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Now the knight shall appear in his shining armor.

E) Stamma's Mate

A lone knight cannot force mate, of course. But if the opponent still has a far
advanced rook's pawn, then matters can be different.

137.01 Donchenko, Alexa (2309) – Onischuk, V (2516)

Endgame 13th EICC Plovdiv BUL (4.107), 23.03.2012

Corner
Karsten Müller Aron Nimzowitsch
by Per Skjoldager
& Jørn Erik Nielsen

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[FEN "8/8/8/3p1k1p/8/3K4/7P/5N2 w - - 0 68"]

68.Ne3+

The alternative approach 68.Kd4 wins as well; e.g., 68...Kg4 (68...Ke6 69.
Ne3 h4 70.h3+–) 69.Kxd5 Kh3 70.Ke4 Kg2 71.Kf4 Kxf1 72.h4 Ke2 73.Kg5 ChessBase Magazine 149
Kf3 74.Kxh5 Kf4 75.Kg6+–. However, not 68.Ng3+? Kg4 69.Ke3 Kh3 70. by Rainer Knaak
Nf1 Kg2 71.Ke2 d4=.

68...Kf4 69.Nxd5+ Kf3 70.Ne3! h4 71.Kd4 h3

71...Kf4 72.Nf1 Kf3 73.Ke5 Kg2 74.Kf4 Kxf1 75.Kg4 Kg2 76.h3+–.

72.Kd3 Kf2 73.Ke4

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[FEN "8/8/8/8/4K3/4N2p/5k1P/8 b - - 0 73"]

73...Ke2

This allows White to win the h-pawn. But taking White's h-pawn leads to
Stamma's famous mate:
73...Kg1 74.Kf3 When Black can choose between the following:

A) 74...Kh1 75.Kf2 (75.Kg3 wins as well of course.) 75...Kxh2 76.Ng4+ Kh1

77.Kf1 h2 78.Nf2#.

B) 74...Kxh2 75.Kf2

[FEN "8/8/8/8/8/4N2p/5K1k/8 b - - 0 75"]

75...Kh1 76.Nf1 h2 77.Ng3# and Stamma's mate is on the board!

74.Ng4 1–0

F) The Andersson Endgame

I suggest calling endgames of rook and knight against rook and bishop, where
the knight has the advantage, The Andersson Endgame, because the Swedish
grandmaster handles the knight like no other. In this case, White has an extra
pawn and Black's bishop must passively protect the weak pawn g4.
Furthermore, White's strategic initiative on the dark squares cannot be
stopped in the long run.

137.02 Azaladze, Shota (2419) – Iordachescu, Viorel (2644)

13th EICC Plovdiv BUL (2.88), 21.03.2012

[FEN "8/7k/4b3/r3N1R1/6pK/6P1/7P/8 w - - 0 58"]

58.Ng6!

The knight shows his power.

The greedy 58.Nxg4? runs into the pin 58...Ra4 and White cannot win; e.g.,
59.h3 Rc4 60.Rh5+ Kg8 61.Kg5 Bxg4 62.hxg4 Kg7=.

58...Ra8!?

Both 58...Rxg5 59.Kxg5 Kg7 60.Ne5 Bc8 61.Nxg4+– and 58...Ra2 59.Nf8+
Kh8 (59...Kh6? 60.Rg6#) 60.Nxe6 Rxh2+ 61.Kxg4+– are weaker.

59.Nf4! Bc8

59...Bd7 60.Nh5 Kh6 61.Nf6+–.

60.Rc5!?
 [FEN "r1b5/7k/8/2R5/5NpK/6P1/7P/8 b - - 0 60"]

White prepares to attack Black's king and aims at the bishop to keep Black
passive.

60...Kg7

60...Kh6 61.Rc6+ Kg7 62.Nd5 Bf5 63.Kg5 Be4 64.Rc7+ Kf8 65.Ne3+–.

61.Kg5 Kf7 62.Nd5 Be6

62...Bd7?! can be directly refuted by the amazing computer line 63.Rc7 Rg8+
64.Kf4 Ke6 65.Rxd7 Rf8+ 66.Nf6 Rxf6+ 67.Kg5 Rf8 (67...Rf2 68.Rh7+–) 68.
Rh7 Rg8+ 69.Kf4 Kf6 70.Rh4+–.

63.Rc7+ Kf8 64.Nf4 Bc8 65.Ng6+ Ke8

65...Kg8?! runs into the mating attack 66.Kh6 Bd7 67.Rxd7 Ra7 68.Ne7++–.

66.Ne5 Kd8 67.Rc2 Ra5 68.Re2

[FEN "2bk4/8/8/r3N1K1/6p1/6P1/4R2P/8 b - - 0 68"]

68...Rd5

Going to the kingside with 68...Ke7!? 69.Kh4

A) 69...Kf8 70.Rf2+ Kg7 (70...Kg8 71.Nc6 Rc5 72.Ne7+ Kg7 73.Nxc8 Rxc8
74.Kxg4+–) 71.Rf7+ Kh6 72.Nxg4++–.

