Knight + Bishop Checkmate (THE EASY WAY)

[@paul_warner]

The easiest way to do is send your opponent a message and tell him that you know how to do it and he should just resign. But you should still learn to do it this way just in case he calls your bluph.

[@thichchuianti]

Lol

[@Noronhadiver]

😂😂😂

[@kjellfredrikpettersen2311]

The opposite happened to me in our chess club. I was about to enter the KBN vs K endgame and knew how to do it, when my opponent - to my disappointment - resigned.

[@dmitryavdyukhin4079]

I regularly get opponents (1700-1800) who seem to not believe that I can checkmate with the queen, so I doubt it'll work.

[@paul_warner]

@@dmitryavdyukhin4079 only one way to find out

[@stanimir5F]

In my entire life I had only one real game that ended in a king+bishop+knight vs lone king. Needless to say I couldn't checkmate! So after this game I was dedicated to learn how to do it. I studied and practiced a lot vs computer to the degree where I knew the moves and I was speed-running it. So one day we were talking with a friend and I told him that I learned how to do it. So he said let's try it. And the funny thing is because he is not a max rating computer he was doing quite a lot of suboptimal moves which are supposed to speed-up the process. But that confused me a lot and I wasn't able to mate him :D Then I realized that I didn't LEARN, I just MEMORIZED a series of moves against a specific moves. So make sure you get the ideas and the patterns and not the specific moves! And this lesson is quite good in that - to show the patterns. Nice one, Nelson!

[@rumputyangbergoyang4978]

Relateeed

[@Hammerwill77]

Yeah sometimes I get confused lol

[@mahmoudsoliman812]

My comment might be irrelevant, but I do like how humble you're my friend, and how you extracted a brief lesson out of it.

[@peterstans]

yeah I hate that the engine always runs to the edge on its own without really forcing it and then you can always just do the same pattern. I got this endgame twice in blitz and once in bullet and I just can't make it work in time even though I know how to do it (and I'm pretty quick against engines as well)

[@peytonchow7655]

If you guys want better computer practice switch bots often. One of the hardest bots to do this against is the magnus carlsen bot.

[@goodspellr1057]

In practice, if you are playing the losing side, you should try to keep your king close to the center of the board. Most human players will struggle with forcing the king to any corner. When forced from the center, try to get to the safe corner that is on your opponent's side of the board. They are less likely to have practiced this endgame from that point of view.

[@or3213]

The opponent can switch the board direction.

[@joshheron2105]

@@davidjames149are you 250 Elo?

[@userac-xpg]

@@or3213 not on a real chessboard

[@teippio5613]

​@@joshheron2105😑

[@joshheron2105]

@@davidjames149 the boards the same up or down it’s a square

[@ADtheUber]

When you misclick a single move and draw by 50 moves:

[@abdush3268]

This end game occurs once in every 650 games according to chess database. Edit: It was actually every 6000 games, no idea why it stuck to my mind as 650 games.

[@planezero]

After something in the range of 20-30 thousand games, I've never had this come up..

[@pawn6]

@@planezeroyou are lucky

[@educat1on166]

woah i didnt know i just casually played 1/6000 game last week against the noah bot

[@educat1on166]

and just recently my friend got this endgame

[@userac-xpg]

thats because usually someone promotes a pawn, but if you know how to win with bishop and knight only you can sac any extra pieces to stop your opponents pawns.

[@MyBiPolarBearMax]

For the beginning, understanding “opposition” of the king is very important. Learn that first if you dont know it thoroughly.

[@luatala8008]

??? whats that got to do with this ending - opposition doesn't matter cos B+N side can take or give it away at any time.

[@aastavchoudhary]

​@@luatala8008He just wanted to show that he knows what opposition is for no reason.

[@jeffw1267]

If you practice this mate, it's pretty easy if you play against the highest engine level. The engine will always make the best move and you can predict what the engine will do. As you get better, you can play against the weakest engine level and you'll get a different game every time. Sometimes you mate in 15 moves, sometimes in 35 moves. Sometimes the engine will run the king to the wrong corner so you have to force it out with your knight, and sometimes the king will run to the right corner and you have to know how to capitalize on that. If you just memorize an algorithm, the opponent can make suboptimal moves and confuse you.

