Knight vs Rook Pawn: The Saving Check
Black to play and draw
PlayA rook pawn is the hardest passed pawn for a knight to stop, and here your knight is one move too slow to reach h8. The rule: when your knight is a move short, win that move with a check. The check must also bring the knight one jump from a square that covers h8. The white king on g2 gives you exactly that chance.
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Stopping the Rook Pawn With Check
Black 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 pawn is about to reach h7, and your knight on g7 does not cover h8. The squares that do are g6 and f7. A king move loses, so the knight must start moving now.
The rule runs the other way from what most players assume. The closer a passed pawn is to the edge, the more trouble a knight has with it, and a rook pawn is the worst case, not the easiest.
Why the edge hurts the knight. Next to the h-file half of the knight's jumps land off the board, so it needs more moves to come back into contact with the pawn's path. Against a central pawn it always has a spare route. Against an h-pawn it usually does not.
Find the tempo. Here the knight needs two moves to reach g6, which is the square that covers h8, and the pawn only needs one. The only way to make that work is to gain a move with check: ...Nf4+ or ...Nh4+ hits the king on g2, and then ...Ng6 arrives in time.
In this drill White will push the pawn at once. Do not blockade passively, look for the check that gains the tempo, and the game is drawn.
Keep going
Sacrifice to Clear the Pawn's Path
White to play and win
Defend the Passed Pawn From Behind
White to play and win
The Knight Guards the Blockaded Pawn
White to play and win
All 21 knight endgames positionsFollow the full curriculum (free)