This is the second lesson in the series about the Bishop and Knight mate.
In the previous lesson we have seen how the King could be checkmated with the Bishop and Knight after he has been locked in the right corner. Now we will see how we can drive the King into the right corner after he has been driven to the edge.

Let’s start with a position in which the opponent’s King is in the wrong corner. Now we have to drive the King to the other edge. It is important to realize that with a black squared Bishop the Knight has to be the piece to take away the white squares starting with a8.
Next chess lesson is Driving the King to the edge.

Original 7 Responses to “Driving the King into the right corner”

1. 
   likesforests
   August 10th, 2007 at 7:34 am
   I sometimes win this endgame, but I definitely have not mastered it. I like how you described the key position with all the pieces lined up on one file. I could use more explanation on how to handle the only tricky part of the mate–the part where, after trapping the queen against the edge of the board, you let him come off of it for a few moves. It’s easy to goof up then and lose a dozen moves! One other thing–your opponent isn’t making the best moves, which means you had an easier time mating than you would against a… worth endgame opponent. 
2. 
   likesforests
   August 10th, 2007 at 8:35 am
   If you have a subscription to chesslectures.com, Jesse Krai has a nice video on this position. His mating method is slightly different:
   1. Be3 Ka8 2. Kc6 Kb8 3. Nb5 Ka8 4. Nc7+ Kb8 5. Bf2 Kc8 6. Ba7 Kd8 7. Nd5 Ke8 8. Bd4 Kf7 9. Nf4 Ke7 10. Kc7 Ke8 11. Bf6 Kf7 12. Bg5 Ke8 13. Kd6 Kf7 14. Kd7 Kf8 15. Ke6 Ke8 16. Nh5 Kf8 17. Be7+ Kg8 18. Kf6 Kh7 19. Kg5 Kg8 20. Kg6 Kh8 21. Ng3 Kg8 22. Nf5 Kh8 23. Bd6 Kg8 24. Nh6+ Kh8 25. Be5#
3. 
   Chess Teacher
   August 11th, 2007 at 5:47 pm
   I think that the section about
   8.Kd6 Kf7 9.Ne7 Kf6
   The white King seems to escape
   10. Be3 Kg7 11. Bg5 Kf7 but now he has been locked up again. The white King has to move to e6, but will first move to d7.
   12. Kd7 Kg7 13. Ke6 Kf8
   is dealing with this tricky part.
   Which (better) moves of the opponent should also be considered?
4. 
   likesforests
   August 11th, 2007 at 7:00 pm
   10…Kg7 is inferior to 10…Kf7, and 15…Kf8 is inferior to 15…Kd8. I felt 15…Kf8 was wrong, so I looked it up. I always practice against a perfect opponent–Nalimov or Rybka (when they miss a “tricky” line, I hand-feed that in).
   “is dealing with this tricky part.”
   Oh, you do cover it, and so do others. I just wish someone would explain it in a way that was easy to remember. You see, when I don’t practice this mate for a couple months this transition is the only step I struggle with. chesslectures spent a little more time on this step, which made it easier to learn, but still hard to remember. Perhaps I will check Mueller’s advice on this mate.
   I also don’t feel my “knowledge of coordinating the bishop and knight” went up significantly by learning this, although that’s often cited as the primary reason to learn it. I love endgames in general though, so it wasn’t a waste to learn. Heck, I even studied K+N+N vs K+P. 
5. 
   Chess Teacher
   August 12th, 2007 at 9:12 am
   I agree that 15...Kf8 is inferior, but I thought that the line with 15…Kd8 16.Bb8 Ke8 17.Bc7 Kf8 18.Nf5 Ke8 19.Ng7+ Kf8 20.Kf6 Kg8 21.Kg6 Kf8 22.Bd6+ Kg8 was just more of the same.
   Some of the patterns are difficult to describe. You feel that there is a pattern, but what are the rules to follow?
   I’ll add an extra lesson to visualize the part you found most difficult.
   The mentioned article of Louis Lima gives a lot of additional information.
6. 
   likesforests
   August 12th, 2007 at 10:09 am
   That article by Louis Lima that you pointed to in your first article and again today looks very nice. I also found some interesting ideas in Fundamental Chess Endings… Mueller suggests the knight should move in a “W” pattern while chaperoning the king from the wrong to the right corner. Cheers.