[@dream_hacker9230]

Engines optimize for "longest distance to mate" when they see that they are theoretically lost. They do not play "the hardest for a human opponent to handle." For humans, the best play for the losing side of Knight+Bishop is to remain away from all corners and edges: to remain in the center if possible. There are no algorithmic solutions against this type of defense, unlike the "wrong color corner" approach, which is simple with a bit of practice, and what everyone knows who's ever practiced this against a computer or watched any videos.

[@OcteractSG]

There are harder endgames. Queen vs rook is brutally hard.

[@giolas2]

It’s easier to blunder as the defending side though. I’m 1400 and I have won every queen and rook endgame(when all the pawns are off the board of course, otherwise it’s much simpler) I’ve played despite not really knowing the theory behind it. On a higher level of course, it might be much harder.

[@marzianeri8372]

I also would love a video about queen vs rook, I have seen some but still did not get it very well.

[@giorgikokaya4181]

Queen vs rook is my favourite endgame. I won almost all my games when i had a queen exept a situations when i had to sacrifice a queen for a rook to not lose by tine, drew most of games when i had a rook, and twice i won with a rook against a queen 😃

[@baactiba3039]

"Harder endgames" yes ofc. This is the hardest basic checkmate, though. 2 Bishops vs Knight is a win btw, think about that

[@tommymorton4939]

The hardest ending considered Queen+Rook vs Queen. Up to 150 moves may require to swap Qs and mate with a sole Rook.

[@roblodocus2539]

This is what I love about chess. There are so many individual skills. Like the analogy you use in your 1000-1500 course about all the dots. This is one dot I’ve completely neglected and had this come up in a game I 100% would’ve drawn it. But after a few practices I understand this pattern now and I will practice it some more until I can blitz out the moves relatively easily. It might not come up anytime soon, but when that day comes I’ll be ready. Brick by brick builds the house.

[@Appocalypse]

Took me 4-5 times of rewatching sections of your video over the last 2 hours but I've finally mastered it! Thank you. I'd tried learning this through Danya and Agadmator's videos in the past but had given up. This one felt easier to learn from.

[@anissbenthami]

after so many failed attemps in the past, I just checkmated with a bishop and a knight for the first time in my life just after I finished watching your video. Your explanation is intuitive and understandable and that's what made the difference. Thank you

[@sevret313]

Can you add the move counter for end games like this so we can easier see how close you are to the 50 move limit?

[@userac-xpg]

I can do this from any starting position where the knight or bishop cannot immediately be captured in 33 moves or less.

[@David_Crayford]

That's a good idea. Is there a way to bring up a counter on the chess website?

[@SteveThePster]

Great vid. We do however need a sequel to explain how to force mate when the opponent tries to keep his king in the centre of the board

[@Klakmar]

Being able to reliably do this against the computer is incredibly satisfying. Thank you so much! I’m blown away by how easy you’ve made it. 🐐

[@SirGibGab]

“The easy way” 14 min video 😅 thanks for the insight!!

[@Nxf6]

its hard dude. The other methods as far as i saw seemed alot harder to understand

[@pierreluc]

5:02 It is actually more a Double U than on Lychess. In French, the letter W is called a Double V. So it would make more sense on Lychess.

[@spirit4224]

I prefer the mate in 4 in the position you showed in the end, however for beginners to find Nf5 Kh8 B(a3-e7) Kg8 Nh6* Kh8 and then B(a1-f3) seems kind of difficult so showing the solid option is always a good idea

[@userac-xpg]

the easiest way is once you get the king in the corner leave the bishop on the long diagonal, just figure out what square your knight needs to get to in order to deliver checkmate, then makes sure you dont move the knight to that square unless its check, just move the bishop one square on the long diagonal to waste a move

[@jesse578]

Yeah idk why he just didn't show this Nf5 Nh6 idea since imo it's a lot easier than what he showed and it can be used everytime when using the W method. So basically its just 1 extra sequence you can memorize which isn't that bad.

[@nc1609]

I feel like the most difficult part is forcing them to the edge of the board.

[@dream_hacker9230]

This is correct, and basically ALL tutorial videos, including this one, gloss over this, as there is no simple algorithm for doing it. The "W" method as shown here starting from the wrong-color-corner is straightforward with a bit of practice, and anybody who's studied this ending will know that technique.

