Rook and Knight vs Rook and Bishop

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Home > Chess > Instruction > Endgame Study > Orlov On the Endgame > rook and knight vs rook and bishop

rook and knight vs. rook and bishop

By Georgi Orlov

In the heart of the question of What is better, Rook+Bishop or Rook+Knight? lies another
question, is a Bishop better than a Knight? The answer in both cases is it depends.

Generally speaking, a Bishop is preferred over a Knight in open positions with pawns on both
sides of the board. A Knight is to be favored over a Bishop when a position is closed, or semi-
closed and a Knight has a good outpost. There are exceptions, of course.

A very important factor is the position of the King. Its safety is always more important than
other factors. The presence of passed pawns can also influence the situation. The side that has
a passed pawn is almost always to be favored with other things being equal.

The side with a Bishop must make sure the Bishop has targets to attack, such as weak pawns.
This is less important for the side with the Knight, since the Knight can attack squares of both
colors.

Just as in any other ending, careful planning must be done before proceeding. Lets take a
look at the some endings where the Rook+Knight pair was more effective.

In the following game Black exploited the great position of his Kinght and lack of targets for
his opponents Bishop.

Matulovic Botvinnik
Belgrade, 1969

This position is basically lost for White in spite of material equality. Black has a great
Knight, active King, and his Rook controls the only open file. White, to the contrary, has a
passive Rook, his Bishop has a little influence, and his King is out of action as well. The
pawn on a5 is very weak and White has no time to protect it. Blacks King can penetrate the
opponents position via Kc5-b4. Another problem is the weak pawn c2. The only
counterplay White has is a possible attack against b7. Perhaps at some point f3-f4 may be
also played, trying to create a passed pawn on the Kingside. Another disadvantage for White
is the inability of his King to interfere. Before proceeding with the obvious ...Kc5, Botvinnik
takes some measures to prevent an immediate Bc4-e6-b7.

41...Rh6! 42.Bf7

A waiting move. White cant stop his opponent from using the c5-square. If 42.b4, then 42...
c5 43.bxc5+ Kxc5. An attempt to protect a5 with 42.Rf2 fails after 42...Nd1! 43.Rd2 (43.
Rf1? Ne3+) 43...Ne3+ 44.Kg1 Rh3 and if 45.Kf2, then 45...Nxc4 46. bxc4 Kc5 and the c-
pawn falls. Or 45.Be2 Kc5 and ...Kb4.

42...Kc5 43.Be8 Kb4 44.Bd7

White tries to attack b7, attempting to distract his opponents Rook.

44...Nb1!

After 44...Kxa5 45.Bf5 Kb4 46.f4! White could get a bit of a counterplay moving either his
g- or e-pawn, so Black decides to go after the c2-pawn.

45.Rd3

In case of 45.Rf2 Kc3 46.Bc8 Rh7 47.Bf5 Rh8 Black threatens ...Nb1-d2, so White has to try
f3-f4. Still, after 48.f4 gxf4 49.g5 Nd2 50.g6 Kxc2 the situation looks hopeless, since 51.Be6
meets 51...Rh5! and 51.Kg1 meets 52...f3!

45...Na3 46.f4

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Rook and Knight vs Rook and Bishop

The last try, but Black is far ahead now.

46...Nxc2

The threat of a Knight fork wins another tempo for Black.

47.Kg1 gxf4 48.Bf5 Ne3 49.g5 Rh5

Black now wins another pawn and gets a decisive advantage.

50.g6 Nxf5 51.exf5 Rxf5, 0-1.

Here 52.Rd2 meets 52...f3 with 53...Rg5 to follow.

In the next game we see a similar situation, the Bishop had no targets, while the Knight had a
great outpost and was able to attack the opponent's weak pawns.

Gligoric Stahlberg
Split, 1949

White has a clear advantage here. His King is more active, the Knight on c5 has a beautiful
outpost, and his Rook controls the important e-file. Also, the a6-pawn is weak, Blacks
Bishop has limited space and no targets, and the Rook on a7 is passive as well. Blacks only
possible counterplay is to activate his King and attack the f4-pawn. With his next move
Gligoric eliminates that possibility and proceeds to capitalize on his advantage. Whites plan
is relatively simple: after limiting his opponents counterplay, his King can attack the
opponents weak pawns while his Rook and Knight can go after the pawn on f6.

