Go back
Knights of the square table !

Knights of the square table !

Only Chess

Vote Up
Vote Down

1. Ka3 is the only move by deduction but I don't see how Black tries to defend/White tries to win from there.
1. ... Kc5 2. Nd6 Nf6 3. Ne4+ wins
1. ... Kc6 2. Nd6 Nf6 3. draw

1 edit
Vote Up
Vote Down

ya it was mistake

Vote Up
Vote Down

Originally posted by ImperatorGT
ya it was mistake but Kc4 looks better
Originally posted by heinzkat
Horizontally?
1. Kc4? Ne5+ with
2. ... Ng6
3. ... Nxe7

Vote Up
Vote Down

it,s harder as it looks on the first look...

Vote Up
Vote Down

Before I forget this one is a heroic Knight:

White to move, mate in two



Composed by Kipping

Vote Up
Vote Down

nice, but easy

1 edit
Vote Up
Vote Down

Originally posted by heinzkat
1. Ka3 is the only move by deduction but I don't see how Black tries to defend/White tries to win from there.
1. ... Kc5 2. Nd6 Nf6 3. Ne4+ wins
1. ... Kc6 2. Nd6 Nf6 3. draw
Correct!
Vipiu found it too...1.Ka3! Kc6... then of course Nd6? is still wrong, and vipiu's Kb2? is met by Ne5! 3.Nd6 Nc4+ (yes still a check) and draw...

So what is the second move?
(greenpawn gave a good hint!)

Vote Up
Vote Down

Originally posted by shorbock
And here a nice one where the solution is not so hard to find. The intersting point is to understand why depite the symetry, there's only 1 solution !
(hint : knowing your basic theoretical endgames helps)


[fen]4K3/4P3/4N3/8/8/3p1p2/4k3/8 w[/fen]
White to play and win
1. Nd4+ K~
2. Nxf3 Kxf3
3. Kf8 d2
4. e8=Q [White wins (4. ... d1=Q? 5. Qh5+) with the known technique 4. ... Kf2 5. Qh5 Ke1 6. Qh1+ Ke2 7. Qe4+ Kf2 8. Qd3 Ke1 9. Qe3+ Kd1 10. Ke7 etc.]

White cannot win via 1. Nf4+? since Queen vs. the f2 pawn sadly means no more than a draw.

Vote Up
Vote Down

Originally posted by heinzkat
Before I forget this one is a heroic Knight:

White to move, mate in two

[fen]5nrk/3P2pb/6nq/4p3/pb3p2/2p4r/K2p1pp1/8[/fen]

Composed by Kipping
More in keeping with the theme of "glorious knight". This one single-handedly beats the whole black army! harder to compose than to solve i guess 🙂

Vote Up
Vote Down

Originally posted by heinzkat
Before I forget this one is a heroic Knight:

White to move, mate in two

[fen]5nrk/3P2pb/6nq/4p3/pb3p2/2p4r/K2p1pp1/8[/fen]

Composed by Kipping
Yes, too easy.

d8=N and then, no matter what move they make, Nf7#

1 edit
Vote Up
Vote Down

Originally posted by shorbock
Correct!
Vipiu found it too...1.Ka3! Kc6... then of course Nd6? is still wrong, and vipiu's Kb2? is met by Ne5! 3.Nd6 Nc4+ (yes still a check) and draw...

So what is the second move?
(greenpawn gave a good hint!)
1.Ka3 Ka5 2.Kb3 Kb6 3.Nc7 Nf6 4.Nd5+


I mean, doesn't 1...Kc6 just lose to 2.Kb4 Kd5 3.Nc7+?

Vote Up
Vote Down

Kb3 is still unhandy (Nc5+ with Ne6). 2. Ka2 is more likely to be good.

Vote Up
Vote Down

Originally posted by heinzkat
Kb3 is still unhandy (Nc5+ with Ne6). 2. Ka2 is more likely to be good.
1.Ka3 Ka5 2.Kb3 Nc5+ 3.Kc4 Ne6 4.Kd5 and what can black do?

Vote Up
Vote Down

Originally posted by wormwood
1.Ka3 Ka5 2.Kb3 Kb6 3.Nc7 Nf6 4.Nd5+


I mean, doesn't 1...Kc6 just lose to 2.Kb4 Kd5 3.Nc7+?
okay, I just couldn't help myself and fritzed it. it turns out there are 5 roughly equal 1st moves for black including ...Kc6 (Ka5 one of them). I still can't figure out the common reasoning behind them though, as all but 2 continue differently...

Vote Up
Vote Down

Originally posted by wormwood
1.Ka3 Ka5 2.Kb3 Nc5+ 3.Kc4 Ne6 4.Kd5 and what can black do?
4...Nf4+ then Ng6xe7 unstoppable!
But you're right : after 1...Ka5? white can win in different ways (2.Ka2, Kb3, Nc7) simply after 2.Kb3 Nc5+ 3.Kc4 Ne6, not 4.Kd5? but 4.Nf6! then the king can chase black knight

That's why 1...Kc6 is a better defensive try than Ka5, leaving only 1 winning move for white! (found by heinzkat, congrats!)