endgame 2knights versus rook

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Avatar of KeyserJr

Hi I was wondering if a rook is better than 2knights or if 2knights are better than a rook in the endgame.

Avatar of 1Ngenius

definitely going to depend on the position, it is also a lot harder to fork in the endgame because there's much space making the forks much easier to detect. Materially, 2 knights are worth 6 and 1 rook is worth 5, so about a pawn difference in favor of the knights. however, a bad thing about knights in the end game they're often left with a 1-dimensional use (defending a and/or pawn(s)) but if you have the pair of knights together defending each other and in a dynamic attack position with the ability to push pawns along you'll find it very favorable. So to answer your question, against a weaker player<1400 i'd take the rook to propose sharp tactical play, against a stronger opponent i'd take the knights for the strategic positional play.

Avatar of KeyserJr

thanks antyekrist

Avatar of santiR

it all depends.  you can never mate with two knights, but you can with a rook.  However, if there are pawns on the board, it gets more complex.

Avatar of sebas4life

if there are no pawns on the board, then I 'd ahve to go with the rook because you can checkmate. But to be honest I think that position is drawn if both sides play well.

Avatar of Saccadic

Well Santir and Sebas, a rook against two minor pieces is usually a draw.

 

For pawns on the board, we can look at the table provided by Wikipedia:

* The two pieces have one or more extra pawns: always a win for the pieces.
* Same number of pawns: usually a draw but the two pieces win more often than the rook.
* The rook has one extra pawn: usually a draw but either side may have winning chances, depending on positional factors.
* The rook has two additional pawns: normally a win for the rook (Fine & Benko 2003:449-58).

Avatar of u22022

can u really not get checkmate with two knights?