Chess Socks and Rooks v Knights.

A Father’s Day gift. Chess Socks!


To be honest I am not really a father. You see when I got married
me and the wife read a book on how to make children and we both
agreed it sounded a bit unhygienic not to mention very impersonal.

So we adopted a few kids to try parenthood out to see if it was worth it.
When I says kids, that is not exactly true. Both were 21 year olds who
left home within a few days of joining us. But they still keep in touch.


Before seeing the first puzzle first a question on your endgame technique.


How comfortable are you defending a Rook v Knight ending?
It is usually a book draw but RHP statistics reveal that this is
not the case. I have found 1,046 games that were drawn and
452 that were won and about 400 of those were needlessly lost.
( it also appears a number of those draws are missed wins.)


I’ve never played either side but due to increment in tournaments
the number of times this ending has arisen has dramatically increased.
My main database has 1,675 and 1,537 have come from this century!

I advise you familiarise with defending this ending just in case you meet it.
The winning tries with the Rook are fairly obvious and you can pick up ideas
when you are looking and studying how to defend it as the Knight player.

Rules of Thumb

A key set up for the King and Knight. player. It is a draw no matter whose move it is.


It should be studied till you are comfortable with it. I’ll go though some attempts
at Black trying to win this and make it sound like I know what I am talking about..



Sometimes the Rook can hold fast a Knight so the King can sneak in
and capture it. Here are some key positions where this can happen.
Keep the Knight out of the corner, It is easier to trap if their King is too
far away. b2, b7 g2 and g7 can also be dodgy squares for the Knight.


I’ll go over a couple. The position on the bottom left contains a neat ‘must know’ idea.


Having seen that you will now be able to spot the win Black missed in this game.

Bradsterd - sw67 RHP 2019 (Black to play)


The Rook has trapped the Knight, now ‘carefully’ bring in the King to win it.
Not 1...Kc5 2.Ke5 is a draw. 1....Kc6! 2.Ke5 Kc5 3.Ke6 Kb4 4.Ke5 Rd2 {But, as I
mentioned, Black missed this technique and the game was drawn.} 0-1.

makiev - KellyJay RHP2006 (another missed win.)
Here I will go the long way round to point out other winning methods.


Good now all that is out of the way we can look at the first puzzle. (at last)

T. O'Gorman - E. Ruzhansky, Southend 2025 (White to play)

Reveal Hidden Content

Another Rook and Knight themed puzzle. This is by Max Karstedt (1911)


White to play and promote the pawn. The first few moves are easy.

1.c7 Rh8 2.Nd8 Rh6+


3. Kb7 Rh7 draws and 3.Kc5 or 3. Kc6 Rh1 with 4. c8=Q Rc1+ in mind.
How does the White King get away from the checks and the Skewer Defence.


In the solution I mention the Saavedra study. Just in case some, or even one of
you do not know this I’ll show how it ends. ‘Always Pause before Promoting.’

White to play

1.c8=Q Rc4+ 2.Qxc4 stalemate. the win is 1.c8=R Ra4 2. 2;Kb3 .


Only two puzzles this week. I’m sure everyone by now is
fed up looking at Rook and Knight endings. I know I am.

OOPS! I forgot this one. Do not worry I am not going to ask you to solve anything.
Sit back, relax and enjoy playing over a contender for THP ‘The Swindle of 2025.’

nemostat - Shelrock57 RHP 2024



Me and my yacht.

The thread accompanying this blog is Thread 202918