1. b4e52. Bb2f63. e4Bxb44. Bc4Nc65. f4!exf46. Nh3Nge77.

Nxf4now White wants to play Qh5,

just like in the previous game
7... Na58. Bxf6!!Rf8(8... gxf6?9. Qh5+Ng6(9... Kf810. Qf7#)10. Nxg6and White wins )
(8... Nxc49. Qh5+!a simple 9. Bxg7 was winning too 9... Kf810. Ng6+!!and White
wins )9. Nh5!Nxc4(9... gxf6??10. Ng7#)(9... Rxf610. Nxf6+gxf611. Qh5+Ng612. Bg8!
with a very strong attack )10. Nxg7+Kf711. O-OKg812. Qh5!Rxf613. Rxf6Ng614. Rxg6!
hxg615. Qxg6Kh8(15... Ne516. Qg3!)16. Ne8!Qe717. Nf6!Black resigned since a checkmate
is unavoidable
1. b4e52. Bb2f63. e4Bxb44. Bc4Ne75. Qh5+Ng6(5... g66. Qh6with a strong initiative for
White )6. f4!White opens the main diagonal
6... exf47. a3d58. Bxd5c69. Bb3Qa510. e5!Be711. Bf7+!Black resigned since he loses a piece
or a Queen
11... Kf8(11... Kxf712. e6+!and Balck loses his Queen )12. Bxg6and White has both huge
positional and material advantage

Knight and Bishop Checkmate

Written by Yury Markushin
Sunday, 07 February 2010 21:21

Today I will discuss the Knight + Bishop endgame checkmate. This endgame was well analyzed by
Philidor long time ago, in 1749. It is not the most common mate you will see, it occurs once at every 5000 games, but it is definitely
important to know how to use the Knight and a Bishop together.
I have seen many guides that are trying to explain how to actually checkmate a lone King with Knight and Bishop, but theyre very
often failing to teach. They show moves, give some explanation and it even seems like you understand how to do it yourself at first,
but when trying to do it, it just doesnt work.
The problem is that there is no exact guide for this mate available; at least I wasnt able to find it. This is a main reason why Im
writing and youre (hopefully) reading this. I will systematically present the well known information and form an algorithm, how to do it.
I promise, you will be able to deliver this complex Knight and Bishop Checkmate to a lone King after you read and understand this.
You ask why is it complex? Well, even grandmasters fail to do it in fifty moves, sometimes. But you will!
Below is the endgame I played against Chessmaster GM edition (2800+ ELO) program. If you can checkmate the Machine in this
endgame, I will do the same against human opponents as well.
Idea # 1
The only way to checkmate an opponents King is to force him to the right corner, the corner which matches the color of your bishop.
Therefore, if you have the light square Bishop you need to force him to a8 or h1, which are light corners.
Idea #2
The safest place for the lone King to be is the opposite color corner, so the main difficulty is to force him out of the wrong corner
and escort to the right one.
Idea #3
Here we go. Lets checkmate this 2800 rated program in Knight and Bishop endgame. The first objective is to force an opponents
King to the wrong square.

Idea #4

We divide the chess board onto three Triangles: Large Triangle, Medium Triangle and Small Triangle. These are represented
ingreen, blue and red. On the diagram black's King is inside the Large Triangle. As you already know the only way to checkmate the
King is to force him into the light square a8 (or h8) if we have the light square Bishop. We move the opponent's King from the Large
Triangle to Medium and then to Small one, where checkmate will be delivered. See how in the game above.

It is the Large Triangle in action. Black's King cannot escape and only limited by 8 squares he can move at. Bishop is placed at
its ideal square. Ideal square is on the diagonal (side of the Triangle), one square up: b3 or f7. The Knight is positioned on the ideal
square also. The ideal square for the Knight is d3, it should be on the same row as the Bishop but one square apart.
Why are these ideal squares? When Bishop and Knight are placed in its ideal way they form a wall, preventing the black's King from
breaking through.
Red X's show the squares controlled by white.

We have moved black's King to the Medium Triangle. The basic idea here it that the Bishop is at its new ideal square c7, which is on
the side of the Triangle, one square away from the edge of the board. The Knight is also at its new ideal square d5, on the same
column/row as the Bishop, but one square apart. White King pushes the opponent's King from the bottom towards the Small Triangle.
Black King is only limited by 6 squares.

