The Bishop & Knight Checkmate | Endgame Exclam!! - GM Varuzhan Akobian

Grandmaster Varuzhan Akobian demonstrates the "W Maneuver," his method to checkmate a lone king with only a bishop and a knight. Plus, see two knights and a pawn vs. king, and more.
2017.02.14

[@johnward2099]

Decades ago, I actually had this in tournament when the 50 move rule had an exemption for this whereby if the mate could be proven you could use double the moves. At the time, theory held 34 moves max giving me 68 permissible. I floundered and floundered and only won on the 62nd move. This W explanation is the best yet. My opponent had sac'd to get this ending and offered a draw which I refused. So yes, it happens for real.

[@mingming9604]

There are some very rare forced mates that does take more than 50 moves. but i guess they are so rare that in practice people just draw them? lol...

[@BuggatiWeryon]

@@mingming9604 Queen vs 2 bishops is over 50 moves but it is possible to mate

[@mingming9604]

@@BuggatiWeryon I guess you have to state that it is possible and then prove it on the board against yr opponent. If I were the opponent, I would make you prove you could do it... because a lot of people , even GM may not be able to do it perfectly all the time...lol

[@PoultryIndiatvrates]

Very Good Trainer. I Appreciate your Talent.

[@NortinhoFB]

Yes!! Varuzhan is the best teacher in my opinion. I was needing this class so bad, pretty hard to find a decent explanation on the w maneuver

[@arsenalfanrichi]

Best thing about using this method is that it is transferrable imo. It teaches you to take away flight squares.

[@Sam-xz6sg]

The timing of this video is on point! Maybe next time Harika won't struggle so much if she watches this video

[@user-kf8fj2mc7u]

Exactly my thinking. Someone send her the link to this video

[@Duelistone]

die schachmeister Perfect timing.

[@groussac]

Probably Dronavalli Harika vs Tan Zhongyi, Women's World Championship (2017) · Sicilian Defense: Nezhmetdinov-Rossolimo Attack (B30) · 1-0 . www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1863243

[@tanniava]

but she figured out how to do it over the board nice job! there's no way i could do that on a timed match

[@mingming9604]

yeah, she probably had wished she watched the video again. She was executing the perfect W until she made the wrong move 139 at position 06:57 by moving the bishop instead of the knight, thereby adding a crapload of additional moves because the king almost escape. She was cutting it pretty close to the 50 moves rule

[@Evilanious]

So by watching the relevant part of this video three times and trying it against the computer approximately 8 billion times until I started understanding, I finally can do this now. Thanks GM Akobian.

[@strangetobias1474]

Topalov's picture behind Akobian just had me laughing the whole video

[@lolface6940]

Jonathan Degrave, I was watching the intro as I saw your comment and I started laughing when I saw the picture

[@PinkasBrown44]

Topalov. The guy who ´imortalizes´ other GMs :)@@lolface6940

[@luckyleshanth7252]

K

[@pingerfrints6716]

When you stare long at topalov's face he looks like a bald Mona Lisa.😂🤣

[@colinserbu2006]

Honestly my favorite chess coach.

[@groussac]

Yeah, he's a natural born teacher alright. There are lots of good coaches and teachers out there, but Var really knows how to explain things in a clear and easy way.

[@mattheww8217]

Pierre Groussac and it's not his native language as well

[@kamarulazizi5266]

Matthew yes replying to a 1 yr old comment

[@pingerfrints6716]

He looks like if you fail you will be shot immediately

[@marekbanaszkiewicz6338]

What a relief, Var is back again! More videos, please.

[@sleepy4x]

Great explanation of the knight and bishop mating net.

[@charleswilliams8368]

Several incredible endgames in one lecture. I'll look up some more lectures by GM Akobian.

[@stephenejack3855]

Great simple explanation of a tricky idea. Much better than the endgame book I have been reading. Thanks GM Akobian and CCSCSL!

[@andreamagnanini3196]

Akobian is by far the best!! More video of him please!!

[@bite_beat]

Thanks my Armenian Hero!!! You are the best teacher.

[@wiredog771]

Amazing lecturer. In his second language, no less. 🧠💪🏻🤘🏻🎓

[@bhavani1089shankar]

Thank you Grand Master Varuzhan

[@koyaaanisquatsi]

Finally learned B+N mate, it was hard to wrap my head around it, but I finally learned it. Thank you for this!!

[@nazihbenkhelfa5058]

i missed this guy and his lectures !

[@kusumitahazra3985]

i watched this video two times and learnt the technique

[@GzzLuiz]

6 Explaining videos later, finally one that I understood!!!! Thanks you sir!

[@GzzLuiz]

I'll remember you if this situation just happens to be! (Maybe around 2040, but I'll sure remember you!!!)

[@tharindanimnajith3525]

The Greatest Chess Teacher Ever!

[@bigmac329190]

Akobian is the man. Thank you

[@tharindanimnajith3525]

He is Back! The Legend is Back!!

[@padrepatta5535]

Wow finally after years I'm able to fully manage the last of the basic mates. The W maneuver is very simple and clear. Forget the other methods. Thanks to GM Akobian!

