Bishop and knight checkmate

In chess, the bishop and knight checkmate is the checkmate of a lone king by an
opposing king, bishop, and knight. With the stronger side to move, checkmate can be
forced in at most thirty-three moves from almost any starting position[1][2] Although
this is classified as one of the four basic checkmates[3][a], it occurs in practice only approximately once in every
6,000 games.[4]

Method
A. B.
a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h
8 8 8 8
7 7 7 7
6 6 6 6
5 5 5 5
4 4 4 4
3 3 3 3
2 2 2 2
1 1 1 1
a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h
A bishop & knight checkmate An alternate checkmate pattern
pattern that white can force[5] white can force[6]

Overview
This section is adapted from Yasser Seirawan's Winning Chess Endings. It is assumed that White has the bishop and
knight.

Since checkmate can only be forced in the corner of the same color as the squares on which the bishop moves (the
"right" corner), an opponent who is aware of this will first try to stay in the center of the board, and then move into in
the "wrong" corner. Thus there are three phases in the checkmating process:

1. Driving the opposing king to the edge of the board.

2. Forcing the king out of the "wrong" corner to the "right" corner, if necessary.
3. Delivering the checkmate.

Phase 1
To start, White uses their pieces to force the black king to the edge of the board. As noted above, White achieves
mate more quickly by preventing the black king from reaching the longest diagonal of the color opposite to that of
the bishop.

Here is an example of how the first phase can be accomplished from the position F.

1. Bg2 Kd4
2. Kd2 Ke5
 3. Ke3 Kf5
F. From Seirawan
4. Nd3 Sealing off the e5-square.
4... Kg5 a b c d e f g h
5. Be4 White has a wall and will push the king into a corner, see 8 8
diagram G. 7 7
5... Kf6 The black king is too close to the h8 corner. 6 6

[Editorial note: Seirawan's comment appears to be a 5 5

misprint: the black king should try to avoid the h1 corner 4 4
and head for the h8 corner. Thus 5...Kg4 would be worse. 3 3
If instead the black king moves to the h-file White can play 2 2
Kf4–f5 followed by Kf6 and Ne5 (in some order) reaching
1 1
a position of type N on move 9.] 6. Kd4
[Editorial note: The white king heads for the left hand side a b c d e f g h
of the wall, but this checkmates more slowly by one move White uses his pieces to force the
than 6.Kf4 heading directly for f6.[7]] black king to the edge of the board

PGN text ➤
6... Ke6
7. Kc5 Ke7
8. Kd5 The black king now must decide where to go, so he
goes to the h8 corner, where checkmate cannot be forced. G.
8... Kf6
9. Kd6 Kf7 a b c d e f g h
10. Ke5 Kg7! 8 8
11. Ke6 Kg8 7 7
6 6
[Editorial note: Here Black miscalculates the moves. White
arrives at a position equivalent to H on move 13 but with 5 5
Black to move. Had Black instead played 11...Kf8 or 4 4
11...Kh8, White would be in zugzwang at that point.] 3 3
2 2
12. Ne5! Centralizing the knight and preparing to force the black
king out of the h8 corner. 1 1
12... Kf8 a b c d e f g h
13. Kf6 Kg8 After 5.Be4, White has a wall.
14. Nf7!

Keeping the black king out of the h8 corner. Now White can force the king to the a8 corner (the "right" corner for
checkmate) by one of the methods below, or by similar techniques.[8]

Phases 2 and 3

"W manoeuvre"
The position on the right is one that typically arises after the first phase has been completed and the defender has
headed to a corner opposite in color to that occupied by the bishop. The following method to push the king to the
"right" corner is commonly given:[9][10]

1. Nf7+

First White forces the king to leave the corner. The white bishop is positioned so that the next two moves, gaining
control of g8, are possible.

1... Kg8 2. Bf5

A waiting move, forcing Black's king to move so White can play 3.Bh7, taking away g8 from the king.

