Endgame Technique: Knight against pawn

Knight against pawn endgames are very easy, for the most part. All it takes is a little courage and knowledge in the endgame. First of all, when it's just a knight and a pawn (with kings) don't be afraid to trade your knight for a pawn. A draw is ok.

In this position, it is nearly impossible to win. Black can always promote the pawn, too. That's why we need to play Nf4+ and sacrifice our knight for a pawn.

Can this position be won? Well, in theory, no. This is because you can't checkmate with those pieces alone. This position will arise if you try to take the pawn. We can see that it is the same result if you take the pawn or sacrifice the knight for a pawn. Now we will see what happens if you can't sacrifice your knight for the pawn.

Now, in this diagram, we can see that the knight is covering the queening square and the king is protecting the knight. In this position, white can't queen or kick the knight out. Black can make waiting moves by moving the king (anywhere still protecting the knight) or the knight to d8. That way, black will secure a draw.

This is an example of how we can draw this type of endgame. The following is an example of a win (just to prove that it isn't impossible to win).

Keep in mind that this probably won't happen in a real game but with best play from both sides, these endgames are usually a draw.