The Endgame Academy Vol.1: Checkmate & pawn endgames

Mating with bishop and knight: W-manoeuvre

 

Mating with knight & bishop is a bit trickier.  Do you know the famous W-manoeuvre? No - stay right here, it's not that difficult:

The endgame is quite tricky, especially as the 50-move rule helps the defender. The king, bishop and knight share the work in the following way: The king is in opposition or one knight move away from its opponent, usually on squares of the opposite colour to the bishop. The knight is close to the king because it is a short-range piece and takes the escape squares of the color that the bishop does not have. The bishop is very fast and can easily create zugzwang situations. Mate can only be forced in the corner controlled by the bishop, we will call it the "correct corner" below, and the winning procedure consists of the following steps:

1) Forcing the king to the edge of the board
2) The defending king must be forced from the "wrong" to the "right" corner
3) Checkmate the king in the "right" corner

W-manoeuvre: Video:

 

Replay:

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1.Bh7 1.4 King and Bishop+Knight vs King The ending is quite tricky especially as the 50-move rule helps the defender. King, bishop and knight share the work in the following manner: the king is in opposition or a knight's move away from its opposite number mostly on squares of opposite colour than the bishop. The knight stands near the kings because of its nature as short range piece and takes away flight squares of the colour the bishop can't. The bishop is very fast and can easily create zugzwang situations. Mate can only be forced in the corner, which is controlled by the bishop, we will call it the "right corner" in the following, and the winning procedure consists of the following steps: 1) Forcing the king to the edge of the board 2) The defending king has to be forced from the "wrong" to the "right" corner 3) Mating the king in the "right" corner The win is most often spoiled by wrong knight moves. So to know the following pattern by heart is essentiell:
* Draw a W (f7-e5-d7-c5-b7) on the board *) We are at the beginning of phase 2. Black's king can't retreat to the h8 corner. We may assume, that White is to move (otherwise 1...Ke8 2.Be6 Kf8 3.Bd7 Kg8 4.Bf5 Kf8 reaches the position with White to move): 1.Be4 1...Ke8 2.Ne5 Kd8 2...Kf8 3.Nd7+ Ke8 4.Ke6 Kd8 5.Kd6 Ke8 6.Bg6+ Kd8 7.Bf7 Kc8 8.Nc5 Kd8 9.Nb7+ Kc8 10.Kc6 Kb8 11.Kb6 Kc8 12.Be6+ Kb8 13.Nc5 Ka8 14.Bd7 Kb8 15.Na6+ Ka8 16.Bc6# 3.Ke6 Kc7 4.Nd7 Kb7 5.Bd3 Kc6 6.Bc4 Kc7 7.Bd5 Kd8 8.Kd6 Ke8 9.Bc4 Kd8 10.Bf7 Kc8 11.Nc5 Kd8 12.Nb7+ Kc8 13.Kc6 Kb8 14.Kb6 Kc8 15.Be6+ Kb8 16.Nc5 Ka8 17.Bd7 Kb8 18.Na6+ Ka8 19.Bc6#
WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
01.05 Mating with Bishop-and knight-2024

 

Now you can practice what you just learned against Fritz:

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Chapter 1: Mating
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Chapter 2: King + Pawn vs. King
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Chapter 3: King + Pawn vs. King + Pawn
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Chapter 4: King + Pawn vs. King + 2 Pawns
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Chapter 5: Pawn Endgames on one Wing
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Chapter 6: Passed Pawns
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Chapter 7: Exchanging into the Endgame
Mating with 2 bishops
Mating with bishop and knight: push the king to the edge
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Chapter 1: Mating
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Chapter 2: King + Pawn vs. King
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Chapter 3: King + Pawn vs. King + Pawn
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Chapter 4: King + Pawn vs. King + 2 Pawns
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Chapter 5: Pawn Endgames on one Wing
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Chapter 6: Passed Pawns
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Chapter 7: Exchanging into the Endgame