B) 69...Ra4 70.Nxg4+ Kf7 71.Rf2+ Kg7 probably offers more resistance, but
White should win after 72.Rf4 Ra2 73.h3 Ra6 74.Rc4 Be6 75.Rc7+ Kf8 76.
Ne5+–. Protecting the pawn with 68...Ra4 does not help in the long run as
White can often exchange rooks or minor pieces; e.g., 69.Re1 Be6 (69...Ra2
70.Nxg4 Bxg4 71.Kxg4 Rxh2 72.Kf5 Rf2+ 73.Kg6 Rf8 74.g4 Rg8+ 75.Kf5
Rf8+ 76.Kg5 Rg8+ 77.Kf4 Rf8+ 78.Kg3 Rg8 79.Re4 Kd7 80.Kf4 Rf8+ 81.
Kg5 Rg8+ 82.Kf6+–) 70.Kf6

A) 70...Bc8 71.Rd1+ Kc7 (71...Ke8 72.Nf7 Ra6+ 73.Rd6+–) 72.Rc1+ Kd8 73.
Rc4 Ra2 74.Nxg4 Bxg4 75.Rxg4 Rxh2 76.Re4+–.

B) 70...Ra6 71.Nc6+ Rxc6 72.Rxe6 Rc2 73.Kg5 Rxh2 74.Kxg4 Kd7 75.Rf6
Ke7 76.Kg5 Rh8 77.g4 Rg8+ 78.Rg6 Ra8 79.Kh6 Kf7 80.Rg7+ Kf8 81.g5
Ra1 82.Rb7 Rh1+ 83.Kg6 Rg1 84.Rb8+ Ke7 85.Rg8+–.

69.Kh4 Rc5 70.Nxg4 Rc4 1–0

[FEN "2bk4/8/8/8/2r3NK/6P1/4R2P/8 w - - 0 71"]

Black should indeed lose in the long run, but the resignation is quite early; e.
g., 71.h3 Bd7 72.Rf2 Ke7 73.Rf4 Rc8 74.Nh6 Rc3 (74...Rh8 can be met by 75.
Kg5! as 75...Bxh3 runs into 76.Rh4! Be6 77.Nf5++–) 75.g4 Ra3 76.Rf7+ Ke6
77.g5 Ra4+ 78.Kg3 Ra3+ 79.Rf3 Rxf3+ 80.Kxf3 Ke5 81.h4 Ba4 82.Kg3 Be8
83.Kg4 Bd7+ 84.Kh5 Be8+ 85.g6 Kf6 86.Ng8+ Kg7 87.Ne7 Kf6 88.Nd5+
Kg7 89.Nf4 Kf6 90.Kh6 Ba4 91.Nd5++-.

G) The Knight Reloaded

Sometimes a knight fork forces a pawn to promote to a knight.

137.03 Dittmar, Hans-Joachim – Heimers, Remy

Villinger Vereinsturnier 2011–12 (4), 09.12.2011

[FEN "8/2p2p2/p5pp/4k3/1PP1p3/3n3P/
2NK1PP1/8 w - - 0 42"]

The analysis of this example is based on Remy Heimers work.

42.f3!?

A last desperate trick.

42...exf3

Heimers decides to enter the complications.

The simple 42...Nf4 wins as well and might be even easier; e.g., 43.Ne1 Kd4
44.fxe4 Kxc4 45.Ke3 g5 46.h4 Kxb4 47.g3 Nh5 48.Nd3+ Kc3 49.hxg5 hxg5
50.Ne5 a5–+.

43.Kxd3

43.gxf3 Nf4 44.Ke3 Nxh3–+.

43...fxg2 44.Ne1
 [FEN "8/2p2p2/p5pp/4k3/1PP5/3K3P/
6p1/4N3 b - - 0 44"]

44...g1N!

Heimers had his knight back. Of course not 44...g1Q?? 45.Nf3+.

45.h4 Kf4 46.Kc3 Nf3 47.Nd3+

[FEN "8/2p2p2/p5pp/8/1PP2k1P/
2KN1n2/8/8 b - - 0 47"]

47...Ke4

It was also possible to exploit the fact that the rook's pawn is the worst enemy
of the knight: 47...Kg4! 48.Nc5 g5 49.hxg5

[FEN "8/2p2p2/p6p/2N3P1/1PP3k1/
2K2n2/8/8 b - - 0 49"]

49...h5! That's it! Black just gives a pawn to get an unstoppable rook's pawn.
50.Nxa6 (50.Kd3 h4 51.Ke3 Nxg5 52.Nxa6 h3 53.Kf2 Ne4+ 54.Kg1 Kg3
 [FEN "8/2p2p2/N7/8/1PP1n3/6kp/
8/6K1 w - - 0 55"]

White is now even mated! 55.Nxc7 h2+ 56.Kh1 Nf2#; 50.Ne4 h4 51.Nf2+
Kg3 52.Ne4+ Kg2 53.Nf6 h3 54.Ng4 Kg3 55.Ne3 Nxg5–+) 50...h4 51.Nxc7
h3–+.

