Queen vs Two Knights Endgame
White to play and win
PlayTwo knights can hold against a queen when they stand next to their king. Here the knight on e7 is cut off from its king. The rule: go after the knight that is far from its king, with a check that attacks it at the same time.
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Queen vs Two Knights
White to play and win · Win against perfect defense
Waking the engine…
The theory
Watch the method: press play to see the winning idea run, or step through it move by move.
Only three moves win here. The natural Qe5 is not one of them: Nc6 brings the stray knight back next to the other one, and the position is a draw.
Queen versus two knights is often a win, and the wins come when the knights cannot both stay close to their king. Knights are short-ranged, and one stranded far from its king is one the queen eventually picks off. Parked beside their own king, though, two knights shield every approach square: that formation is a fortress the queen cannot break.
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 the knights do not guard each other and only one of them stands beside its king, so with the move in hand you convert. Corner the king, then fork a knight: the defender will jump into the most annoying squares, but a knight stranded from its king cannot be saved.
Keep going
Queen vs Pawn on the Seventh
White to play and win
Drawing Queen vs Rook Pawn
Black to play and draw
Queen vs Bishop Pawn: King to the Corner Side
White to play and draw
All 18 queen endgames positionsFollow the full curriculum (free)