2 Elementary Endings
the rank or the file, beginning with
I lla4 or I lle l . However, as no
further progress can be made
without the help of the white king,
the clearest method is 1 ot>b7 -t>e4
2 ot>c6 ©d4 3 llel to fo rce the
enemy king towards the a-file 3 ...
©c4 4 lle4+ @d3 5 @d5 now the
black king is denied access to both
the e-file and the fo urth rank 5 ...
©c3 6 lld4 ©c2 7 @c4 ©b2
8 lld2+ ©cl the king already has
to go to the back ran k 9 @c3 ©bl
10 @b3 ©cl 1 1 lld3 @bl
12 lldl mate. Note especi ally the
use of waiting moves by the rook.
King and two Bishops against King
It is clear that king and one
bishop cannot possibly mate a
lone king, but two bishops easily
force the win, as can be seen in the
play from diagram 3.
The winning procedure is the
same as in the previous exam ples.
The black king is gradually driven
to the edge of the board by co­
ordinating the bishops to control
its escape sq uares. The following
line of play is readily under-
standable: 1 ©b2 ©e4 2 ©c3 @d5
3 .tf3+ ©e5 4 .tg3+ <t>e6 5 ©d4
the black king is now completely
cut off by the bishops and can
easily be forced into the corner
5 ... ©f5 6 @d5 ©f6 7 .tg4 @g5
8 .td7 ©f6 9 .th4+ ©g6 the black
king's movements are even further
restricted but he must be driven
into the corner 10 ©e5 ot>f7
1 1 ©f5 ©g7 1 2 .te8 ©f8 1 3 .tg6
@g7 14 .te7 @f8 15 ot>f6 ©h8
16 .trs ©gs 17 ©g6 ©hs 18 .td6
©g8 19 .te6+ ©h8 20 .teS mate.
There may of co urse be quicker
ways but the winning method
remains i n all cases the same.
King and two Knights against King
Whilst it is clear that a single
k night and king cannot mate the
enemy king, it is not so obvious
foat there is no way to force a win
with two knights. In this case there
is a theoretical mating position,
b ut White cannot bring it about
against correct defence. Diagram
4 makes this clear, for White
cannot strengthe n his position
even though the black king is in
the corner.