whiteknightpoisonedgiftIn this one-point chess endgame training article, I want to show you the importance of keeping the end in mind rather than keeping material on the board, especially when you reach the endgame with a material advantage.

In the illustration White has arrived at the endgame with a clear material advantage. White is ahead by a knight and a pawn. However, Black is threatening to promote his pawn and his king is attacking the white knight.

What should White do?

The first instinct of many casual players would be to move White’s knight away from the Black king, such as Nb5+, which also seeks to block Black’s pawn from advancing. However, Black can simply move his king back to b4 and threaten the knight again.

On the other hand, nothing is achieved by moving the knight away from the black a-pawn, which is Black’s major asset in this endgame scenario.

Solution

f5!

whiteknightpoisonedgift1
White offers his knight and advances the f-pawn.

White is willing to sacrifice his knight to gain time to promote his pawn and WIN the game no matter how Black responds.

For example, if Black takes the knight, White’s f-pawn promotes ahead of Black’s a-pawn, but look at the a1-h8 diagonal…

The black king and the promotion-square (a1) 

are on the same diagonal, which means

Black will lose his queen as soon as

she arrives on the board!

The Psychology of Casual Players…

Expert players will tell you that you should “play the board, not your opponent,” which is fine if you are an expert, but if you are not, and if you are playing a casual game, “playing your opponent” by appealing to his latent greed is often worth a try!

One way to do that is to offer something juicy, such as the white knight in this example. More often than not, a casual player will accept your “poisoned gift” rather than make a better move, as happened in this game, when I offered my opponent my knight, which was the last remaining minor piece (bishops and knights) on the board.

What you are exchanging in this case is material advantage for positional advantage…

Here’s how the game ended

whiteknightpoisonedgift2
Black promotes his queen, only to lose to Qf6+!

 

42. f5 Kxd4

43. f6 a3

44. f7 a2

45. f8=Q a1=Q

46. Qf6+ Black resigns.

In short, black took the bait, lost tempo and ended up fatally skewered.

 

What if Black declines to take the knight?

If Black declines to take the knight, and instead advances his a-pawn to a3 (which is a better move, by the way), White should respond by leaving his knight alone and advancing his f-pawn to f6. Black will promote his queen first, but White’s f-pawn will promote immediately afterwards and Black’s checking options are limited. White should be able to contain the situation and go on to win.

Silman Chess Endgame Training Book

My Chess Endgame Training Recommendation

To develop your ability with chess endgames in a more methodical and detailed way, read Silman’s Complete Endgame Course: From Beginner to Master by Jeremy Silman.

Silman is an International Master who is also a clear communicator and an excellent teacher who understands the needs of amateur players.

If you have any comments or questions about anything in this blog post, feel free to leave a reply in the comments section beneath this post.