[@nc1609]

@@dream_hacker9230 I actually found Daniel Naroditsky's video on it quite helpful, the idea of 'shouldering' the enemy king and limiting escape squares. I can do it quite confidently against the lichess practice engine from different starting positions now.

[@okolenmi7511]

@@dream_hacker9230 it was played against max difficulty of Comodo Dragon engine, so if they are not going to that corner that's even fastest checkmate is possible.

[@jacobmartin9021]

not hard if you know about king opposition. Basically once you gain opposition they can never advance another rank/file on you and then you do the bishop maneuver as shown here to force them back another rank/file and repeat until they are on the edge.

[@Pieter_Holland]

Omg you made it look so easy, I’m about 1550 Elo and it took me a good hour of practice to get the mate 3 times in a row on the hardest level but now I will never forget the techniques anymore. Thank you so much for improving my chess!!

[@michalkloucek473]

If the king runs down and you can't imagine the manuevering upside down, there is always the "flip the board" button

[@Klakmar]

Tried that otb and now I’m banned from my chess club, thanks a lot.

[@MT-qp5ns]

The w maneuver is 4 L's drawn one square diagonally from the correct color square

[@suyogbhandari9426]

I can easily checkmate computer with bishop and knight as they go to opposite corner and i already know what to do next but when i play against real people who dont know about opposite corners, its far more difficult than checkmating stockfish

[@timofejlagutin6851]

So true! Same story bro

[@bloak9803]

Forcing the king from center to an edge is trivial, no matter which corner or in the middle. You just keep your B & N on the same colored squares to form walls.

[@timofejlagutin6851]

@@bloak9803 have you ever tried to play against EVERY move? As a human, it is the hardest to force the king to a corner if the opponent tries to stay as close to the middle as possible... Obviously for Stockfish it's easier, because it technically needs less moves to checkmate, but as a human, it is hell!

[@bloak9803]

@@timofejlagutin6851 Refuting EVERY move is the work of tablebase as there are too many moves for a human to consider. I just played against myself however and the defending side cannot just hold the center and inevitably goes to the edge. I think this is enough proof since defending is easier than attacking in this endgame. If you still has doubt we can play a match.

[@zemerav]

Thanks!

[@tuxedobob2]

Audio glitch at 2:10

[@ChessVibesOfficial]

Ahhh! Why, Davinci, why?!

[@ShawFujikawa]

That jumpscared the hell out of me with my earphones in lmao.

[@sunniesu5812]

@@ChessVibesOfficial😊

[@black6master]

8:19 it's worth meantioning 1..Kh8 2 Nf5 Kg8 3 Nh6+ Kh8 4 Be5+ mate ..beside the other technique I think it's usefull to know what is in position

[@userac-xpg]

if you can show how to win the queen vs rook endgame that would be amazing. It's the last one I still have trouble with. I learned this one several years ago and its not too bad once you learn how to coordinate the knight with the bishop. I tell myself, knight ahead, bishop behind. Keep the bishop behind the king until the king is trapped. The knight needs to be in front of or with the king.

[@prawnydagrate]

2:11 - is it just me who hears that

[@impossiblemovies323]

I heard it too. Got a big shock.

[@extra...]

Same here it had me rolling Happened while recording the video probably from the outside

[@johncalvin6124]

It's just you, I'm afraid. DO NOT talk to whatever you hear, it may tell you to do bad things! Just pretend you don't hear it and you'll be fine. Hopefully...

[@prawnydagrate]

@@johncalvin6124 💀

[@johncalvin6124]

@@prawnydagrate :)

[@ВикторПоплевко-е2т]

9:01 the patern is to put the knight on h6 with check king moves to the corner and mate with the bishop(sometimes bishop check knight mate)

[@GujjuGuruPadhai]

Thanks dude... I got this first try.I always thoight this was hard but your video made it very easy for me. Now i will try with white bishop and the other corners. Keep it Up and make more videos for us 1500s 👏👏👏

[@fizzythrows]

I watched this video. Maybe 10 minutes into learning I was able to get my first checkmate on oneside.. 45 minutes in, I know all of the mating patterns and lines. Thank you Nelson

[@ClockworkNemesis-jq3qv]

This is the best explanation of how to do knight bishop endgames I’ve seen. I tried following along in a few books and had a hard time remembering later.