2... Kf8 3. Bh7 Ke8 4. Ne5

The key to the standard winning method is the Nf7–e5–d7–c5–b7 movement H.
of the knight as first demonstrated by Philidor in L'Analyse des Échecs
a b c d e f g h
(1777), forming a "W" shape. Now there are two possible defenses: 8 8
7 7
Defense A: 4...Kf8 6 6

Black clings to the "safe" corner, but loses more quickly. 5 5

4 4
5. Nd7+ Ke8 6. Ke6 Kd8 7. Kd6 Ke8 8. Bg6+ Kd8 9. Bf7 Kc8 3 3
10. Nc5 (continuing the knight's manoeuvre)
2 2
10... Kd8 11. Nb7+ Kc8 12. Kc6 Kb8 13. Kb6 (now the king is
in the correct position, a knight's move away from the right 1 1
corner) 13... Kc8 14. Be6+ Kb8 15. Bd7 (now the defending a b c d e f g h
king is confined to the right corner, and checkmate can be White to move begins executing the
given) W manoeuvre
15... Ka8 16. Nc5 Kb8 17. Na6+ Ka8 18. Bc6#

Defense B: 4...Kd8
Here, the defending king tries to leave the edge of the board. This holds out longer.

5. Ke6 Kc7 6. Nd7! White continues the knight's W manoeuvre, even though Black's king has
temporarily left the back rank.
6... Kb7 7. Bd3!

Black's king is now restricted to the correct-colored corner. The perimeter is I.

bounded by a6, b6, b5, c5, d5, d6, d7, e7, f7, f8. White's subsequent moves
a b c d e f g h
tighten this area further.
8 8

7... Kc6 8. Be2 Kc7 7 7

6 6
At this point several ways of continuing are possible, including the following 5 5
two: 4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Position after 8...Kc7

Continue the W manoeuvre

One continuation from the position after Black's eighth move is to continue the W manoeuvre of the knight, by
bringing it to c5 and b7. Müller and Lamprecht[11] give 9. Bf3 Kd8 10. Kd6 Ke8 11. Bh5+ Kd8 12. Bf7 Kc8 13.
Nc5 Kd8 14. Nb7+ Kc8 15. Kc6 Kb8 16. Kb6 Kc8 17. Be6+ Kb8 18. Nc5 Ka8 19. Bd7 Kb8 20. Na6+ Ka8 21.
Bc6# (the first checkmate diagram). However, the following improvement is possible 12. Nc5 after which Fine[12]
continues 12... Kc8 13. Be2 Kd8 14. Bb5 Kc8 15. Bd7+ Kb8 16. Kc6 Ka7 17. Kc7 Ka8 18. Kb6 Kb8 19. Na6+
Ka8 20. Bc6#

Delétang's second triangle

Alternatively, from the position after Black's eighth move (with the irrelevant difference of the bishop on d3 instead
of e2), Fine[13] shows that Delétang's triangle method is equally quick: 9. Bb5 Kd8 10. Nb6 Kc7 11. Nd5+ Kd8 12.
Kd6 Kc8 13. Ke7 Kb7 14. Kd7 Kb8 15. Ba6 (Delétang's third triangle) 15... Ka7 16. Bc8 Kb8 17. Ne7 Ka7
(17...Ka8 18.Kc7 Ka7 19.Nc6+ Ka8 20.Bb7#) 18. Kc7 Ka8 19. Bb7+ Ka7 J
20. Nc6#
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Position after Black's move 11
(Delétang's second net)

Delétang's triangle method

Delétang's triangle method produces checkmate by confining the king in successively smaller areas. In the first set of
three diagrams, the king is confined inside the marked area and a corner in which the checkmate can occur is in the
area. The king cannot escape the area nor attack the bishop or knight. The second set of three diagrams shows the
triangles and how the bishop controls the hypotenuse of the triangle.[14]

K. L. M.
a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h
8 8 8 8 8 8
7 7 7 7 7 7
6 6 6 6 6 6
5 5 5 5 5 5
4 4 4 4 4 4
3 3 3 3 3 3
2 2 2 2 2 2
1 1 1 1 1 1
a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h
First net Second net Third net

In the first net, all three pieces are required to confine the king. In the second net, only the bishop and knight are
needed. In the third net, the king and bishop confine the king, allowing the knight to either checkmate or assist in the
checkmate.[15] The winning procedure consists of making the king move so that the bishop can reach the hypotenuse
of the next smaller triangle.[16]
 N. O. P.
a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h
8 8 8 8 8 8
7 7 7 7 7 7
6 6 6 6 6 6
5 5 5 5 5 5
4 4 4 4 4 4
3 3 3 3 3 3
2 2 2 2 2 2
1 1 1 1 1 1
a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h
First triangle Second triangle Third triangle
PGN text ➤

Starting from the position of the first triangle, White wins:

