Whats the best way to beat knights? (chess)?

Question

Whats the best way to beat knights? (chess)?

Answer 1

Knights are the most evasive and deadliest pieces on the board. You really have to watch where he can move to and trap him.  

Answer 2

Knights are all right but a bishop pair is better. A coordinated bishop pair crushes everything in an open position and knights are rendered useless in comparison. So I suggest letting your opponent keep all the knights he wants, trade your knights for his bishops then crush him with your bishop pair. Knights really only prevail over bishops when the position is completely closed.

Answer 3

• Open the position.

• Keep pawns on both sides of the board when you anticipate an endgame.

• Take away advanced support points for the Knights,

• Take away central squares from knights.

• Do not allow the knights to find holes or posts in your pawn formation.

This will provide a good general guide to beat knights.

• Open the position.

For example: use pawn captures (also called levers) to open lines

(diagonals, files & ranks) for bishops and rooks respectively.

Knights thrive in closed positions. This is for two reasons:

(1) Because there are many support points provided by central pawns, and

(2) Their ability to police squares of both colors and jump over other pawns

means that the Knights are relatively unaffected by locked pawns.

In the absence of levers, for example: due to a position where pawns are

already locked, a sacrifice of material may be needed to open the position.

• Keep pawns on both sides of the board when you anticipate an endgame.

Knights are superior to bishops in endings with pawns on one side of the board.

Bishops are superior to knights in endings with pawns on both sides of the board.

Pawns on one side of the board make light of a bishop's long-range powers,

A knight does not need these long-range powers

it can use its ability to jump on squares of both colors.

• Take away advanced support points for the Knights,

Knights need advanced support points to be effective.

A support point, or outpost, is a square supported by a pawn that no enemy pawn can attack, or if it can, it cannot attack it without incurring some weakness.

Remember that the knight must affect the area of the board where the play is happening, otherwise it's useless!

A knight on the fifth is a superb piece, constituting a powerful attacker.

A knight on the sixth is often cause for the opponent's resignation.

• Take away central squares from knights.

"A knight on the rim is grim" because the a knight

controls fewer squares when it's near the edge of the board.

A knight tends to be more powerful if it can move.

• Do not allow the knights to find holes or posts in your pawn formation.

The best blockader of a passed pawn is a knight.

This is because knights can remain active while blocking pawns,

due to their ability to jump over other pieces and pawns.

Answer 4

4 ways to beat those tricky knights:

1) anticipate where they want to hop to, and prevent it by moving a pawn.

Often, this is good enough to keep the knights passive until the endgame.

In the endgame, they can be dangerous.

2) don't just "react" to knight maneuvers!  Find some counterplay yourself. Not all knight infiltrations are dangerous!  Think!  If you just react to your opponent's knights, you will be playing his game, and eventually his knight will retreat and find another way to infiltrate.  Keep active!

3) when a Kt checks you, move your king on the same diagonal as the knight, with ONE square in between your king and the knight. This way, he cannot check you until he moves his Knight 2 more times!

This is a good move to play if the Knight is simply annoying and being trappy, but not really dangerous.

4) Try and trap the knight!  Usually a well-placed bishop will do, or even pawns.  Let him infiltrate and win a pawn, and then trap him. You'll get a knight for 2 pawns.