[@krusko5644]

Best chess teacher of all time

[@harikumars1487]

Really nice video for learning for checkmating with a knight and a bishop

[@fer447]

the only thing I still can't get about this position is that in the beginning everyone says "if opponent is smart they will run to the other corner" what if they decide to run to the center? computers do run to that opposite corner and from there the w thing is super easy, but against other people I've had it where I just can't get them to any corner and they just run back to the center of the board...

[@dream_hacker9230]

Exactly correct! Opponents who know what they're doing will STAY IN THE CENTER. The reason computers run to the wrong colored corner is that this maximizes the theoretical time to checkmate, not because it's "harder" algorithmically. I'm really surprised at all the video content from master level players making this "if the opponent knows what they're doing they'll go to the wrong color corner" claim...which is wrong!

[@paularized1]

If they run to the center, you gotta build the wall there and force them back. You can force them to any of the 4 sides of the board from there and push to the right colour corner.

[@Clegomation616]

Thank you very much Nelson.I have a tournament and now I know how to mate with Knight and Bishop.Even though I was 2000 I didn't know this

[@userac-xpg]

how could you be 2000 and not know how to do this? I am like 1600 and learned this years ago.

[@dex6316]

@@userac-xpgfor the average game there is less than a 0.1% chance of this checkmate pattern being a necessity. Rather than studying this it would be a better usage of time to study other materials that will have a more positive effect on increasing your ELO.

[@tiletapper4ever]

I loved this video. You explained the technique really well, and made this look much easier. I practiced this a couple of times, and I actually did it! Your video was really helpful. You're a great teacher Nelson, thanks for making this video!

[@doctor_gamer4105]

not me googling how to mate with bishop and knight with 1:30 on the clock because i was surprised game didn't end with insufficient material

[@teegees]

This was an excellent tutorial and method. For some reason this is easier for me to execute than the 2 bishop mate.

[@Mikhail-tal-the-GOAT]

thank you Nelson 😊 now I'm able to checkmate with a knight and bishop in around 35 moves and I would say that "this is a perfect video to master knight + bishop mate"

[@John_NYT]

Thanks Nelson. Just did it twice flawlessly after watch this video

[@MT-qp5ns]

I learnt this from Daniel naroditsky but I will watch it again

[@scu-dub]

This is awesome because I just had an awesome game the other day and ended up stale😢 with the same pieces! Great tutorial man👍🏼✌🏽

[@wesleydeng71]

8:45 faster way here is Nf5 not Ne6. The rest will be the same except in the end you can save 2 moves.

[@kajuanweaver1607]

Awesome video, sometimes I trade off extra material and promote to knight and bishop to flex this checkmate!😂

[@damnedtime2453]

Thankfully, my opponent just offered a draw.

[@David_Crayford]

Thanks for taking the time to explain this thoroughly. The summary was helpful, as it's easy to forget what you have just seen.

[@veitoue1328]

Thank you for explaining this, because thanks to this video I can now do it. I tried to learn it a couple times but finally someone explained it simply enough.

[@krusko5644]

You can explain really well thx

[@Crow-k4v]

6:21 the hand got me 😂😂😂

[@giovannigino3675]

The black king can only try to stay in the middle, instead of going to the wrong corner.

[@extra...]

2:11 that beep killed me 💀

[@johnwoo2016]

5:49 Why on earth didn’t Stockfish move the Black King to F6? It would prevent the White’s King and Knight from moving. It would force White to move Bishop to E3. Because if you try and Check on D4, the Black King escapes.

[@davinci1425]

Thank you!! After watching your video I seem to be able to consistently get a checkmate.

[@justskrobek803]

great video, crystal clear explanation

[@joelpenley9791]

Awesome video. I wish had this or the computers we have today, 20 years ago!

[@fightingvarieties5054]

Can any random position of knight and bishop lead to checkmate before the draw by 50 move rule?

[@dream_hacker9230]

Yes

[@giovannigino3675]

Yes you can always checkmate in 27 moves or lessi.

