two knights cannot force checkmate, but they can force stalemate. Three knights can force checkmate,[9] even if the defending king also has a knight[10] or a bishop.[11]
Edmar Mednis stated that this inability to force checkmate is "one of the great injustices of chess."[12]
Unlike some other theoreticallydrawn endgames, such as arook 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.[13]
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The player with the lone king has to make ablunder to be checkmated. In this position, 1.Ne7 or 1.Nh6 immediatelystalemates Black. White can try instead:
and now if Black moves 4...Kh8?? then 5.Nf7# is checkmate, but if Black moves
then White has made no progress.[14]
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Johann Berger gave this position, a draw with either side to move. With White to move:
and White has made no progress. With Black to move:
gives stalemate.[15]
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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.[16] In the position at right, White can try1. 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).
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In this position from a 1949 game[17] betweenPal Benko andDavid Bronstein, Blackunderpromoted to a knight. Black did notpromote to a queen or any other piece because White couldfork Black's king and his newly promoted piece (e.g. 104...f1=Q 105.Ne3+) immediately after the promotion.
White made the humorous move
forking Black's king and knight, butsacrificing the knight. Black responded
and adraw was agreed.[18] (A draw bythreefold repetition could have been claimed on move 78 and at other times.)
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Another example is the eighth game of the 1981World Chess Championship match betweenAnatoly Karpov andViktor Korchnoi.[19]Black forces a draw by
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).[21] Also, a complete computationalretrograde analysis revealed that they can force checkmate only on the edge of the board.[22][23]
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In some positions with two knights versus a pawn, the knights can force checkmate by gaining atempo when the pawn has to move, or having the pawn obstruct its king from escaping check.
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1. Kh4 Kg2 2. Kg4 Kg1 3. Kh3 Kh1 4. Ng3+ Kg1 5. Nf3#
The pawn does not move; it assists mate by blocking the king's escape.
Even though two knights cannot forcecheckmate (with the help of theirking) 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.[25] 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 inchess endgame theory in the rare but theoretically interesting ending of twoknights versus apawn.
The line, assuming White has the two knights and Black the pawn, is shown left.
The Russian theoreticianTroitsky made a detailed study of this endgame and discovered the following rule:
If the pawn is securely blockaded by a white knight no further down than the line, then Black loses, no matter where the kings are.
— Karsten Müller and Frank Lamprecht, Fundamental Chess Endings 2001
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."[26]
However, the checkmate procedure is difficult and long. In fact, it can require up to 115 moves by White (assuming perfect play),[27] so in competition adraw by thefifty-move rule will occur first.
Troitsky showed that "on any placement of the black king, White undoubtedly wins only against black pawns standing on [the Troitsky line] and above".[28]
John Nunn analyzed the endgame of two knights versus a pawn with anendgame tablebase and stated that "the analysis of Troitsky and others is astonishingly accurate".[29]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. Evengrandmasters fail to win it.Andor Lilienthal failed to win it twice in a six-year period, seeNorman vs. Lilienthal andSmyslov vs. Lilienthal. But a fine win is in a game bySeitz, seeZnosko-Borovsky vs. Seitz.[30]
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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.
If Black did not have the pawn move available, White could not force checkmate.
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The longest wins require 115 moves; this is one example starting with1... Ne7.[31]
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This position is winnable, but the white pawn can be allowed to move only after 84 moves, making the win impossible under thefifty-move rule.
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In this study byAndré Chéron, White wins even though the pawn is well beyond the Troitsky line.[32]
Black to move is quicker. With White to move, he must maneuver togive 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#
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White to play draws. Black to play loses.[33]
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 with1.Ke6, but Black then plays1...Kg5 aiming to attack the knight on h2. White is compelled to stop this with2.Ke5 which allows Black to return to the initial position with2...Kg6, and White has made no progress.[34]
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Anatoly Karpov lost an endgame with a pawn versus two knights toVeselin Topalov[35] 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.[36]) In this "rapid play"time control, 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.[37]
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This position from ablindfold game betweenWang Yue andViswanathan Anand leads to an example with a forced win even though the pawn is past the Troitsky line.[38] The game continued
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:
Black still has a theoretical forced win in this position, even after letting the pawn advance past the Troitsky line:
and Black has a forced checkmate in 58 more moves.[39] However, the actual game was drawn.
Fine & Benko, diagram 201
White to move wins in 96 moves. | Fine, ECE #1778
White to move wins in 87 moves. Lomonosov Tablebases
Black to move wins in 146 moves. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Two knights can win in some cases when the defender has more than one pawn. First the knights should blockade the pawns and thencapture all except one. The knights cannot set up an effective blockade against fourconnected pawns, so the position generally results in a draw. Five or more pawns usually win against two knights.[40]
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In this 1991 game between Paul Motwani andIlya Gurevich, Black has blockaded the white pawns. In ten moves, Black won the pawn on d4. There were some inaccuracies on both sides, but Whiteresigned on move 99.[41]
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There are positions ofmutual 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:
With White to move, Black draws with correct play. White cannot put Black inzugzwang:
and White has no way to force a win.[42]
The possible checkmate on the edge of the board is the basis of some composedchess problems, as well as variations of the checkmate with two knights against a pawn.
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In this problem by Alex Angos, White checkmates in four moves:
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A similar problem was composed byJohann Berger in 1890. The solution is:
followed by
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In this composition byAlfred de Musset, White checkmates on the edge of the board in three moves with:
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In thisstudy composed by Sobolevsky, White wins by checkmating with two knights:
In this study composed byAshot Nadanian, White wins by checkmating with two knights:
If 1...Re7, then 2.N6f5! Re1 3.Rxg6+ Kxh5 4.Rxh6+ Kg5 5.Nf3+ and White wins.
and checkmate on the next move, due tozugzwang; two white knights deliver four different checkmates:[49]
The first known composition where two knights win against one pawn is, according to Lafora, byGioachino Greco in 1620.[50] In 1780, Chapais did a partial analysis of three positions with the pawn on f4 or h4.[51] In 1851Horwitz andKling published three positions where the knights win against one pawn and two positions where they win against two pawns.[52] The analysis by Chapais was revised by Guretsky-Cornitz and others, and it was included byJohann Berger inTheory 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.[53] Troitsky started studying the endgame in the early 20th century and published his extensive analysis in 1937.[54] Modern computer analysis found it to be very accurate.[55]
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 adraw from an opponent who did not know how to win. The first master game with a win was in 1931 whenAdolf Seitz beatEugene Znosko-Borovsky.[56][57]
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