48.Nc5+ Ke5 49.Nxa6 Kd6 50.b5

50.h5 gxh5 51.Kd3 h4 52.Ke4 Nd2+ 53.Kf4 h5–+.

50...Nxh4 51.c5+ Kd7 52.Nb8+ Kc8 53.Nc6

[FEN "2k5/2p2p2/2N3pp/1PP5/7n/
2K5/8/8 b - - 0 53"]

53...Nf5?

Now Black runs into a knight fork and cannot win anymore against White's
active army.

53...g5 54.Ne7+ Kb7 55.c6+

[FEN "8/1kp1Np2/2P4p/1P4p1/7n/2K5/
8/8 b - - 0 55"]

A) It is not too late to spoil matters with 55...Kb6? 56.Kb4 Ka7 (56...f5?? 57.
Nc8#) 57.Kc5 g4 58.Nd5 Kb8! The only move to draw. (58...g3? 59.Nxc7 g2
60.b6+ Kb8 61.Na6+ Kc8 62.b7++–) 59.b6 cxb6+ 60.Kxb6 Ng6 61.c7+ Kc8
62.Kc6 Ne5+ 63.Kd6 Nc4+ 64.Kc6 Na5+=.

B) 55...Kb8! 56.Kd4 h5 57.Nd5 Ng6 58.Nf6 h4 59.Ke4 Ka7 60.Kf3 Kb6 61.
Kg4 Kxb5 62.Kxg5 Kxc6–+.
54.Ne5! g5 55.Nxf7

[FEN "2k5/2p2N2/7p/1PP2np1/8/2K5/
8/8 b - - 0 55"]

55...Kd7

Now White's queenside majority gives him the draw. The last practical chance
was 55...g4 56.Kd3 g3 (56...h5 57.Ne5 Ng7 58.Ke4 Ne6 59.c6 Kd8 60.Ng6
Ke8 61.Nh4 Kf7 62.Kf5=) 57.Ke2 h5 58.Kf3 h4 59.Ng5 Nd4+ 60.Kg2 Nxb5
61.Nf3 Kb7 62.Nxh4 Kc6 63.Kxg3 Kxc5 with a tablebase draw.

56.Kd3 Ke6 57.b6 cxb6 58.cxb6 Kd7 59.Ne5+ Kc8 60.Ke4 Nd6+ 61.Kd5 Nf5
62.Ke6 Nd4+ 63.Kf6 Nf3

A last joke.

64.Nxf3 Kb7 ½–½

H) Petrosian's Pawns

I started with the theme that a rook's pawn is the worst enemy of the knight
and in a way I also end with it.

137.04 Petrosian, Tigran (2643) – Arutinian, D (2553)

28th Cappelle Open FRA (4), 05.03.2012

[FEN "8/5n2/2N5/4pp2/2Pk3P/5KP1/
8/8 b - - 0 54"]

54...Kxc4?

This greedy capture runs into a hammer-blow, as Black's king is just too far
away.

54...Kc5!! saves the day, since Black's king is back in time now: 55.Nxe5 (55.
Ne7 Nd6! 56.h5 Kxc4 57.h6 Nf7 58.Nxf5 Kd5 59.Kg4 Ke6 60.h7 Kf6 61.Nd6
Nh8 62.Kh5 Kg7=) 55...Nxe5+ 56.Kf4
 [FEN "8/8/8/2k1np2/2P2K1P/6P1/8/8 b - - 0 56"]

56...Nxc4 (56...Kd6 draws as well: 57.c5+ Ke6 58.Kg5 Nf3+ 59.Kg6 f4=) 57.
Kxf5 Kd6 58.Kf6 Nd2 59.h5 Ne4+ 60.Kg6 Ke6 61.h6 Nf6 62.g4 (62.h7 Nxh7
63.Kxh7 Kf5 64.Kh6 Kg4=) 62...Nxg4 63.h7 Ne5+ 64.Kg7 Nf7=.

54...Kd3? is wrong because of 55.Nxe5+ Nxe5+ 56.Kf4+–.

55.Nxe5+!! Nxe5+ 56.Kf4

[FEN "8/8/8/4np2/2k2K1P/6P1/8/8 b - - 0 56"]

Black cannot save himself despite having a knight against a pawn. Really
amazing!

56...Kd5 57.Kxf5 Kd6

57...Nf7 58.h5 Kd6 59.Kf6 transposes.

58.h5 Nf7

58...Nd7 59.h6 Nf8 60.Kf6+–.

59.Kf6!

[FEN "8/5n2/3k1K2/7P/8/6P1/8/8 b - - 0 59"]

Petrosian's king divides Black's forces.

59...Nh6 60.Kg6 Ng4

60...Ng8 61.h6 Nxh6 62.Kxh6 Ke5 63.g4+–.

61.h6 Ke7 62.h7 Ne5+ 63.Kg7 Nf7 64.g4 1–0

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