Hi Romanticus,
By coincidence your game was close to to something I coaching the
other day. An instructive position arose in your game, shame to let it pass.
Game 6269784 in Thread 112287 'Endgame Help'
Bishop v Knight Endings.
All you have to know is that Knights are crap in endings.
Do everything you can NOT to go into an ending with a Knight v a Bishop.
'...fight like a crazy rat in the middle game.'
There will be exceptions, but on the whole the Bishop will triumph.
"In the Ending even a bad Bishop is better than a good Knight."
Russian proverb.
Crash course in Knight Endings - So let's look at Rooks.
You most likely know that two united pawns on the 6th rank beat a Rook.
White will win by simply pushing either pawn.
(Even if it’s Black to move one of the pawns will promote in that postion.)
But just one pawn on the sixth rank can beat a Knight.
1.b7 wins.
And if the pawn happens to on the a-file or the h-file then
a pawn on 5th rank can beat a Knight.
1.a6 wins.
The we must take into consideration the Knight's '3 Move Blind Spot'
Store the 2 square diagonal pattern.
No matter which pawn you wish to attack it will take the Knight 3 moves to attack it.
3 moves!
In the Middle Game the Knight can hide this disadvantage by attacking
other pieces or threatening tender squares to gain a tempo.
In the ending the targets dry up and 3 moves in an ending, where
counting is the order of the day, is a lifetime.
Your Game
What to look for in a Bishop v Knight ending is for ways to
emabarrass the Knight. Keep thinking how bad it is in this phrase
of the game and the ideas will come.
When an ending has been botched up I'm not interested in all
the missed moves you could you have made.
What we go for is the clearest, simplest win that was missed.
(and here I can highlight how bad the Knight is in an ending).
We start from here. Black has just played 47....Nd5+
48.Ke4! Hits the Knight and yes sacs the Bishop with 48...Nc3+
You played 48.Kf5 which should still win but not as good as
nor as instrucive as 48.Ke4.
First, what happens if Black takes the b-pawn?
48.Ke4 Nxb4 49.e6 wins easily.
The Knight is shackled the pawn walks home - easy win.
You had the same position in your game 'cept your King was on f5 intead of e4.
See the big difference and how easily it is to hamstring a Knight.
So let's look at Black taking the Bishop.
48.Ke4! Nc3+ 49.Kf5! Nxb5 50.Kf6 it's a simple win.
The Knight is totally useless. It hates split pawns (another Knight drawback).
There is just one line you have to avoid.
From the last diagram I'll slip in some bad White moves for effect.
50....Nc7 51. Kf7? (51.e6!) Kg5 52. e6 Kg4 53. e7 Kxg3 54. b5??
54...Nxb5 56 e8=Q Nd6+
You don't lose 57.Kg6! but you don't win.
As I mentioned 51.e6! with White keeping the Black King
bottled up easily wins.
I can talk you through it.
Black will give up the Knight for the e-pawn and then run the King
for the g-pawn (on g3). White will Queen the b-pawn with a check
when the Black h-pawn has got as far as h3. An elementry win.
White can force this position.
When White wins no matter who has the move.
See how much fun can be had even from the simplest of positions?
Knights are generally better in endgames with a closed position with a bad bishop. Knight versus bad bishop endgames are an easy win for the knight.
The strength of the bishop is it's long range, an endgame with flexible pawn chains on both flanks (for example when both sides have a majority)will be almost certainly won by the bishop, because it is able to control both flanks while the knight can't.
With pawns on one wing only and an equal position, a knight can generally hold.
I've very very rarely chuck a won game..
I cannot recall the last time I did OTB and losses tend to stick in your memory.
Yes I've sacced in equal positios and sacced just to stir things up.
But a technical won game like above - never.
I'm always looking for a neat wrap up and I guess if you think along
the same lines then you won't throw away anymore wins either.
Stay alert, it's always good to have a tidy finish to a game.
I keep saying you learn from your losses.
I was looking at some poor lad's games this morning.
P.472 Lost 312.
Here are the first 6 moves of a game that finished a few days ago.
He was mated 10 moves later. The lad in question is Black.
Maybe some people play just for the fun of the game and have no nterest in getting better.
Sometimes I envy them.
Originally posted by greenpawn34"don't be greedy, you only need to win the game once" or something like that, as gm danielsen put it.
I'm always looking for a neat wrap up and I guess if you think along
the same lines then you won't throw away anymore wins either.
Stay alert, it's always good to have a tidy finish to a game.