Knight vs Pawn: Lateral Control of the Queening Square
White to play and draw
PlayThe black pawn on c2 is one step from queening, and your knight cannot get in front of it. Then it has to watch the queening square from the side, from the pawn's own rank, and never from behind. The rule: bring the knight to the second rank beside the pawn, then take the route that watches c1 or wins the new queen.
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Lateral Control of the Promotion Square
White to play and draw · Hold the draw against perfect play
Waking the engine…
The theory
Watch the method: press play to see the winning idea run, or step through it move by move.
The check from behind fails. After Nd3+ Kd2 the knight stands behind the pawn and gets chased: Nc5 Kc3, then Ne4+ Kd3 and Nc5+ Kc4. The king ends up attacking the knight, and the pawn queens.
A knight draws against a pawn on the seventh rank in two ways. The clean way is to stand in front of the pawn. When the enemy king blocks that square, there is a second way: control the queening square from the side, along the pawn's own rank, never from behind.
Two circuits from the second rank. Brought beside the pawn, the knight runs two routes: one that keeps watching the queening square (here e2-c3-a2) and one that goes to win the pawn (e2-d4-b3-c1). Side control also keeps a check in reserve, so if the pawn queens the knight forks king and new queen.
The order of preference. Against a seventh-rank pawn on a central file: knight in front is a draw; failing that, knight guarding the queening square from the same rank is a draw; neither, and the pawn promotes. From behind the pawn the knight still eyes the queening square, but the king evicts it (1.Nd3+ Kd2!) and it lands outside both circuits.
In this drill the defender pushes the pawn and hides the king behind it. Check with the knight, take the second rank, and hold with the circuit.
Keep going
The Knight's Worst Square
White to play and win
Knight Holds Two Connected Pawns
White to play and draw
The Knight Blockade
Black to play and draw
All 21 knight endgames positionsFollow the full curriculum (free)