Queen vs Two Knights

White to play and win

Play

Queen against two knights is won: the knights are clumsy defenders far apart. Drive the king to the edge and fork or pin to win a knight.

No signup needed. The opponent never gives up, and every mistake gets explained.

Queen vs Two Knights

Win against perfect defense

Waking the engine…

The theory

Queen versus two knights is a win. Knights are short-ranged and, unlike bishops, cannot guard each other from a distance, so the queen picks one off.

The method. Bring the king up and use the queen to herd the enemy king toward an edge or corner. With the king boxed in, a check that simultaneously attacks a knight wins material.

The care. Watch for knight forks of your king and queen: keep your king on squares no knight can reach with tempo, and the pieces cannot hold together.

In this drill you convert queen versus two knights. Corner the king, then fork a knight: the tablebase defender will jump into the most annoying squares.

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