1. Bc2 (to push the king toward the corner)

1... Ke3 (the king stays as close to the middle as possible)
2. Kc1 (plan is to guard e2, probably from d1)
2... Ke2

3. Bg6 (a waiting move)

Q.
3... Ke3
4. Kd1 (guarding e2) a b c d e f g h
4... Kf2 8 8
5. Kd2 Kf3 7 7
6. Kd3 (still guarding e2) 6 6
6... Kg4
5 5
7. Ke3 Kh4 (preventing the bishop from going to h5)
8. Kf4 Kh3 4 4
9. Bh5! (the bishop is on the hypotenuse of the second triangle) 3 3
9... Kg2 2 2
10. Nc5 Kf2
1 1
11. Ne4+ Kg2
a b c d e f g h
12. Bg4 (the second net) After 8...Kh3 – bishop is ready for
12... Kf1 the second hypotenuse
13. Kf3 Ke1
14. Ke3 Kf1
15. Kd2 Kg2
16. Ke2 Kg1
17. Bh3! (the hypotenuse of the third triangle)
17... Kh2
18. Bf1 Kg1
19. Ng5 (preparing to guard h2)
19... Kh1
20. Kf2 Kh2
21. Nf3+ Kh1
22. Bg2#[17]
 R.
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
After 16...Kg1 – bishop is ready for
the third hypotenuse

Drawing trap
A drawing trap, not mentioned in S. T.
endgame treatises, was noted by the
a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h
American master Frederick Rhine in
8 8 8 8
2000 and published in Larry Evans'
7 7 7 7
"What's the Best Move?" column in
6 6 6 6
Chess Life magazine. In the position in
5 5 5 5
diagram AD, after 1...Nb6+??
4 4 4 4
2.Kb7?? Nd5, Black would be well
3 3 3 3
on their way to setting up Delétang's
2 2 2 2
second triangle. However, White
1 1 1 1
draws instantly with 2.Kd8! (diagram
a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h
T), when the only way for Black to
Black to move Black to move, draw! Note that the
save their bishop is to move it,
position would also be drawn if the
resulting in stalemate. The game knight were at a7 or e7 (marked
would also be drawn if the knight with dots).
were at a7 or e7 instead. Rhine later
used this discovery as the basis for a
"White to play and draw" composition. A stalemate idea essentially identical to this occurs at the climax of a study by
A. H. Branton, second prize, New Statesman, 1966.[18] (White: king on c1; Black: king on c3, knight on a3, bishop
on d1), though it may have been known even earlier.

From the position in diagram S, instead of 1...Nb6+??, Black would win quickly by threatening mate on d8 by
1...Na5, e.g. 2.Kd8 Ba4 3.Kc8 Bd7+ and the white king is forced to b8 with mate in 6.
 C. D. E.
a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h
8 8 8 8 8 8
7 7 7 7 7 7
6 6 6 6 6 6
5 5 5 5 5 5
4 4 4 4 4 4
3 3 3 3 3 3
2 2 2 2 2 2
1 1 1 1 1 1
a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h
Black to play draws. Black to play draws. Black cannot play to the corner:
1...Kh8, 2.Ng6+ Kg8 3.Bc4#.

(After 1...Kf8 2.Bc4 Ke7

3.Kg7 Kd6 4.Nd3, White
reaches Delétang's first net.)

History and methods

A method for checkmate applicable when the lone king is in the corner of the opposite color from the bishop (the
"wrong" corner, where checkmate cannot be forced), was given by Philidor in the 1777 update[19] to his famous
1749 treatise, L'Analyse des Échecs.[20] He called attention to the route of the knight now identified by the letter W.
Another method, known as "Delétang's Method" or "Delétang's Triangles",[21] applicable when the lone king is
unable to reach the longest diagonal of the color opposite to that of the bishop, involves confining the lone king in a
series of three increasingly smaller triangles, ultimately forcing it into a corner of the same color as the bishop (the
"right" corner). Some of the ideas of this method date back to 1780, but the complete system was first published in
1923 by Daniel Delétang.[22] The method as propounded is not optimal, but it is relatively simple; so long as White
has trapped the king behind the diagonal in a reasonable number of moves, it will lead to mate before the fifty-move
rule takes effect. His "second triangle" or "middle triangle" occurs also in the analysis of play with the king in the
corner of opposite color to the bishop shown in Fine's[23] and Philidor's analyses. Fine's analysis improves on
Philidor's. Neither method is necessary to complete the mate.

