Knight Maneuvers
“Move it in an L-shape, two up and one over. Good. That’s it. Keep going.”
I’ve always enjoyed watching elementary-age kids master knight moves. But there’s so much more to moving knights than counting squares. In this blog, we’ll take a look at the mystery and beauty of knights. Some of this will be familiar; some of it's mind-blowing.
Since there is a range of skill levels among my readers, I’ve annotated examples from a wide range of chess literature. Warning: Some examples are challenging. Enjoy!
A Closer Look at Knight Geometry
Jumping to Conclusions: Endgame Theory and Knights
What Knights Do Best
Blockade
The knight is the best blockader because it can close a rank, file, or diagonal AND retain all of its movement and powers. If a bishop, queen, or rook is blocked by a protected pawn that piece loses influence. But knights stand tall. They can reach into hard-to-access spaces, causing havoc for an opponent.
Here are two blockade examples from Can Kabadayi’s recent Chessable course, Preventing Blunders in Chess.
Here’s a more advanced case from the ARVES database. Notice how the pawn and knight coordinate to create an even greater blockade.
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Natural Double Attackers
Knights can easily branch out and target multiple pieces, including the King. I found this nice example that shows Black with nice advantage.
Redirection
In almost every conceivable board position, a knight can catapult and reach faraway spaces. Often, a knight has time to redirect and go backwards before reaching a more favorable square in the future. See this stunning example from Bernd Rosen includes in Chess Endgame Training.
"In many instances, the knight can win the necessary tempo with a check to the enemy king." —Mark Dvoretsky, Endgame Manual
A Closer Look at Knight Geometry
The Knight's Route
I am not good at math. Believe me. However, it is possible to move a single knight in succession to the other 63 squares, touching each only once. It’s mesmerizing to watch.
I also found a powerful knight move visualizer, which allows you to place a knight on any square and highlight the number of moves it takes to reach adjacent squares. You can play chess a long time and not understand these mechanics, but it may help you avoid a fork or two if we dive deeper into the theory.
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The Knight's Shadow
I believe Karsten Müeller coined the phrase, a Knight’s shadow. It is the square that is one square diagonal (or in diagonal opposition) from the Knight. This location has unique properties in that it would take the knight four jumps to land on this square. It’s always true no matter where the knight is on the board.
There are situations where a king can hide in this shadow and remain safe from harm. But be warned, context is everything!
Karpov’s Distance
Another key distance to know is Karpov’s distance. This is vertical or horizontal alignment from a knight with two spaces in between. It would take the knight three jumps to land on this square. It might be helpful to remember that the remaining vertices of a triangle reaching away from the knight are also three jumps away. In blitz play, The knight’s shadow and Karpov’s distance can help someone avoid immediate forks.
Jumping to Conclusions: Endgame Theory and Knights
Dvoretsky reports that Botvinnik once said, "Knight endgames are pawn endgames." It's an interesting claim and Dvoretsky thought that the logic here is that many of the techniques in pawn endgame play crossover to knight endings. It's something to think about.
Knight Barrier
Averbakh's classic Chess Endings: Essential Knowledge has a short 6-page section on Knights and pawns. He shows how a knight creates a barrier that is difficult for a solitary king to cross and support a pawn hoping to become a queen.
Knight Circuit
It is difficult for a knight to stop an outside passed pawn. But from the sixth rank, there is a well known defense. The knight enters into a circuit and the king cannot stop the knight from making its rounds.
Stamma's Mate
Checkmating with a single knight against a king isn’t viable. We need a good measure of help. Averbakh's Chess Endings claims that the following mating pattern was known in the 12th century. It’s more commonly known as Stamma’s mate, named after Phillip Stamma.
I haven’t been able to confirm Averbakh’s claim, though Luca Pacioli gave a similar type of example in his About the Play of Chess (De Ludo Scachorum ) in 1498.
Karsten Müeller observed a Stamma’s mate in a game from 2018. White could avoid this brutal fate, but it isn’t easy. See his analysis below.
Putting It All Together
Knights have such unique properties and this blog has only scratched the surface of their potential. With careful play, a knight can tip the balance of power and generating winning chances. Below is an example in which White uses his knight to the fullest, leading to a wining position.
