Can you win this ending?

by Efstratios Grivas
6/3/2025 – Recently GM and international trainer Eftratios Grivas reminded us that the knight is a piece that cannot win/lose a tempo. In this series GM of studies he demonstrated the principles involved in using this fact to win, or to defend a dangerous position. Were you able to follow everything? Today you can find out if you really understand this endgame. Test your skills.
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First of all here are the solutions to the two studies in the previous article:

Bernhard Horwitz, London 1885
White to play and draw
M. Guerbaus 1920
White to play and draw
  • Horwitz 1885: 1.Nc3 Ba8 2.Na4 Bg2 3.Nc5 Ba8! The saving resource! 4.Nb7+ (4.Kxa8 Kc7!=) 4...Kd7 5.Kxa8 Kc8! ½-½
  • Guerbaus 1920: 1.Bf3 Nf4 2.Bh1! Ng2+ 3.Ke2 Nh4 4.Ke1 Nf5 (4...Kxh1 5.Kf2!=) 5.Ba8 Nh4 6.Bh1! ½-½

Here are some new studies to test your skills.

The diagram will defend, so you must find the correct moves. At the bottom of the page you will find all the solutions, didactically annotated and will full engine support. There you can really study this ending.

Frantisek Prokop 1930
White to play and win
De Feijter 1936
White to play and win
  • Prokop: This is a brilliant old study. You must show how White can prevail.
  • De Feijter: Once again it is not easy to find how White can prevail.
De Feijter 1936
White to play and draw
Vitaly Chechover 1939
White to play and win
  • De Feijter: There is something wrong in the composer's analysis! This is not uncommon for old studies that haven’t been checked with our modern tools. Use the replayer at the bottom of the page to work everything out – the built-in engine will help.
  • Chekhover: Vitaly Chekhover an important 'discovery' – how to get to a favourable position here. But it was found by B. Horwitz many years earlier. There were no endgame databases in those times, so the eminent composer repeated the old finding!

And here for you to go through or download the above studies we present them in the replayer, where you can also start an engine to enhance your analysis.

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 A brilliant old study. Can White prevail? 1.Ke5! The only winning move; White has to lose a tempo! Ba8 1...Bg2 2.Nb6 Bb7 3.Ke6+- . 2.Nb6 Bb7 3.Ke6! The point! 3.Kd6 Kd8= , is going nowhere. 3...Kd8 4.Kd6 (D)
Suddenly Black is in zugzwang... 4...Ke8 4...Bg2 5.Nd5+- . 5.Kc7 Bg2 6.Nc8 6.Nc4 , wins as well: Ke7 7.Kc8 Bf3 8.Na5 Ba8 9.Kc7 Ke6 10.Kb8 Bg2 11.Nb7+- . 6...Ba8! 7.Kb8 Kd8 (D)
8.Nd6! Kd7 9.Nb7! 9.Kxa8? Kc7= . 9...Kc6 10.Kxa8 Kc7 11.Nd6! 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Prokop,F-White to play and win-1–01930Ceskoslovensky Sach 251
De Feijter,A-White to play and win-1–01936Tijdschrift v.d. KNSB # 114
De Feijter,A-White to play and draw-½–½1936Tijdschrift v.d. KNSB # 114
Chekhover,V-White to play and win-1–01939Diagram

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Efstratios (30.03.1966) is a highly experienced chess trainer and chess author. He has been awarded by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) the titles of International Chess Grandmaster, FIDE Senior Trainer, International Chess Arbiter and International Chess Organiser.
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