A king, bishop, and knight can force checkmate on the lone enemy king on an arbitrarily large board, as long as it
contains a corner of the colour that the bishop travels on. This was shown by Julius Telesin in 1983. The other basic
checkmates (king and rook vs king, or king and two bishops vs king) can be forced in O(n) moves on an n × n
board. For the bishop and knight checkmate, Telesin's method gives an O(n2 ) bound, but it is still open whether this
is optimal.[24][25]

Importance
Opinions differ among chess authors as to whether or not a player should learn this checkmate procedure.

Jeremy Silman omitted the bishop-and-knight checkmate from his Complete Endgame Course, claiming he had
encountered it only once, and that his friend John Watson had never encountered it.[26] Silman said, "Mastering it
would take a significant chunk of time. Should the chess hopeful really spend many of his precious hours he's put
aside for chess study learning an endgame he will achieve (at most) only once or twice in his lifetime?" Similarly,
International Master Jonathan Hawkins reported only ever encountering the position in a game once.[27]

On the other hand, while Grandmaster Andy Soltis concedes that he has never played this endgame and most players
will never have it in their career, he argues that learning the checkmate teaches techniques that can be applied
elsewhere.[28] James Howell includes the bishop-and-knight checkmate in his book, saying that he has defended
against it three times and that it occurs more often than the checkmate with two bishops; he omits the latter from his
book.[29] Finally, the checkmate occurred in at least one very notable case: in Tal Shaked's victory over Alexander
Morozevich in the penultimate round of the 1997 World Junior Chess Championship.[30] Shaked knew the correct
mating pattern, and his victory catapulted him to becoming World Junior Champion, whereas a draw would have
prevented him from winning the title.[31]

Examples from games

The comments in this section are mostly editorial additions and not included in the cited references.

Karttunen vs. Rasik

The ending of the game between Mika Karttunen and Vitezslav Rasik[32] at U. Karttunen vs. Rasik, 2003
the 2003 European Chess Club Cup shows the knight's W manoeuvre. From a b c d e f g h
position U, it continued: 8 8
7 7
84. Bc5 Kb7 85. Nd5 Kb8 86. Kc6 Ka8 87. Nc7+ Kb8 88. Bd4 Kc8
6 6
89. Ba7 Kd8 90. Nd5 Ke8 91. Kd6 Kf7 92. Ne7 Kf6? 93. Be3 Kf7
94. Bd4 Ke8 95. Ke6 Kd8 96. Bb6+ Ke8 97. Nf5 Kf8 98. Bc7? Ke8 5 5
99. Ng7+ Kf8 100. Kf6 Kg8 101. Bd6 Kh7 102. Nf5 Kg8 103. Kg6 4 4
Kh8 104. Bc5 1–0.[33] 3 3
Checkmate follows after 104...Kg8, 105.Nh6+ Kh8 106.Bd4#. Black could 2 2
have held out a move longer with 92...Kg7,[34] and 98.Bd8 would have been 1 1
faster for White. a b c d e f g h
White to move
PGN text ➤

Ljubojević vs. J. Polgár

Position V is from a blindfold game between Ljubomir Ljubojević and Judit Polgár at the 1994 Amber chess
tournament.[35] Play continued: 84. Kd6 Kf6? (Better is 84...Nf4. The white king should run towards a1 so the
black king should follow it towards that corner.) 85. Kc5 Ke5 86. Kc4 Bd5+ 87. Kd3 Nf4+ 88. Ke3? (White can
resist about seven moves longer by 88.Kc3) 88... Be4 89. Kd2 Kd4 90. Kc1 Kc3 91. Kd1 Bc2+ 92. Ke1 Kd3 93.
Kf2 Ke4 94. Kg3 Bd1 95. Kf2 Nd3+ 96. Kg3 Ke3 97. Kh4 Kf4 98. Kh3 Ne1 99. Kh4 Ng2+ 100. Kh3 Kf3 101.
Kh2 Kf2 102. Kh3 Be2 103. Kh2 Bg4 104. Kh1 Ne3 105. Kh2 Nf1+ 106. Kh1 Bf3# 0–1
 V. Ljubojević vs. J. Polgár,
1994
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Position after 83...Nxg6+
PGN text ➤

