King and knight against king

Originally posted by hamltnblue
K and 2N can mate
Quick set up
White King on G1
White Knight on F3
White Knight on C3
Black King on E1

Black's last move then, must have been foolish.

Yeah it can mate but it is not a FORCED mate as the defending side must help the attacking side by self-mating.

N & K vs K can be won.
I read it's called [/i]win by longevity[/i] or something.

Originally posted by DeepRed
Black's last move then, must have been foolish.

Foolish or a blunder. The puzzle also includes a black Knight and a pawn trying to advance.

Originally posted by Squelchbelch
N & K vs K [b]can be won.
I read it's called [/i]win by longevity[/i] or something.[/b]

K & N vs K cannot be won by any rules of chess, even on time in a blitz game as to win on time you must have mating material which is defined as the ability to win the game by any sequence of moves even against the most inept counterplay. K & N vs K can never achieve this.

If nothing else applies then 3 fold repetition odr the 50 move rule will both do the trick. I would head for a corner to force the repetition if thats what it takes to end the game (as a draw).

and even with two knights, being a specialist, if the opponent does not make any mistake...very difficult..

Originally posted by Schopenhauer
and even with two knights, being a specialist, if the opponent does not make any mistake...very difficult..

With 2Ns if the opponent does not make a mistake it is impossible.

... but K & 2Ns vs K & P is, in certain circumstances, a win for the 2Ns but exceedingly difficult and generally not possible in less than 50 moves.

Originally posted by Squelchbelch
N & K vs K [b]can be won.
I read it's called [/i]win by longevity[/i] or something.[/b]

It can only be won if the opponent helps the other side mate by being a moron. It cannot be forced. It's called a win by being a moron.

Originally posted by Sam The Sham
It can only be won if the opponent helps the other side mate by being a moron. It cannot be forced. It's called a win by being a moron.

It can't be won by the other side (moron or otherwise) helping you mate, because mate is not possible. The other side would have to be such a big moron that he/she resigned.

Originally posted by C J Horse
It can't be won by the other side (moron or otherwise) helping you mate, because mate is not possible. The other side would have to be such a big moron that he/she resigned.

You're right.

Originally posted by Sam The Sham
You're right.

Sam, stick to your guns. You're right, and C J Horse is wrong. It only takes a minute to Google it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_knights_endgame

Edit - Oops, sorry, I didn't notice that we're alternating between single knight discussions and double knight discussions. So for one knight, C J Horse IS correct. (Sorry for the snafu, Horsey :-)

Originally posted by C J Horse
It can't be won by the other side (moron or otherwise) helping you mate, because mate is not possible. The other side would have to be such a big moron that he/she resigned.

It can be won if black is a moron in the following position



White plays Nf7 mate.

Black is a moron because his last move had to be Kh8 but he could have played Kf8 avoiding the mate.