Bishop, Knight, and King vs. King - A Chess Endgame
It is very unlikely that you will ever be in a
situation thar requires
mate with only a
bishop and
knight, but it's good to know
nonetheless. Personally, I've never been on the
offensive side of this endgame, but I was
once on the
defensive. Luckily, my
opponent didn't know how to execute it correctly; and after a few moves of which I was able to
elude, he offered a
draw. Hey, it's better than a loss.
Before I get into the
meat and potatoes of this endgame, I'd like to cover a few key points. First, you're going to mate your opponent in a corner that is the same color of the
square that your
bishops resides on. If you have a bishop on a light square, then you are going to mate the king on
h1 or
a8 (both light squares). Conversely, if your bishop resides on a dark square, you're going to mate the
king on
a1 or
h8 (both dark squares). Second, you will need the involvement and careful planning of all three of your pieces to drive the king into the corner for the mate. Third, your opponent may make things difficult for you by retreating to a corner that is opposite to the one you need him in. Don't
fret this, because once you trap him in that corner, you can drive him to other.
So, on to the example. Here is our imaginary setup:
BTW, take a look at
chess notation if you are a complete newbie to chess. But, just in case you are lazy...
BK = Black King
WK = White
King
WB = White
Bishop
WN = White
Knight
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | | | | | 8
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | | | | | 7
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | |BK | | | | 6
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | | | | | 5
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | |WN |WK |WB | | | | 4
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | | | | | 3
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | | | | | 2
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | | | | | 1
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
A B C D E F G H
Okay, in our example, white's pieces are grouped together in the middle. Since the
bishop is on a light square (e4 is a light square), we have to drive the king to either a8 or h1 for the mate. The
king is closest a8, so we'll go for that one. There is really no exact
formula for this process. Getting the king trapped in the corner can be tough. The only
advice I can give you is to try to keep your
minor pieces (knight and bishop) in the middle while you
shepherd with your king. Once the opponent is in the general vicinity of the corner, then it will be time to use the minor pieces.
1 Kc5
Kf6 - And we're off.
2 Kd5
Kf7 - Black's king looks like he wants to occupy the corner we don't want him in.
3 Ke5
Kg7 - Yup, black is going to h8.
4 Ke6
Kf8 - Almost there.
5 Kf6
Kg8 - Now it's time to put those minor pieces to use.
6 Ne5
Kh8 - Good, he's in the corner. Time to drive him the other way.
From the beginning, black stayed around the area of h8. White's king was able to
shepherd him into just a few squares of the corner. When we started to bring the minor pieces up, instead of going to the corner we want him in, black retreats to the other side.
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | | | |BK | 8
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | | | | | 7
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | |WK | | | 6
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | |WN | | | | 5
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | |WB | | | | 4
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | | | | | 3
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | | | | | 2
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | | | | | 1
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
A B C D E F G H
Now it's time to drive your opponent to the other corner. Again, there is no
formula for this. Though, one thing you must do is make moves that don't actually threaten anything. That is, moves that put the king in check will often be more harmful, as he will most likely not be traveling the way you want him to. So, you must place your pieces so that the king has no choice but to move into the direction he does not want to go. This is called
zugzwang.
7 Nf7
Kg8 - Force the king left.
Note: Black could have either gone to g8 or h7, but it doesn't matter. Going to h7 means he would be forced into h1, the other desirable corner.
8 Bf5
Kf8 - As I discussed, this was a good, non-threatning move.
Note: If white would have gone for the check at Bd5, that would have done nothing to improve the situation.
9 Bh7
Ke8 - White's bishop cuts off the retreat of black and forces him left.
10 Ne5
Kd8 - White's knight prevents the king from leaving the back rank and forces him further left.
11 Ke6
Kc7 - Bring the king over so he can support the next move of the knight.
12 Nd7
Kc6 - Prevent the king from moving to b6.
13 Bd3
Kc7 - Another good, but
anti-
climatic, move which prevents escape.
And here we are. The black king is well on his way to the favorable corner. Remember, this part of the mate is very
fragile. Not only should you look for the move that will drive the king further into the corner, but also look ahead to make sure you will be able to further
shepherd him.
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | | | | | 8
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | |BK |WN | | | | | 7
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | |WK | | | | 6
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | | | | | 5
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | | | | | 4
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | |WB | | | | | 3
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | | | | | 2
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | | | | | 1
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
A B C D E F G H
14 Bb5
Kd8 - Prevent the move to c6 and force the king further left.
15 Nb6
Kc7 - Move out of the way so the bishop can cover the
diagonal that prevents
escape.
16 Nd5
kb7 - And we're very close to mate.
Black is now trapped in a
box in the light colored corner. It is now our job to make that box smaller.
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | | | | | 8
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| |BK | | | | | | | 7
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | |WK | | | | 6
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| |WB | |WN | | | | | 5
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | | | | | 4
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | | | | | 3
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | | | | | 2
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | | | | | 1
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
A B C D E F G H
17 Kd7
Kb8 - This confines the box to four squares.
18 Ba6
Ka7 - Now it's only three squares.
19 Bc8
Kb8 - Move the bishop out of danger, but
still retain the box.
20 Ne7
Ka7 - Set up the knight so that he may move to c6 and eventually deliver the mate.
21 Kc7
Ka8 - The box consists of only two squares now.
22 Bb7+
Ka7 - One more move!
23 Nc6++ - And that's
mate.
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | | | | | 8
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|BK |WB |WK | | | | | | 7
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | |WN | | | | | | 6
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | | | | | 5
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | | | | | 4
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | | | | | 3
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | | | | | 2
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | | | | | 1
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
A B C D E F G H
So, Remember:
- You will mate the king in a corner that has the same color square as the bishop.
- Zugzwang is very important in this endgame.
- Don't worry if your opponent flees to the other side. Trap him in that corner and drive him to the other!
- When trapped in the proper corner, make the box smaller!
- This is a hard mate, probably the hardest. Don't get discouraged if you mess up. Most people will simply draw at this point anyway.