Grandmasters failing to mate

Delivering checkmate is difficult if the technique has not been studied and practiced. Even grandmasters, including
GM Vladimir Epishin and Women's World Champion GM Anna Ushenina, have obtained the endgame but failed to
win it. In the Kempinski vs. Epishin game, both players made suboptimal moves. The superior side was unable to
win and ended up stalemating several moves after the inferior side could have claimed a draw under the fifty-move
rule.[36]

Robert Kempinski (2498) – Vladimir Kempinski vs. Epishin

Epishin (2567) [E60] Bundesliga W. X.
0001 Germany (5.3), 07.01.2001
a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h
8 8 8 8
From position W.
7 7 7 7
127. Kf3 Bc5 128. Ke4 Kc4 6 6 6 6
129. Kf5 Kd5 130. Kf6 Bd6 5 5 5 5
131. Kf7 Ne5+ 132. Ke8
4 4 4 4
Ke6 133. Kd8 Nf7+ 134.
Kc8 Kd5 135. Kb7 Kc5 3 3 3 3
136. Ka6 Bc7 137. Kb7 2 2 2 2
Kd6 138. Ka6 Kc6 139. 1 1 1 1
Ka7 Nd6 140. Ka8 a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h
(position X) Bd8?
Position after 126...Nxd3 Position after 140.Ka8

140...Nc4 141.Ka7 Nb6 142.Ka6

Bb8 is optimal.

141. Ka7 Kb5 142. Kb8 Kb6 143. Ka8 Nb7 144. Kb8 Bc7+ 145. Ka8 Kc6 146. Ka7 Nc5 147. Ka8
Nd7 148. Ka7 Nb6 149. Ka6 Bb8!

Reaching the same position Black could have forced earlier (see previous note).

150. Ka5 Kc5?

150...Nd5 is optimal.

151. Ka6 Bd6? 152. Kb7 Kb5 153. Ka7 Kc6 154. Ka6 Bb8!

Reaching the same position as after Black's 149th move.

 155. Ka5 Nd5!

Belatedly finding the winning move he missed five moves ago.

156. Ka6

Objectively best was 156.Ka4.

156... Bc7?

Missing 156...Nb4+.

157. Ka7 Bb6+ 158. Kb8 Bc5 159. Ka8 Nc7+ 160. Kb8 Nb5 161. Ka8 Kb6 162. Kb8 Na7 163.
Ka8 Ka6 164. Kb8 Bb6 165. Ka8 Nb5 166. Kb8 Nd6 167. Ka8 Kb5 168. Kb8 Kc6 169. Ka8 Bc7
170. Ka7 Nb7 171. Ka8 Nc5 172. Ka7 Bb6+ 173. Ka8 Bc7 174. Ka7 Nd7 175. Ka8 Bd6 176. Ka7
Nb6 177. Ka6 Bb8 178. Ka5 Bc7 179. Ka6 Nc8 stalemate ½–½

After the basic king, bishop, and knight versus king position arrived, White was kind enough to allow his king to
retreat to the last rank in only six moves. But Black seemed to try to mate White in the wrong corner. Black
eventually found a winning line, up to a point, but then failed to find 156...Nb4+ and instead tried again to mate in
the wrong corner.

In the Anna Ushenina vs. Olga Girya Ushenina vs. Girya

game, played in the Geneva Y. Z.
tournament of the FIDE Women's
a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h
Grand Prix 2013–2014, White started
8 8 8 8
Phase 2 correctly but missed two
7 7 7 7
chances to finish it.
6 6 6 6

From position Y: 5 5 5 5
4 4 4 4
72... Ka1 73. Nd1 Ka2 74. 3 3 3 3
Bc2 Ka1 75. Kc3 Ka2 76. 2 2 2 2
Bb3+ Ka1 77. Ne3 Kb1 78.
1 1 1 1
Nc2 Kc1 79. Ba2 Kd1 80.
Nd4 Ke1 81. Kd3 Kf2 a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h
(position Z) 82. Bd5? Position after 72.Nxc3 Position after 81...Kf2

White should have played this move

in place of the previous move or should now continue the W manoeuvre with 82.Ne2! It looks at first as if the black
king might run away with 82...Kf3 or 82...Kg2, but in either case 83.Be6 reins it in again. Playing Bd5 at this stage
is six moves slower than continuing the W manoeuvre, but White can still continue to mate in the h1 corner by e.g.
Ne6, Bc4 sealing the black king behind the b1–h7 diagonal and leading to Delétang's first net.