Our job is almost done here. Black's King is now at Small Triangle and is locked to only 2 squares. There is a checkmate in 2 at this
position. But be careful, there is still a chance for a Draw here, don't let the win slip and make each move with a check from now on.
I hope my analysis was any use for you and you have learned how to checkmate the lone King with a Knight and Bishop. I
recommend practicing delivering that checkmate against the computer. You will build confidence and never forget how to do it, after
you checkmate Chessmaster, Rybka or Fritz multiple times. Just start up with random position and try to force the opponent's King to
the right corner applying guidelines given above.
You may want to look through the game a few times and read the comments and the "ideas" in order to get the algorithm. But hey, it
works and we did it. Let me know about your progress in the comments field.
1. f4 e5 2. fe5 d6 3. ed6 Bd6 4. g3 Qg5 5. Nf3 Qg3 6. hg3 Bg3#

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nd2 e5 3. de5 Ng4 4. h3 Ne3

1. d4 f5 2. Bg5 h6 3. Bf4 g5 4. Bg3 f4 5. e3 h5 6. Bd3 Rh67. Qh5 Rh5 8. Bg6#

1. e4 e5 2. f4 f5 3. ef5 Qh4 4. g3 Qe7 5. Qh5 Kd8 6. fe5 Qe57. Be2 Nf6 8. Qf3 d5 9. g4
h5 10. h3 hg4 11. hg4 Rh1 12. Qh1Qg3 13. Kd1 Ng4 14. Qd5 Bd7 15. Nf3 Nf2 16. Ke1
Nd317. Kd1 Qe1 18. Ne1 Nf2#
1. e4 e5 2. f4 ef4 3. Bc4 Qh4 4. Kf1 Bc5 5. Nf3 Qf2#
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. e3 Bg7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. cd5 Nd57. Be2 Nc3 8. bc3 c5 9. O
-O cd4 10. cd4 Nc6 11. Bb2 Bg412. Rc1 Rc8 13. Ba3 Qa5 14. Qb3 Rfe8 15. Rc5 Qb6 1
6. Rb5Qd8 17. Ng5 Be2 18. Nf7 Na5 19. Nh6 Kh8 20. Qg8 Rg821. Nf7#
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. f3 d5 4. cd5 Nd5 5. e4 Nb6 6. Be3 Bg77. Nc3 O-O 8. f4 Nc6 9. d5 Nb8 10.
Nf3 e6 11. Bc5 Re8 12. d6N6d7 13. Ba3 cd6 14. Bd6 Qb6 15. Qd2 e5 16. Bc4 ef4 17. Bf7Kf7 18
. Ng5
1. e4 e5 2. f4 ef4 3. Nf3 g5 4. Nc3 g4 5. Ne5 Qh4 6. g3 fg3 7. Qg4g2 8. Qh4 gh1Q 9. Qh5 Be7
10. Nf7 Nf6 11. Nd6 Kd8 12. Qe8Re8 13. Nf7#

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Ne7 5. Ne5 c6 6. Nc4 cb57. Nd6#

Richard

Clewin Griffith vs NN
Unknown (1888) Spanish Game: Berlin Defense (C65) 1-0

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cd4 4. Nd4 e5 5. Nf5 Nge7 6. Nd6#

1. e4 c6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Nf3 de4 4. Ne4 Nf6 5. Qe2 Bg4 6. g3Nbd7 7. Nd6#
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Bc5 4. c3 f5 5. d4 fe4 6. Ng5 Be77. de5 Ne5 8. Ne6
1. b4 c6 2. Bb2 Qb6 3. a3 a5 4. c4 e6 5. c5 Bc5 6. Bg7 Bf2#
1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. f4 d5 4. fe5 Ne4 5. Nf3 Bb4 6. Qe2 Bc37. bc3 Bg4 8. Qb5 c6 9.
Qb7 Bf3 10. Qa8 Bg2 11. Be2 Qh412. Kd1 Nf2 13. Ke1 Nd3 14. Kd1 Qe1 15. Re1 Nf2#
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e5 3. de5 Ng4 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. Bf4 Bb4 6. Nbd2Qe7 7. a3 Nge5 8. ab4 Nd3#

2. 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e6 3. e4 Nc6 4. Nge2 b6 5. g3 Ne5 6. d4 Nf3#

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Qe7 5. O-O d6 6. d4 Bb67. Bg5 f6 8. Bh4 g5 9. Ng

5 fg5 10. Qh5 Kf8 11. Bg5 Qe812. Qf3 Kg7 13. Bg8 Rg8 14. Qf6#

1. e4 c5 2. c4 Nc6 3. Ne2 Nf6 4. Nbc3 Nb4 5. g3 Nd3#

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 Qa5 4. Bd2 Qb6 5. dc5 Qb2 6. Bc3
Sicilian-queen trap

1. e4 e5 2. f4 ef4 3. Bc4 Qh4 4. Kf1 Bc5 5. d4 Bb6 6. Nf3 Qh67. g3 Qh3 8. Kf2 fg3 9. hg
3 Qg4 10. Bf7 Kf8 11. Rh4
Kings gambit accepted-queen trap

(1) Yu,Yangyi (2697) - Robson,Ray (2628) [B97]

