At 72 it becomes knight + bishop vs. nothing. Does theory say a win can be forced? Or does it take a mistake? Checkmate is achieved at 168. I would love to know if white was offering a draw during the second half of the game.
[pgn][Date "2012.08.2 . Kh8h7 Ng7e6 166. Kh7h8 Bf4g5 167. Kh8h7 Ne6f8 168. Kh7h8 Bg5f6 0-1[/pgn]
Checkmate with bishop and knight can be forced accorking to Al Horowitz in his book "Chess Self-Teacher". A barrier is created by the bishop, knight, and king to drive the lone king back to the edge of the board and then into the same color corner as the bishop to deliver the checkmate. The final position will end something like this:
[FEN "8/k1K1N3/8/8/8/8/8/5B2 w - - 0 1"] 1.Nc8+ {Notice that the bishop and king prevent the black king from escaping from the two corner squares so that the knight can check the king by moving to c8 driving the king into the correct corner so the bishop can deliver mate.} 1...ka8 {Checking with the knight on c6 on the previous move would have blocked the diagonal for the bishop to deliver the checkmate. The bishop does not have to be on the first rank and the knight could have been anywhere that it can deliver the check to drive the black king into the corner.} 2.Bg2#
The book gives two other positions. One is a mate in 5 moves where the king is going to the correct corner and the other a mate in 10 to 12 moves in which the king has gone to the wrong corner.
It's true. K+B+N vs K is a forced win. However, it is very difficult and time consuming to learn and rarely, if ever, occurs. IM Jeremy Silman mentions in his endgame book that it only occurred once in his career. In my 8 years of competitive play it has only come up once; I was losing but managed to force my opponent into a K+B+N vs K endgame, and he agreed to a draw after vainly attempting to mate me.
Originally posted by chesskid001 It's true. K+B+N vs K is a forced win. However, it is very difficult and time consuming to learn and rarely, if ever, occurs. IM Jeremy Silman mentions in his endgame book that it only occurred once in his career. In my 8 years of competitive play it has only come up once; I was losing but managed to force my opponent into a K+B+N vs K endgame, and he agreed to a draw after vainly attempting to mate me.
It is really not that difficult once you know the basic ideas and a couple critical positions that keep the king from escaping again and again into the wrong corner.
[Event "Ladder"] [Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"] [Date "2013.01.13"] [EndDate "2013.01.18"] [Round "?"] [White "herrero"] [Black "64squaresofpain"] [WhiteRating "1278"] [BlackRating "1483"] [WhiteElo "1278"] [BlackElo "1483"] [Result "0-1"] [GameId "9779570"] 1. e4 c5 {I've decided in recent times that my response to 1.e4 will almost always be the sicilian} 2. c4 Nb8c6 3. Ng1f3 d6 {I usually play e6, but white does not have Bc4 now} 4. h3 Ng8f6 5. d3 g6 6. a3 Bf8g7 {This diagonal later becomes useless, you will see Bh6 later} 7. Nb1c3 O-O 8. Bc1f4 Nf6h5 {This is one move i'm not sure about...} 9. Bf4e3 {Or this... in hindsight I see nothing much wrong with Bg5 for white} Nc6d4 10. Be3xd4 cxd4 11. Nc3e2 e5 {Now white's knights are tethered} 12. g3 Nh5f6 {Recognising the weakness of this knight, he begins his journey to a better square} 13. Qd1c1 Nf6d7 14. h4 {White seems to be focused on the g5 square.... not sure why} Nd7c5 {This is a much more useful square than h5, threatening a Q+K fork} 15. Qc1c2 Bc8d7 {Looking at a4} 16. Bf1h3 Bd7a4 17. Qc2d2 Nc5b3 18. Qd2b4 {attacking a4 and b7, forcing the knight back} Nb3c5 {With yet another Q+K fork threat, I thought the Queen should now come back} 19. Ne2c1 {White likes the Queen where it is... but I see trapping potential, I just need to cover the d2 square} Bg7h6 {right on cue} 20. Ke1e2 {This is to save white's Queen... but surely Kf1 was better} a5 21. Qb4e1 Qd8b6 {and from here on we see the conclusion unfold} 22. Ra1b1 Ba4c2 23. Rb1a1 Qb6xb2 24. Nc1a2 Bc2xd3 25. Ke2d1 Qb2c2 0-1
I particularly enjoy how white's King and Queen have swapped places 😀
I'm really interested to see if anyone can prove the sac "wrong" I calculated many lines but none to a conclusive win... I just thought I was better off because even though I was a piece down not only was I ahead in development but black was going to have trouble getting his pieces onto good square, or so I though but maybe someone can find a better defense (I realise that black need not have walked into mate in one)?
I am much more proud of this game than the previous one. I key in on the weaknesses while my opponent slips in a tough situation allowing me into a won king and pawn end game... all the endgame study is starting to show through.
This game may be found dull by some as I just created an iso d pawn and proved it was a weakness into the endgame while my opponent just allowed it to happen.
