Knight and King vs Two Pawns: Mate in the Corner
White to play and win
PlayDo not turn this into a pawn race. The black king is already stuck in the corner, and its own pawns are about to take away its last squares. White gives mate in four.
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The Knight Mates the King in the Corner
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.
Count the black king's squares, not the pawns. Your king already covers g1, g2 and g3, so the king on h2 is one knight move away from having no square at all.
A king pressed into the corner is not just passive, it is a mating target. Here White does not collect the black pawns at all. The pawns stay on the board because they are what seals the black king in.
The mating net. With the white king on f2 covering g1, g2 and g3, the black king on h2 has only h1. The knight route Ne8-f6-g4 takes h2 away and blocks the g-pawn, so Black is left with almost no legal moves.
Zugzwang does the rest. 3.Kf1 is the only winning move: Black must play h3-h2, and the pawn that was supposed to be a threat now blocks the king's own escape square. 4.Nf2 is mate.
In this drill the defender will try to push a pawn through. Ignore the pawns, keep the king boxed, and finish with mate.
Keep going
A Lone Knight Mates in the Corner
White to play and win
The King Locked in Front of Its Pawn
Black to play and draw
The Knight Catches the Runner
White to play and draw
All 21 knight endgames positionsFollow the full curriculum (free)