82... Kg3 83. Ke3

After this move, White cannot prevent the black king escaping the b1–h7 diagonal. The black king can play up the
g-file to g6 and the white king has no option but to follow with opposition on the e-file to at least e5, otherwise the
black king can escape to the third perimeter at f5 or f6.

83... Kg4 84. Be4

The black king can now escape to f6.

84... Kg5 85. Kf3 Kf6 86. Kf4 Kg7 87. Kg5 Kf7 88. Kf5 Kg7 89. Bd5 Kh6 90. Ne6 Kh7 91. Kf6
Kg8 92. Nf4+ Kh8 93. Be4
This wastes two moves because the knight needs three moves to reach e7 instead of one to reach g6. White should
have immediately started the W manoeuvre along the h8–h1 edge, e.g. 94.Bf7 reproducing the position after White's
move 77.

93... Kg8 94. Nh3 Kh8 95. Ng5 Kg8 96. Nf7 Kf8 97. Bh7 Ke8 98. Bf5

Quickest is to continue the W manoeuvre with Ne5, but White plans to control g8 with knight instead of bishop,
which is three moves slower.

98... Kf8 99. Nh6 Ke8

Now 100.Be6 would seal the king behind the a2–g8 diagonal. White has time to relocate the knight to d3 reaching
Delétang's first net.

100. Nf7

White instead abandons the idea.

100... Kf8 101. Ne5 Kg8 102. Ng6

On both preceding moves, playing the W manoeuvre along the h8–a8 edge would have been best.

102... Kh7 103. Be6

White could have reached this position in two moves after move 92.

103... Kh6 104. Bg8 Kh5 105. Ne5 Kh4 106. Kf5 Kg3 107. Bc4?

Missing a second chance to continue the W manoeuvre with 107.Ng4!. After White missed this opportunity, Black
can now with best play stave off checkmate long enough for the 50-move draw to come into effect.

107... Kf2 108. Kf4 Ke1 109. Ke3 Kd1 110. Bd3 Kc1 111. Nc4 Kd1 112. Nb6 Kc1 113. Na4 Kd1
114. Be4 Kc1 115. Bd3 Kd1 116. Nb2+ Kc1 117. Nc4 Kd1 118. Bg6 Kc1 119. Bf5 Kd1 120. Nb6
Kc1 121. Na4 Kd1 122. Nb2+

As both players now have made fifty consecutive moves without a capture or pawn move, Black could claim the
draw now by the 50-move rule. Girya played on for another four moves before actually taking the draw.

122... Kc1 123. Nc4 Kd1 124. Kd3 Kc1 125. Kc3 Kd1 126. Bd3 ½–½[37]

Quotations
"... I have seen how many chess players, including very strong ones, either missed learning this
technique at an appropriate time or had already forgotten it." — Mark Dvoretsky.[38]
"Some masters have already gone back home red with embarrassment after failing or showing poor
technique in the execution of this checkmate." — Jesús de la Villa.[39]

Notes
a. The other basic checkmate patterns against a lone king are king and queen, king and rook, and king
and two bishops.

