A Study in Discovered Check

...and I would like to add my name to Paul's in those that love this sort of post in the forum.

Originally posted by Paul Leggett
I have been studying endings with my "real world" friend Ocean64.

For the longest time I thought it was a waste of time to study bishop and knight vs king, because it hardly ever occurs, and I've never had it myself.

However, after grudgingly spending time on it, I have come to appreciate how learning it- and really [i]going through the process ...[text shortened]... eased my appreciation for all forms of analytical chess puzzles or tests, real or contrived.

The bishop + knight + king vs king is a practical ending that does come up sometimes in real games and I studied it and had it down good when I was in my eearly study stage before the World Open in 1982. However, I have not had it happen since my return to chess, so I might need a refresher, but I still think I could do it now.

Originally posted by RJHinds
The bishop + knight + king vs king is a practical ending that does come up sometimes in real games and I studied it and had it down good when I was in my eearly study stage before the World Open in 1982. However, I have not had it happen since my return to chess, so I might need a refresher, but I still think I could do it now.

Did you find it useful to know it? By that I mean did you think it helped your understanding of chess in any way?

A good result at the World Open does not happen by accident, so your method of study could be valuable for others.

Originally posted by Paul Leggett
Did you find it useful to know it? By that I mean did you think it helped your understanding of chess in any way?

A good result at the World Open does not happen by accident, so your method of study could be valuable for others.

Yes, it is useful to know all the basic endgames for both checkmating and defending against the checkmate. It is also useful to know how to avoid draw by stalemate.

Originally posted by RJHinds
It is hard for me to imagine ....

yep

Originally posted by Paul Leggett


For the longest time I thought it was a waste of time to study bishop and knight vs king, because it hardly ever occurs, and I've never had it myself.

However, after grudgingly spending time on it, I have come to appreciate how learning it- and really going through the process of learning it- helps me get a much better feel for how bishops and knights operate and interact together.

In many cases in middlegame knight and bishop have to coordinate the same way as in the endgame.
So knowing BNK vs K checkmate is much more important than many can comprehend.

He posted.

"...but I want practical puzzles that will help me in a real game."

If you solve it wihtout moving the bits it will help your OTB visualisation.
(even more so if you set it up on a real board.).

Also the idea and the pattern will come in handy in the future.
Much more so than knowing how to mate with a Knight & Bishop.
Chances for Double and Discovered Checks crop up all the time in games.
The B & N ending, once every 30 years. 🙂

Then there is, as mentioned by another poster, the simple joy and pleasure
of solving it. Of course if you used a computer to find the solution for you
then this pleasure is lost to you so all you can do is complain about it.

Originally posted by greenpawn34
He posted.

"...but I want practical puzzles that will help me in a real game."

If you solve it wihtout moving the bits it will help your OTB visualisation.
(even more so if you set it up on a real board.).

Also the idea and the pattern will come in handy in the future.
Much more so than knowing how to mate with a Knight & Bishop.
Chances for ...[text shortened]... he solution for you
then this pleasure is lost to you so all you can do is complain about it.

Of course, you are right, What was I thinking?