The Knight's Worst Square: b7 and Its Twins
White to play and win
PlayYour a-pawn runs and the black knight stands on b7, the second square of the long diagonal. From there it is too slow to stop the pawn, and it takes b7 away from its own king. The rule: against a knight on such a square, push the pawn without losing a move.
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The Knight's Worst Square
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.
Do not waste a move. After Kg3 Kc7 the black king is one step from b6, and after a6 Kb6 it wins the pawn: axb7 Kxb7 leaves two bare kings.
Some squares cripple a knight even in the open board. The worst is the second square of a long diagonal: b7 and its mirrors g7, b2 and g2. The knight is not on the rim, yet its reach is so poor it can be useless.
Too slow for the runner. From b7 the knight cannot hold a rook pawn that runs with tempo: 1.a6 passes the knight and attacks it in the same move, and every knight route then arrives too late. The pawn simply marches a6, a7, a8.
In its own king's way. The knight does not just fail to stop the pawn, it blocks the defense. Sitting on b7 it denies that square to its king, and once the pawn reaches a7 that pawn covers b8 as well, so king and knight trip over each other. Even 1...Kc7 meets 2.a7 and promotion.
In this drill you only have to push, but keep the idea: steer an enemy knight onto one of those four squares and its power collapses, and never let your own knight get stranded there.
Keep going
Knight Holds Two Connected Pawns
White to play and draw
The Knight Blockade
Black to play and draw
Knight vs Rook Pawn
White to play and draw
All 21 knight endgames positionsFollow the full curriculum (free)