References
 1. Müller & Lamprecht (2001), p. 19.
2. Speelman, Tisdall & Wade (1993), p. 7.
3. (Fine & Benko 2003:1)
4. Müller & Lamprecht (2001), p. 11.
5. (Müller & Lamprecht 2001:19)
6. (Dvoretsky 2006:279)
7. Shredder online endgame database (http://www.shredderchess.com/online-chess/online-databases/
endgame-database.html)
8. Seirawan (2003), pp. 8–16.
9. (Müller & Lamprecht 2001:18)
10. (Dvoretsky 2006:279)
11. (Müller & Lamprecht 2001:19)
12. (Fine 1941:4)
13. (Fine 1941:4)
14. (Pandolfini 2009:48ff)
15. (de la Villa 2008:205)
16. (Pandolfini 2009:48f)
17. (Pandolfini 2009:48–51)
18. (Roycroft 1972:246)
19. L'Analyze des Echecs 1777 edition (https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Fran%C3%A7ois_D
anican_Philidor_Analyse_du_jeu_des_%C3%A9chec?id=YiYCAAAAYAAJ&hl=en)
20. L'Analyze des Echecs Original edition (https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=VhhdAAAAcAAJ&p
rintsec=frontcover&output=reader&hl=en&pg=GBS.PR5-IA1)
21. de la Villa, Jesús (2008). 100 Endgames You Must Know: Vital Lessons for Every Chess Player.
New in Chess. pp. 17, 204–209. ISBN 978-90-5691-244-4.
22. Daniel Delétang (February 1923) "Mat avec le fou et le cavalier" (Mate with the bishop and knight),
La Stratégie, 56 (2) : 25–32.
23. (Fine 1941:4)
24. Wästlund, Johan (7 May 2024). "The bishop and knight checkmate on a large chessboard".
arXiv:2405.04421 (https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.04421) [math.CO (https://arxiv.org/archive/math.CO)].
25. Telesin, Julius (July 1983). "Can B + S (GBR class 0011.00) give checkmate on 1000 × 1000
chessboard?" (https://www.arves.org/arves/images/PDF/EG_PDF/eg73.pdf) (PDF). EG. Vol. 5,
no. 73. pp. 190–192. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
26. (Silman 2007:33, 188)
27. (Hawkins 2012:192)
28. (Soltis 2010:13)
29. (Howell 1997:138)
30. Tal Shaked vs Alexander Morozevich (https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1656009)
31. Where Have You Gone, Rachels, Shaked & Rao? (USCF membership required) (http://main.usches
s.org/content/view/8677/365)
32. Karttunen vs. Rasik (http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1268604)
33. (Müller & Pajeken 2008:106–107)
34. (Müller & Lamprecht 2001)
35. Ljubojević vs. Polgár (http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1092636)
36. Kempinski vs. Epishin (http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1533865)
37. "Women's Grand Prix under way in Geneva, Lagno in the lead" (https://web.archive.org/web/201306
06222348/http://www.chessvibes.com/reports/womens-grand-prix-under-way-in-geneva-lagno-in-the
-lead). Chessvibes. 7 May 2013. Archived from the original (http://www.chessvibes.com/reports/wom
ens-grand-prix-under-way-in-geneva-lagno-in-the-lead) on 6 June 2013. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
38. (Dvoretsky 2006:279)
39. (de la Villa 2008:204)
See also
Pawnless chess endgame

References
Bibliography

Dvoretsky, Mark (2006), Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual (2nd ed.), Russell Enterprises, ISBN 1-
888690-28-3
Fine, Reuben (1941), Basic Chess Endings, McKay, ISBN 0-679-14002-6
Fine, Reuben; Benko, Pal (2003) [1941], Basic Chess Endings, McKay, ISBN 0-8129-3493-8
Hawkins, Jonathan (2012), Amateur to IM: Proven Ideas and Training Methods, Mongoose,
ISBN 978-1-936277-40-7
Howell, James (1997), Essential Chess Endings: The tournament player's guide, Batsford, ISBN 0-
7134-8189-7
Müller, Karsten; Lamprecht, Frank (2001), Fundamental Chess Endings, Gambit Publications,
ISBN 1-901983-53-6
Müller, Karsten; Pajeken, Wolfgang (2008), How to Play Chess Endings, Gambit Publications,
ISBN 978-1-904600-86-2
Pandolfini, Bruce (2009), Endgame Workshop: Principles for the Practical Player, Russell
Enterprises, ISBN 978-1-888690-53-8
Roycroft, John (1972), Test Tube Chess, London: Faber and Faber, ISBN 0-571-09573-9
Seirawan, Yasser (2003), Winning Chess Endings, Everyman Chess, ISBN 1-85744-348-9
Silman, Jeremy (2007), Silman's Complete Endgame Course: From Beginner to Master, Siles Press,
ISBN 978-1-890085-10-0
Soltis, Andy (2010), Studying Chess Made Easy, Batsford, ISBN 978-1-906388-67-6
Speelman, Jon; Tisdall, Jon; Wade, Bob (1993). Batsford Chess Endings. London England: B.T.
Batsford. ISBN 978-0-7134-4420-9.

External links
Video explaining the bishop and knight checkmate using the W manoeuvre (https://www.youtube.co
m/watch?v=1m6331pUv7Y)
Video explaining the bishop and knight checkmate using Delétang's triangle method (https://www.yo
utube.com/watch?v=r3EqM17jvOc)
A remarkable diploma thesis in Spanish about the bishop and knight checkmate with many game
examples in the annex (Trabajo Final del Diplomado Fundamentos Científicos y Metodológicos del
Ajedrez) (https://docplayer.es/146544117-Trabajo-final-del-diplomado-fundamentos-cientificos-y-met
odologicos-del-ajedrez.html)

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