Knight vs Knight's Pawn: The Corner Exception

A lone knight copes with a central passed pawn on the seventh rank, but the knight's pawn is an exception. The edge of the board is close, and it takes away the squares on the far side of the pawn that the knight needs to keep checking and circling back.

In front, or nothing. Against a knight's pawn one step from queening, the defender draws only if its knight already stands in front of the pawn. If it cannot get there, the pawn promotes. That is why the winning move is to push at once: 1...b2 slams the door before the knight can occupy b1.

No square on the far side. After 1...b2 2.Nd2+ Kc1 3.Nb3+ Kd1, every check has been spent and the knight controls no square that stops the pawn. With a central pawn the knight would find a saving square beyond the pawn; one file nearer the corner, that square does not exist.

In this drill the defender will check and try to swing the knight in front. Push first, walk the king to c1 and d1 out of the checks, and queen.