https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sl7rYXpqwIk

Secrets of Trapping Pieces: Knight Trapped by Rook Part 2 of 2

Updated: Feb 18, 2024, 5:30 PM | 4

As noted previously, a Rook can dominate a Knight in any of the four corners of the board. A total of 16 squares. For instance, a1, a2, b1 and b2. And so on for each corner of the board. A Rook cannot, by itself, dominate a Knight placed on any of the other 48 squares.

For this blog is it also useful to note that a King can not only trap a Knight in the corner, but capture it as well. But the King can only trap a Knight that is in in one of the four corners, a1, a8, h1 or h8. And the King has to be placed on one of the two squares diagonally from the corner. For instance, for a Knight on a1 the enemy King has to be placed on b2 or c3 to dominate the Knight.

The previous blog focused on various compositions that involved trapping the Knight with a Rook and administering the fatal blow with a pawn. But the side with the Knight was given some counterplay in the form of three advanced passed pawns and a much more active King. So that if the side with the Rook misplayed it the end result would shift from victory to equality or even defeat.

That set the stage for investigating some real-world positions of a Rook trapping a Knight in this follow-on blog. We'll also see a King entrapping the Knight in a few lines. The point of these puzzles is to demonstrate that the entrapment of Knights is an important factor, but that the consideration of mere pawns can be critical in evaluating whether a Knight entrapment fails or succeeds.

So, bottom line, the compositions in the previous blog were illustrative. But what actually happens over the board? How about a real game?

We examine an illustrative game played in 1926 by Mikhail Botvinnik, who earned the title of World Champion three times and held the title from 1948–57, 1958–60, and 1961–63. Botvinnik spotted a combination that leaves him a Knight ahead instead of an Exchange down. So he played 25...Rxe7+ How should Black respond? And how would you evaluate the position after the next few moves?

Instead of 25.Rxe7+ how should Botvinnik have proceeded?

What happens if Black captures on e6, an eminently reasonable looking move.

So how does it play out if Black plays 32...Kc6 to dominate and then win the a8 Knight? We'll demonstrate that by allowing the Black King to hunt down the horseman lollygaggging in the corner.

A question one must ask is, "Does the outcome change if White plays 30.Rxg7

Finally, let's look at the actual game continuation.

Lessons Learned:

1. Even future world champions can misevaluate the position that results from a tactical solution.
2. Going "a Rook up" is not necessarily all it is cracked up to be if the Knight that captured the Rook is then trapped in the corner and the side down a piece has counterplay elsewhere on the board.
3. Yes, a single tempo and a single pawn can be critical. If Botvinnik had captured the g7 pawn before tracking down the a8 Rook he would have had superb winning chances.

Postscript. I was completely unaware of the YouTube video about this game. I found the game, then found the video with the nice Rook and Knight jpeg. Still haven't watched it, but that's largely because I don't want to accidentally plagiarize any of their material.

Secrets of Trapping Pieces: Knight Trapped by Rook Part 2 of 2

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