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It's a given in any analysis that the best move is assumed. Q vs. Q is a draw. K + 3N vs. K should be a win, but K + 2N vs. K is a draw. I haven't played such endings but I read it from a forum topic here. I'm just wondering how you got 3 knights--if you promoted a pawn, might it not be faster (to checkmate) to choose a queen?
The game went fairly normally until the following situation:
White to move, Black king on a8, White king on b5, White knights on c5 and d7, and White pawn on f6. From this position, the pawn moves to f7 and Black makes the only legal move, Ka7. Now f8=Q or f8=R is stalemate, so I chose f8=N and won. I would assume that f8=B would win as well, but I wanted to try to do a 3-knight mate.
It should be noted that there are some cases where queen vs queen is winnable. For instance, if one side's king and queen are lined up on the same rank, file, or diagonal, and the other side can skewer the king to win the queen. Also, if the two kings are near each other and one is against the edge of the board, the one on the edge can sometimes be trapped. But most of the time, this endgame should be a draw.
You could have moved the knight on c5 to give room for the king, and then promoted the pawn to a queen. In a winning position, it's always better to make the 'waiting move'. Now regarding the 3-knight ending, because the king can only move in 2 squares, the winning move from the extra knight is not hard to imagine. Look for the waiting move. I imagine: give a check at c6 using the 3rd knight, and checkmate at b6 using the knight at d7...
yeah you could get a queen but i think what you did was a lot cooler its fun to get unusual checkmates.
tonydal wrote: It should also be pointed out that with 2Kts vs K mate is indeed possible--it's just not forced.
True...but under normal circimstances, it's practically impossible to checkmate with 2 knights. White has to -try- to get themselves checkmated for it to succed, and even then I think both players would probably struggle to get it to work...
So no, Q vs Q isnt always a Draw.
K, N, N, N vs K is won by force, for example:
To sum my two postings up:
- Queen vs Queen is full of possibilities, depending upon the exact situation. Other examples:
The general case is of course equal, just like any other situations with equal material on both sides.
- K & 3x N vs K is won by force. The technique isnt even that hard - you make the knights work such that, also with the help of the own king, they limit the opponents kings movement until the king is in the corner. All you have to learn is how to move the knights such that they form a line the opponent king cannot get through. I dont think this endgame has ever actually occured though.
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I can't find these endgames addressed anywhere, so let's see what everyone can tell me.
1. Queen vs. Queen I assume is a draw, am I wrong?
2. King and 3 Knights vs. King I caused a checkmate with my 3 knights but I think my opponent blundered. How should this endgame be played and what is the normal outcome?