[@dannyorton2512]

I was literally watching your previous video on this last night. Nice to get a quick refresher

[@Kaador]

This is by far the "educationalest" of all of that chess channels (imo)

[@richardlee-shanok5578]

Thanks for the lesson! Made a lot of sense how you taught it.

[@coldcobras]

what is easier a bishop and a knight or 2 knights and opponents 1 pawn?

[@CST1992]

Hi Nelson, this video reminds me of a game I just played. Instead of having both a knight and a bishop against a lone king, it was a knight vs a bishop - this is the FEN: 4k3/8/8/8/3NK3/7b/8/8 w - - 0 1 The game **looks** like it should auto-draw but strangely it doesn't. Black is a bot and it tries to get me to take its bishop or take my knight somehow and force a draw by insufficient material, but somehow because the game is not automatically a draw I have a hope that I can checkmate it. Could you make a video for this kind of case also, please?

[@Preliment-g1k]

Thank you. It's a big help for me.

[@happyrabbit7944]

what if consider the hardest starting position where an attacking side on the 1st or 8th line and the opponent's king on the 3rd or 6th, then you have very few moves to waste without position improoving until the 50th move deadline... btw imao it's much easier to avoid a stalemate to mate by the bishop instead of knight and there is one more method called "triangle method" in some literature where we're able to mate in any side of the board as well and there are bishop comes above king and the last move we're doing by the knight..

[@drziggyabdelmalak1439]

At 5:11 when White plays K to d5 why doesn't the Black King move to c8 instead of e8?

[@choudharyrahul722]

I learnt B+N checkmate by confining the King in triangle from bigger to smaller.

[@danielyuan9862]

I think that's the simplest way. Because all of the other checkmate patterns have a theme of confining the king into a smaller and smaller area. And the strategy that you're using (and the one taught on lichess) is no different.

[@dream_hacker9230]

@@danielyuan9862 This is a good technique, but it still requires forcing the King into that first triangle, and against smart opposition who knows the techniques, they will avoid walking right in to one of those more or less mechanical techniques and try to stay in the center.

[@rpralica]

Thank you very much this is really the easiest way

[@awang_ir]

Thank you Nelson! This explanation is the best! 1 out of 3 hardest checkmate along with Queen + king Vs Rook + king AND 2 knights + king vs 1 pawn + king

[@1pwNz0mb13Z]

I had to watch this video 5 times but I finally got it! I like this method much better than what the lichess practice lessons teach. Thanks!

[@pou55555]

Tell me you're paranoid without telling me you're paranoid

[@Overkill9991]

At around 0:20 when you said with 2 knights you can’t force checkmate that is true, but checkmate is possible if the opponent has an extra pawn on the board. The reason this is because with 2 knight you can never mate the opponents king because stalemate,

[@userac-xpg]

you can actually force checkmate with a single knight if your opponent has a rook pawn and you can trap their king in front of it.

[@baactiba3039]

Thank you so much! Now I finally know this. I've been scared of learning it for a few months now

[@cbea1588]

Really great video! Thanks!

[@vladislavshevchenko9970]

Nelson, could you, please, make a video of queen vs knight endgame. I had it in a life Tournament and it was a huge 50 moves long embarrassment being up 6 points of material.

[@timnic9242]

true queen vs knight is not easy either

[@vladislavshevchenko9970]

@@timnic9242 yeah it looks easy until you actually try it

[@timnic9242]

@@vladislavshevchenko9970 i know

[@RobertHurleyJr]

Possible video see if u can beat Martin and his full army with just a king, a bishop, and a knight.

[@tianlecheng2656]

Plz continue fisherman series

[@jonasobv]

acutally first time i managed to do this after watching this video big thanks.

[@PrometheanConsulting]

In practice, it's better to get your king & knight to the center before moving your bishop at all... those are just wasted moves as the bishop can cover all the needed ground quickly. It really doesn't matter what ANY of your opponent's moves are... just protect your material and control the center.

[@Marito-i6g]

Thanks Nelson, I didn't know how to checkmate with bishop and knight

[@different_breed001]

is it inspired from firouzja's game😂??

[@deinemutter7397]

Good one

[@AenoTempest]

12:00 what if the black king went back c8?