Millionaire Chess Semifinal Las Vegas, 2014
[GM Lubomir Kavalek/The Huffington Post]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd44.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a66.Bg5 e6 7.f4 h6 8.Bh4Qb6 The postponed
Poison Pawn variation of the Najdorf Sicilian.
9.Qd2!? Accepting the challenge is the most principled decision. [White does not have to
sacrifice the pawn and can play 9.a3 Be7(9...Qxb2? 10.Na4 wins.)10.Bf2 with good play.]
9...Qxb2 10.Rb1 Qa311.e5 dxe5 12.fxe5 g5 A sharp variation, leading to playable game for
black.[The second popular line is rather
unbelievable:12...Nfd7 13.Ne4 Qxa214.Rd1!? (14.Rb3 Qa1+15.Kf2 Qa4 is good for
black.) 14...Qd5 15.Qe3Qxe5 16.Be2 and despite being three pawns down, white pieces radiate a
lot of energy.]
13.exf6 gxh4 Up to here, the line is rather forced.
14.Be2 Nd7 15.0-0 Qa516.Kh1 Qg5 17.Qe1According to GM Lubomir Ftacnik, this move was
tested three years ago 2,500 times in computer games, while humans ventured there only a few
times. [The main choice in this position was 17.Rf4 e518.Nd5 exd4 19.Qxd4 with a good
compensation for the piece.]
17...Nxf6!? An improvement. [After the previously
played 17...Bd618.Ne4 Qe5 19.Nxd6+Qxd6 20.Qxh4 white has a big advantage.; The computers
suggest 17...h318.gxh3 Qe5 19.Nf3 Qe3= ]
18.Nf3 Qc5 [Black wants to keep his queen active, but18...Qg7 19.Nxh4 Be720.Bf3 0-0 is
roughly equal.]
19.Na4 Qc7 20.Nb6 Rb821.Qxh4 Be7 22.Qd4Trying to secure the square e5 for his knight.
22...Rg8 23.Ne5 Rg524.Ng4 Nxg4 25.Bxg4 f5?A reckless move and white finds the
refutation. [Black should have
tried 25...Bc526.Qh8+ Bf8 (26...Ke727.Rxf7+ Kxf7 28.Qh7+Rg7 29.Rf1++- ) 27.Bf3Qe5 ]
26.Bxf5! Robson might have overlooked this sacrifice. White gets a strong pressure on th e-file.
26...exf5 [Or 26...Rxf527.Rxf5 exf5 28.Re1+- ]

27.Rbe1 Kf8 28.Qh8+[This should win, but 28.Nd5Qd6 29.Rxe7 was even better.]
28...Rg8 29.Qxh6+ Rg730.Nxc8 Qxc2 Suddenly, black is threatening a mate and Yu gets
nervous. [But
not 30...Rxc8 31.Rxf5+ Kg832.Qe6+ Kh8 33.Rh5+ Rh734.Rxh7+ Kxh7 35.Qf7+Kh8 36.Rxe7+]
31.Qh8+ Rg8 32.Qh3[White misses a winning tic-tac-toe
combination:32.Rxf5+! Qxf5 33.Qxg8+!Kxg8 34.Nxe7+ Kf735.Nxf5+- ]
32...Rxc8 33.Rxf5+ Ke834.Qh5+? The last moment when white misses the win, but the
combination is not easy to calculate for human players. The computers provide the answers:
[34.Rxe7+! Kxe7 35.Qh7+Kd6 36.Rf6+ Ke5 (36...Kd537.Qd7+ Kc5 38.Qe7+Kb5 39.Qxb7+ Kc
440.Rf4+ Kd3 41.Qd5+ Ke2(41...Kc3 42.Qd4# )42.Qe5+ Kd1 43.Rf1+ Kd244.Rf2+ Kc1 45.Qa1
+ Qb146.Rf1++- ) 37.Qe7+ Kd438.Rf4+ Kd3 (38...Kd539.Qd7+ Kc5 40.Qd4+Kb5 41.Qb4+ Kc
6 42.Rf6+Kd5 43.Rd6+ Ke5 44.Qd4+Kf5 45.Rf6+ Kg5 46.Qf4+Kh5 47.Rh6# ) ; White also
has 34.Rf2 , trying to deflect the queen, but it is not as strong. ]
34...Kd8 White lost the thread and the black king is escaping.
35.Rd5+? The wrong check. White had to play [35.g3 ; or35.Qf3 ]
35...Kc7 36.Qe5+ Kb637.Re2 Qb1+ 38.Re1Qxa2! 39.Qe4 Qc2!Robson played two precise
queen moves and the flashy combination is easily twarthed.
40.Rb1+ Ka7 41.Rxb7+Ka8! The refutation. White is weak on the first rank and his pieces are
hanging. [But
not41...Kxb7? 42.Rb5+ Kc743.Qxe7+ Kc6 44.Qb7+Kd6 45.Rd5+ Ke6 46.Qd7+Kf6 47.Qd6+ wh
ite wins.]
42.Qf3 Qxg2+! The final mating combination.
43.Qxg2 Rc1+ [43...Rc1+44.Qg1 Rcxg1# ] 0-1