[@shrayanmajumder7517]

awesome and instructive! please do the next one on rook vs rook+bishop, akobian rocks!

[@eriknelson9975]

Yes! He's back!!!

[@robertmccabe6580]

Wow I’ve been trying to learn this but have had some difficulty he explains it so clearly its now extremely easy for me

[@kiranfhh9059]

yes akobian back at last

[@cenationleader9344]

thank you for making videos

[@amitwadodkar7738]

Awesome class!!!

[@zygaf6252]

Well done Mr Akobian thx!

[@mirandasi8302]

Thanks buddy. This guys instructions using the W method is really good. Stick with the W and understand the reason for the bishops wait move. I didn’t understand the meaning of the Bishops wait move and I couldn’t solve it. Practice it a few times and this is the easiest and fastest.

[@veronicahernandezapicella6231]

Didactic, precise, thank you.

[@excellentacademy8928]

Very good explanation

[@garelrick]

This was brilliant! I played against Stockfish and managed to checkmate it many times after viewing this. My average amount of moves with the black king in the center was 37 to mate. Thank you GM Akobian!

[@garelrick]

@zwnj-er5ns Sorry just saw your message. I've played in tournaments on and off since 1975. Mostly in that time, I've played over thousands of master games. In the last few years my "study" is just books that I enjoy and problem solving. I play just a few openings regularly and have my set way of playing them with occasional tweaks to make them more efficient.

[@PrasannaKumar-zx7gr]

Clear explanation ..thank you

[@fahadmohammed6700]

Thank u .. great teacher!! From kuwait..

[@cenationleader9344]

this is my favourite chess channel

[@kirklandgavin6858]

awesome stuff thanks

[@theobeulakker3492]

Very good video have not seen one ON pawn break through say three against three king close by

[@neerajtamuk6136]

Above all and a superb talented and a very good mannered human being my forever favourite...

[@kevinbyrne4538]

Great lesson. (Apparently I must learn with the 8-year-olds.) Varuzhan is a patient teacher.

[@deepakchaurasia161]

B+N was convenient . thanks

[@ddd231]

I had this position today and drew! If only I had known this.

[@shainsha1662]

Nice. It easy to understand

[@reza6718]

Varuzhan is the best tnx

[@mingming9604]

Between the triangles and W, i feel like W is easier to execute. The trickiest part is to get to the position on 02:33 . Your opponent will try to keep his king in the middle of the board as the first defense. And that is the hardest part is how to successfully push the king to the backrow in the shortest amount of moves/time. Once you get the king in the backrow in that position, it's basically almost a verbatim regurgitation of the W algorthm everytime.

[@mingming9604]

I actually draw by 50 playing lichess level 6 with me playing the lone black king and him the white king, knight and bishop.. All i did was just make any move that would keep me as close to the center or away from the bishop color corner... Lol...only lichess level 7 or 8 can properly corner you...

[@jjowow]

Yeah I agree

[@mariofloresii8246]

I would like to ask, what app or software being use in this video to teach students? I would like to use something like this to teach my young students.

[@enggasmatullah]

Hi,Mr akobian thanks for your endeavors and nice method of teaching, sir would you mind to tell me which chess software you are using in your computer and how ca I get it, thanks in advance

[@davidcharles3871]

There are other fine chess teachers, but this guy is the best.

[@skydragon3857]

congrats on 100k subs! when did you guys reach it? was there a special video? :)

[@STLChessClub]

Thanks! We reached 100k subscribers on Feb 17th. We'll keep the content coming!

[@PraveenKumar-ph6jh]

Superb stuff ! Rook endgame lecture please !!

[@gujaratfishfarming708]

very very good sir

[@swapanhalder7727]

You r a good ticher n your trik is perfect n easi so all under stand esi.

[@ukizabonje87]

Finally!

[@maxpower9175]

His accent plays a part in teaching i believe. There are many games where i've found a good skewer, and i remember it in his accent :D

[@peristiloperis7789]

Great lecture! But one thing he said about the QxR ending is not true: "you can get this position comfortably". On the contrary; it's the hardest part. If the opponent knows how to defend(by using the third rank defense for example) it's an extremely difficult task. You can see what I mean if you play against an engine with tablebase.

[@jgdesmarais]

In the configuration at 5:58, what if the black king chooses to go to b7 instead of c6? I played agains Stockfish, and it always play that move.. I have not discovered yet how to prevent the black king escape from the a8 corner and race towards the bottom of the board.

[@rhythmc3230]

I came here to learn the bishop and knight checkmate and I knew Two Bishop Checkmate and I was thinking that Ok after I will watch the video, I will get to know the Bishop and Knight Checkmate technique and I understood it completely. Moreover, the title of the video says that this video is about how to checkmate with Bishop and Knight after reading the title I was a bit worried because I also wanted to learn the checkmate technique: Two Knights vs Pawn. I thought that I will have to ask my chess coach but after some 19 minutes I discovered that this video also shows us how to checkmate with Two knights+ Ek teer se do nishane- It's a saying in Hindi which means one arrow had hits at two targets!