[Event "Open invite"] [Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"] [Date "2013.01.25"] [EndDate "2013.02.08"] [Round "?"] [White "64squaresofpain"] [Black "svilla"] [WhiteRating "1463"] [BlackRating "1468"] [WhiteElo "1463"] [BlackElo "1468"] [Result "1-0"] [GameId "9804935"] 1. e4 e5 2. Bf1c4 {During one short spell I played the bishop's opening a lot, with the simple aim of putting pressure on f7} Nb8c6 3. Ng1f3 h6 4. d3 Bf8b4 5. Bc1d2 d6 6. Bd2xb4 {Might as well gain some tempo} Nc6xb4 7. a3 Nb4c6 8. b4 Bc8d7 9. Nb1c3 a6 10. b5 Nc6a5 11. bxa6 bxa6 {Creates an open file, which black utilises well later} 12. Bc4a2 {I want to maintain one eye on f7} Ng8f6 13. h3 O-O 14. O-O Bd7b5 15. a4 Bb5c6 {Perhaps black preferred my pawn on a4, i don't know} 16. Rf1e1 Qd8d7 17. d4 {Committal move, leading to exchanges on the weakened e4 square} exd4 18. Nf3xd4 Rf8e8 19. Nd4f3 Bc6xe4 {I realised I was behind here, so I looked for a move, and I found Qd5} 20. Nc3xe4 Nf6xe4 21. Re1xe4 Re8xe4 22. Qd1d5 {Attacking 3 undefended pieces... here i expected aRe8, where I would then take the knight} Qd7c6 {This surprised me... Qxf7 was tempting but what does it lead to? Not much i figured} 23. Qd5xc6 Na5xc6 {The ladies will return later} 24. Ba2d5 {I saw this and figured I would be winning} Re4b4 25. Bd5xc6 Ra8b8 {And here we start with the b-file troubles} 26. Nf3d2 Rb4b2 27. Bc6e4 Rb8b4 28. Be4d3 a5 29. Ra1e1 g6 30. Nd2c4 Rb2a2 31. Re1e8 Kg8g7 32. Re8a8 {Blunder, I had thought this somehow saved the a pawn, i was probably drunk} Rb4xa4 33. Ra8c8 Ra4xc4 34. Bd3xc4 Ra2xc2 35. Bc4b3 Rc2c3 36. Bb3d5 a4 37. Rc8a8 a3 38. Kg1f1 {My King wakes up from slumber to try and resolve this mess} Kg7f6 39. Kf1e1 c6 40. Bd5a2 d5 41. Ke1d2 d4 42. Ra8a6 Kf6e5 43. Ba2xf7 {f7 is finally mine!} g5 44. Bf7g6 Ke5d5 45. f3 Kd5c5 46. Bg6b1 Kc5b4 47. Ra6b6 Kb4a5 48. Rb6b8 c5 49. Rb8b7 Rc3e3 {Up to here i was struggling for ideas, I now had one} 50. Bb1d3 {blocks the rook away, a pawn can't advance due to Ra7+} Ka5a4 51. Bd3c2 {Push black's King back up, preparing the rook exchange} Ka4a5 52. Rb7b3 Re3xb3 53. Bc2xb3 {Scary endgame} Ka5b4 54. Bb3a2 c4 55. g3 c3 56. Kd2c2 h5 57. f4 {Looking back, this was also a blunder, h4 had to be played} gxf4 {But black took anyway, a reprieve} 58. gxf4 Kb4c5 59. f5 Kc5d6 60. Ba2b1 {I thought about holding that pawn on f7, but i couldn't see a way my king could fend off all these pawns} Kd6e5 61. Kc2b3 Ke5d5 62. Kb3xa3 Kd5c4 63. f6 d3 64. f7 {Gotta do it now, sense a fight coming} c2 65. Bb1a2 Kc4c3 66. f8=Q c1=Q 67. Ka3a4 d2 {I would probably have carried on checking.. this loses all tempo} 68. Qf8f3 Kc3b2 {I expected Kd4 here... after Kb2 i sensed mate, but could not see it for looking} 69. Qf3a3 Kb2a1 70. Ba2b3 Qc1xa3 71. Ka4xa3 {However from here I played accurately, counting ahead to ensure a winning game} Ka1b1 72. Ka3b4 Kb1c1 73. Kb4c4 d1=Q {The fifth Queen of the game} 74. Bb3xd1 Kc1xd1 75. Kc4d4 Kd1e2 76. Kd4e4 Ke2f2 77. Ke4f4 Kf2g2 78. h4 Kg2h3 79. Kf4g5 Kh3g3 80. Kg5xh5 Kg3f4 81. Kh5g6 {black resigns} 1-0
I couldn't resist the rook sac; black had to decline with ... Kh8, I think, whereupon I've won back the sacrificed pawn - and the position is probably roughly equal!
Share an interesting game you played
17 Jan '13 08:193 edits
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