The Endgame Tactician: Queen vs Knight

Queen vs Knight is a simple win, but when you reach it you may be tired and in time trouble. You also must watch out for forks! Below, a strong player blundered into a draw:

Key Idea: Forks only work if your king, queen, and his knight are all on the same color.

Armed with this key idea, you can win while completely avoiding danger. That also means you can make your moves faster and will almost always win!

Here's a more complex position taken from a super-GM game. The stronger side was actually in danger for only 3 out of 14 moves.

I hope you found the technique and examples useful. If you would like to practice, I encourage you to try out the Queen vs Knight Endgame Simulator.