42.f5!

This move fixes the pawn on f6 and secures the e6-square for a Rook or a Knight. Most
importantly, it prevents ...Kf7-g6-f5, the only counterplay Black may have.

42...Ra8

In case of 42...Re7 43.Ne6! is very strong, threatening 44.Rg1 and Rg1-g7+. If 43...Bd3?
White wins by 44.Nd8+ Ke8 45.Rxe7+ Kxe7 46.Nxc6+ Kd6 47.Nd4 Ke5 48.b5!.

43.Nb7!

A strong move that prevents ...Re8 and prepares Nd6+, pushing the opponents King away
from e7.

43...Kg7

Black decides to move away. Instead 43...Rg8 meets 44.Nd6+ Kf8 45.Re8+ Kg7 46.Rxg8+
Kxg8 47.Nxb5 cxb5 48.Ke3 and White wins the pawn ending.

44.Rg1+ Kf7 45.Re1 Kg7

White repeats the position once, perhaps to gain some time.

46.Nd6 h4

In case of 46...Rd8 47.Re7+ Kg8 48.Re6 the situation would be similar to the game.

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Rook and Knight vs Rook and Bishop

47.Kf3!

White has no reason to force events and decides to bring his King closer first.

47...Rd8 48.Re7+ Kg8 49.Re6 Kg7

50.Ke3!

This move, which takes control of the d4-square, crosses Blacks last hope. After 50.Ne8+
Kf7 51.Nxf6 d4!, or 50.Nxb5 cxb5 51.Rxa6 d4!, or even 50.Kg4 d4! 51.cxd4 Bc4! 52.Nxc4
Rxd4+ 53.Kh5 Rxc4 54.Re7+ Kf8 55.Rb7 White keeps the advantage, but Black would still
keep some chances.

50...Ba4 51.Kd4 Rg8 52.Kc5 Kh7

The last desperate attempt to get some counterplay.

53.Ne8! Rg2 54.Nxf6+ Kg7 55.Nd7!

Now the cooperation between the Rook, Knight and f-pawn decides the game.

55...Rf2 56.f6+ Kg6 57.Ne5+ Kh5 58.f7 d4 59.Re8, 1-0.

Zapata Nogeiras
Saloniki, 1984

White suffers from familiar ills here. His Bishop has no targets and lacks space, his Rook is
tied up defending the weak b2-pawn. Whites King is also placed far away from the
Queenside and cant help to defend b2. Blacks winning plan is simple, he must find a way to
penetrate into the opponents position with his Rook to attack b2. Another option is to
sacrifice the Knight on b2 and push the b-pawn forward. White has no way to prevent these
dark designs against b2.

35...h5!

A strong move. Black gives the g4-square to his Rook. Here 36.Rf6 fails, since after 36...
Nxb2 37.Rxe6+ Kb7 38.Rf6 Nd3 39.e6 b2 40.Rf7+ Rxf7 41.exf7 b1=Q 42.b8=Q Qxe1 43.
Qf7+ Kc6 44.Qg6+ (44.Qf6+ Kb5 wins) 44...Kb5 Black escapes from checks.

36.Rd2

White tries to set up a fortress to prevent his opponents Rook from penetrating the position.

Not much better was 36.Kh4 Rg4+ 37.Kxh5 Re4 and Black wins the b2-pawn.

36...Rg4 37.Bf2

This is Whites idea. He managed to stop the Rook from coming in, but now the second plan
comes into play. Black bring his King over and sacrifices his Knight for two pawns.

37...Kb5 38.g3 Re4 39.Kg2

39...Nxb2!

A decisive sacrifice. Since Whites King and Bishop cant help, Blacks King easily

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Rook and Knight vs Rook and Bishop

overpowers his opponents Rook.

40.Rxb2 Ka4 41.Rb1 Kxa3 42.Ra1+ Kb2, 0-1.

Here 43.Rxa5 Kc2 (or even 43...Kxc3) 44.Rb5 b2 wins for Black.

Copyright 2005 Georgi Orlov

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