Editing Knight (chess) (section)

==Properties==
{{chess diagram
|tright
|
|rd|  |  |rd|  |  |kd|  
|pd|pd|  |  |  |pd|bd|pd
|  |  |  |pd|  |  |pd|  
|  |  |  |nl|pd|  |  |  
|  |  |  |  |pl|  |  |qd
|pl|  |  |  |  |pl|  |  
|  |pl|  |ql|  |  |pl|pl
|  |kl|  |rl|  |  |  |rl
|A knight occupying a {{chessgloss|hole}} (d5) in the enemy pawn structure
|}}
Enemy pawns are effective at harassing knights because a pawn attacking a knight is not itself attacked by the knight and, because a pawn is worth less than a knight, it does not matter if the knight is defended. For this reason, a knight is effective when placed in a weakness in the opponent's [[pawn structure]], i.e. a square which cannot be attacked by enemy pawns. In the diagram, White's knight on d5 is very powerful&nbsp;– more powerful than Black's bishop on g7.

Whereas two bishops cover each other's weaknesses, two knights tend not to cooperate with each other as efficiently. As such, a pair of bishops is usually considered better than a pair of knights.<ref name="harvcol|Flear|2007|p=135">{{harvcol|Flear|2007|p=135}}</ref> [[World Chess Championship|World Champion]] [[José Raúl Capablanca]] considered that a queen and a knight is usually a better combination than a queen and a bishop. However, [[Glenn Flear]] found no game of Capablanca's that supported his statement; statistics do not support the statement, either.<ref name="harvcol|Flear|2007|p=135"/> In an [[endgame (chess)|endgame]] without other pieces or pawns, two knights generally have a better chance of forming a drawing [[Fortress (chess)|fortress]] against a queen than do two bishops or a bishop and a knight.
{{Clear}}

{{Chess diagram
|tright
|Salvio (in 1604)
|kl|  |  |  |  |  |  |
|pl|  |kd|  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |nl|
|White to move cannot win. White wins if Black is to move.
}}
Compared to a bishop, a knight is often not as good in an endgame. A knight can exert control over only one part of the board at a time and often takes multiple moves to reposition to a new location, which often makes it less suitable in endgames with pawns on both sides of the board. This limitation is less important, however, in endgames with pawns on only one side of the board. Knights are superior to bishops in an endgame if all the pawns are on one side of the board. Furthermore, knights have the advantage of being able to control squares of either color, unlike a lone bishop. Nonetheless, a disadvantage of the knight (compared to the other pieces) is that by itself it cannot lose a move to put the opponent in [[zugzwang]] (see [[Triangulation (chess)|triangulation]] and [[Tempo (chess)|tempo]]), while a bishop can. In the study by [[Alessandro Salvio|Salvio]],<ref>{{harvcol|Hooper & Whyld|1996|p=204}}</ref> if the knight is on a black square and it is White's turn to move, White cannot win. Similarly, if the knight were on a white square and it were Black's turn to move, White cannot win. In the other two cases, White would win. If instead of the knight, White had a bishop on either color of square, White would win with either side to move.<ref>{{harvcol|Mednis|1993|pp=7–8}}</ref>
{{Clear}}

{{chess diagram
|tright
|
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  
|  |  |bl|  |  |  |  | 
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  
|  |  |  |  |  |  |kl|  
|  |  |nd|  |  |  |  |nd
|Knight trapped by an enemy bishop; knight trapped by a king
|}}
In an [[Chess endgame|endgame]] where one side has only a king and a knight while the other side has only a king, the game is a [[Draw (chess)|draw]] since a [[checkmate]] is impossible. When a lone king faces a king and two knights, a checkmate can never be {{chessgloss|forced mate|forced}}; checkmate can occur only if the opponent commits a blunder by moving their king to a square where it can be checkmated on the next move. Checkmate can be forced with a [[Bishop and knight checkmate|bishop and knight]], however, or with two bishops, even though the bishop and knight are in general about equal in value. Paradoxically, checkmate with two knights sometimes {{em|can}} be forced if the weaker side has a single extra pawn, but this is a curiosity of little practical value (see [[two knights endgame]]). [[pawnless chess endgame|Pawnless endgames]] are a rarity, and if the stronger side has even a single pawn, an extra knight should give them an easy win. A bishop can trap (although it cannot then capture) a knight on the rim (see diagram), especially in the endgame.
{{clear left}}
{{-}}

===Stamma's mate===
In a few rare endgame positions where the opposing king is trapped in a corner in front of its own pawn, it is possible to force mate with only a king and knight in a pattern known as [[Philipp Stamma|Stamma]]'s mate, which has occasionally been seen in practice. In the position below, from [[Jesús Nogueiras|Nogueiras]]–Gongora, Cuban championship 2001,<ref>{{cite web |title=Jesus Nogueiras vs. Maikel Gongora Reyes, ch-CUB (2001) |url=https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1218922 |website=[[Chessgames.com]] }}</ref> Black played 75...Nxf6{{chesspunc|??}}, incorrectly assuming that the ending would be drawn following the capture of the last white pawn on a2. (Correct was 75...Ne3{{chesspunc|!}} 76.Kg6 Ng4 77.Kg7 and now 77...Nxf6! may be safely played, the king being sufficiently distant). Play continued 76.Nxf6 Ke5 77.Nd7+ Kd4 78.Kf4 Kc3 79.Ke3 Kb2 80.Kd2 Kxa2 81.Kc2 Ka1 82.Nc5 Ka2 83.Nd3 Ka1 84.Nc1 and Black [[Rules of chess#Resigning|resigned]], as 84...a2 85.Nb3 is mate.

{{col-begin|width=auto; float:left; clear:left}}	
{{col-break}}
{{chess diagram
|tleft
|
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  
|  |  |  |  |kd|pl|  |  
|  |  |  |nd|  |  |kl|  
|  |  |  |  |nl|  |  | 
|pd|  |  |  |  |  |  |  
|pl|  |  |  |  |  |  |  
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  
|Position after 75.Kg5
|}}
{{col-break}}
{{chess diagram
|tleft
|
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 
|pd|  |  |  |  |  |  |  
|  |  |kl|  |  |  |  |  
|kd|  |nl|  |  |  |  |  
|Black resigns due to 84...a2 85.Nb3{{chessAN|#}}.
|}}
{{col-end}}
{{-}}