[@caluldelemn1995]

but what if my opponent knows that the only way i know to checkmate is going to opposite corner square and he goes straight to the color of my bishop, how do i checkmate? because im familiar only if my opponent goes on an opposite color as my bishop, i know it should be easier, but how? because is not the w anymore, if you know what i mean, can you help me? thanks

[@wendydelisse9778]

Suppose in the setup of this video your opponent has a pattern of hiding out in the h8 corner every 2nd turn. First, get your knight to where it is no more than one square away from sealing off either the h5 or else the e8 square, and make your king be no more than one square away from the f6 square, and have your bishop somewhere on the a7 to g1 diagonal, which is an excellent initial diagonal for your bishop in this position. Then move your king to f6 when your opponent is in the h8 corner, and then use your knight and bishop to seal the opposing king into an L-shaped 4-square trap. Eventually, perhaps with the help of a bishop waiting move, you can move your king to f7 or g6 to shrink the trap down to 2 squares. Once down to a 2-square trap that is caused by your king and bishop, again perhaps with the help of a bishop waiting move, move your knight to an edge square such that a check is delivered that forces the opposing king into the f8 corner, and then deliver a corner checkmate with your bishop. Since neither your king nor knight is on the f8 diagonal, your bishop is guaranteed to have checkmate access to that diagonal. Short version: If in the setup of this video your opponent actually hides out in the f8 corner, get your king and bishop and knight in position to create an L-shaped 4-square edge square trap, shut the trap, squeeze the trap down to 2 squares, and then deliver checkmate. If the opposing king hides out in the a1 corner, the general concept is the same: Create a 4-square trap, squeeze the trap down to 2 squares, and then deliver checkmate.

[@abhishekbhardwaj5011]

Thanks mate!

[@chalkwitch471]

Great tutorial! Thanks.

[@woodenfences]

Good reminder, thank you! I think you had one on queen against rook?

[@KillerKnight-b3p]

thanks man cool stuff!

[@fresher_123]

I just have situation like this 😢 bt endgame is draw which is painful because he offers draw bt i denied

[@bpayne98123]

hey do you know any chess engines that can still solve this? someone seems to have broken the ones i can use lol

[@tisoy4ever]

2 Knights with 1 opponent pawn checkmate next please

[@itsmabus]

Now that you got the king in the corner, checkmate the rest of the owl

[@slyveonnumeros]

Thanks, but how do I do it with black?

[@garfieldsmith332]

In my early years when I played a lot of chess, a chess master told the group that a king and 2 knights could result in a checkmate. It could not be forced as you say. He demonstrated it and there was a position that if the player moved his king to a certain square it would be a checkmate nest move. If he moved to another square the chase would begin all over again. Is this true?, and perhaps you could show this in a future video,. It was many, many moons ago and I had forgotten all about it.

[@mihazupan5214]

IMHO the trickiest checkmating endgame is two knights against a king and a pawn.

[@inferno4693]

Recently I went to Paris and I spent most of the flight practicing bishop and knight mate vs the engine 😂

[@bondosan]

Great vid thanks

[@BillyBrainz]

Thanks for this ChessVibes(Nelson)

[@SirThanksAlot9000]

Absolutely based. thank you.

[@claytonbenignus4688]

Do the Three Knight Checkmate. It should be the prerequisite to doing the Knight and Bishop Checkmate. True, the Three Knight Endgame's occurrence is infinitesimal, yet it is instructive.

[@userac-xpg]

waste of time because you would never promote to a 3rd knight. If promoting to a Q makes a stalemate you just underpromote to rook (or bishop)

[@claytonbenignus4688]

You promote to Knight in order to avoid Stalemate and gain material, making this rare but plausible. The advantage is to get deeper insight on how to use Knights.

[@SagaciousUser]

The hardest part for me is getting them in the opposite corner

[@SifArtorias]

Good to know when the other player won't just resign.

[@angelmeier4382]

Two knights can't force checkmate if the opponent only has the king. But if the opponent has a single pawn, then it's possible to force checkmate. But not in all situations, there was a second requirement which I forgot. But it's interesting.

[@figoarantes]

Instruction's too clear. I'm done learning it in 2 days. THANKS SO MUCH!!