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Fortress in K+B vs Q Endgame

Delenn

#1 Jul 9, 2011

''A bishop and a knight usually lose, but some very rare exceptions exist; one of them should be remembered.'' says IM Dvoretsky in his famous Endgame Manual.

The positions of Black's king and queen are irrelevant. The combination of bishop on b2 and a knight on d4 covers the squares a3, b3, c3, c2 and c1, creating an impassable barrier for Black's king. Also it's not possible to force to White into zugzwang. (Also please notice how White's pieces protecting each other.)

Now let's check Karstedt's position. ( The chess composer who discovered this possibility)

A fascinating concept but it's nearly impossible to happen in an actual chess game right? I would agree with you a few days ago but it happened one of my games lately. In fact this is why I'm making this post.

And finally a small quiz to test your understanding of this concept.
1pawndown

#2 Jul 9, 2011

Very interesting. Thank you.
Balachandar

#3 Jul 10, 2011

Great.
AnthonyCG

#4 Jul 10, 2011

This is really instructive.
checkmateibeatu

#5 Jul 11, 2011

Interesting! I previously thought a queen won almost all endings, seing that she could pick up all of the pieces via fork one by one, but I must be wrong!
Cry_Wolf

#6 Jul 11, 2011

trying to win that "won" position for white (with the queen) must be hell... I can barely handle QvN
basant

#7 Jul 12, 2011

like it..

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