[@danbujor4256]

I had once this setup K+N+B vs. K in a rapid OTB game (against an IM) and the opponent hide it in the "wrong" corner, and tried not to move his king from there... I had some time, and I was not sure I remember how to drive him to the one of other color corners, but when I was thinking about that I noticed that I can force a checkmate in that corner too, which I did... I meant to put the position and to note the checkmate sequence later that day, but I neglected to do it while things were fresh, and I coudn't remember how I did it afterwards...

[@kartikshroff5694]

how to bring king from center to corner with the same position pl ?

[@morphybgmi2749]

Sir , please make a video for queen vs rook checkmate.it's very difficult.

[@swapanhalder7727]

Nice sir thanksa lot

[@martinet1985]

I got it I got it! thank you!

[@gmmay70]

My god, the W method for the B+N mating net is far easier than the big, middle, small triangle method.

[@k_ralph9391]

I am a chess noob, but i can check mate easily now with bishop and knight. This W maneuver is pretty easy to learn, specialy if you watch this video.! Note: If you play an engine, 1.)it always will try to escape 2.) it will not try to escape on c6 but on B7, which forces an extra waiting move after B B7

[@vbellos1]

Yes but how you deal if on 2:12 King goes to h6 instead of h8?

[@sambagaddam4442]

Nice

[@jawadhijazi7025]

Important 😄

[@ex0duzz]

@27:11 Akopian says "it doesn't matter, any move will do, as long as white bishop stays on that diagonal", while moving the black bishop on g5/d5 as possible moves. However Bd5 would lead to stalemate, since King needs to go to h2. Lol

[@Sough]

Damn that was way faster than Jerry's method, but I guess any method you can remember is probably enough. Thanks

[@aj.tgaming8388]

an AI i played, for the move at 16:43 (Black to move), played B7 instead of C6, you counter this with bishop f6 which eventually gives queen C6.

[@metalgreyfox]

Dave Attell crushing at Chess nowadays...

[@pingerfrints6716]

I don't understand why many chess players like gm or Im only explains the light square bishop but I rarely see anyone explains about how to checkmate your opponent using dark square bishop and a knight.I rarely see it.

[@funkybob7772]

What if the king moves to b7 square instead of c6 when the knight moves @16:42? I'm having trouble with the AI on this move and I can't prevent the black king escaping.

[@1soar818]

have you figured it out

[@pfsloan2597]

Recently drew a game because I couldn't remember this.

[@alovethisgame2]

Akobian looking like a friggin Air Force General

[@lakejizzio7777]

Song name in intro?

[@gautierduchesne65]

What software are they using??

[@JOELALVARADO95]

Gautier Duchesne Chessbase.

[@padammagar197]

best chess tech one.

[@bobbyb5710]

i took me one day of frustation to do this in the mirror position...now after 2 days i really can do it all the time...

[@diabl2master]

he brushes over the hardest part - pushing the king to a corner

[@mingming9604]

Yep,, that is the hardest part i agree. Your opponent will do his absolute best to keep the king in the center of the board. he won't willingly go to any corner, even the wrong color corner.

[@diabl2master]

@@mingming9604 and he will never make a mistake - just choose the square which is closer to the centre!

[@b1odome]

Stealmate

[@PinkasBrown44]

Thou shalt not stealmate

[@AksiTosbaa]

Stale? Are there joke im missing?

[@TheGameIsFunny]

@@AksiTosbaa he keeps pronouncing stealmate

[@MagmaTeja]

Finally XD

[@lucila5466]

aw he looks sad in this lecture

[@MrCupidd]

W for win!

[@giacomobiancalana6949]

8:16 scoreggina

[@renehenriksen1735]

They call it the W-manouver, but I prefer to call it the BMW-manouver because it´s done by a piece with a lot of horse-power... ;)

[@michaelchinchen]

This is way easier than the other video w over a mil views

[@moonji5923]

interesting

[@stargazer2042]

This looks faster than the triangle method.

[@mrfeminist3346]

This is too hard, hurts my brain

[@ebutuoyjg]

you should retitle this video. it makes it seem like it is only bishop and knight when in fact you cover lots of situations. will get you more hits

[@Sophiaeriksson]

what is the name that Akobian use?

[@drsniffles23]

Do you mean 'Zugzwang position'? It's German and it basically means 'forced move position'

[@Sophiaeriksson]

drsniffles23 thx for replying! i wrote wrong i mean what is the name of the program that he uses? thnx agian

[@diegomastro5681]

Charlie Baghdy chessbase

[@JimLink]

33:04 Pin it to win it!

[@lolface6940]

7:06, what if black does Kb7?

[@1soar818]

have you figured it out

[@MoCheezy]

I've been staring at Topolov for like 10 mins

[@bobi5202]

or has he been starting at YOU?

[@siensebastien]

13:54 what if the king go the other way?

[@pezz8029]

@22:10 isn't knight to b5 checkmate?

[@muciergalo]

👏👏👏👏👏🙂

[@muskaka1268]

can u do the bishop and rook vs a rook endgame please

[@AA-100]

That endgame is generally drawn