naftalip wrote:
Isn't it possible?
Black's moves are not forced. He could just as easily move away from that corner, and undo everything you set up. Without a third piece, you cannot force this mate. He has to make mistakes, or be cooperative to allow a mate.
Spatula is right. Black makes an obvious mistake in your example, naftalip.
As someone already said:
B+B = Possible
N+B = Possible
N+N = Only possible if opponent makes mistakes.
Naftalip:
Your mate is valid, but black still could have easily escaped the mate if he had been thinking. The point that others had made is that it is impossible to force the opponent into the mate.
"It is impossible to force checkmate with a king and two knights, although checkmate positions are possible. The defender's task is easy — he simply has to avoid moving into a position in which he can be checkmated on the next move, and he always has another move available in such situations." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checkmate#The_case_of_two_or_more_knights
Just as long as the king stays away from the other king or a side or corner it is impossible.
show me how to checkmate with 3 knights please
I've never tried this before, but it turns out to be fairly straitforward:
Mating with 3 knights vs. 1 is tougher:
Hey! My board din't show up right!! Boooo chess.com. I saw someone else complain of this bug too. Maybe I didn't use ctrl-r enough. :-(
you try it.
naftalip wrote:
Isn't it possible?
Yes, this is legally reachable. Thanks! I always though the K had to be in a corner - I was wrong after all.
interesting question. actually you can set up a position where it's checkmate, but it is impossible to reach that position in a real game. it will be stalemate first. straange, isn't it?
santiR wrote:
interesting question. actually you can set up a position where it's checkmate, but it is impossible to reach that position in a real game. it will be stalemate first. straange, isn't it?
Objected to as already answered by me - in the affirmative :). [see my post: position 2: on what is page 1 now.]
eternal21 wrote:
Why do some people post nonsense in this thread? Under normal conditions - It is not HARD - it is IMPOSSIBLE to force a King into a mate with 2 Knights.
The original questioner malko asked if it was possible - not if mate could be forced. The 'nonsense' seems to correctly address his question.
My old paperback, "Collier Guide To Chess" offers this information---"It is impossible to force a mate with a King and two Knights against a lone King. It is not impossible, however, to mate with the two Knights---only the forcing is impossible. If your opponent slips up and lets himself be mated, it can be done." It is intersesting to note in this same paragraph that a Knight, Bishop and King can force mate in about 30 moves, so the end game would give more relative valuue to a Bishop over a Knight.
Inaccuracies abound, but I cut it to 34 seconds and 23 moves after half a cup of coffee.