Knight Moves

Knight moves are the most difficult to visualize on the chess board. In the endgame it is frequently necessary to determine whether a knight can reach a certain square to intercept a passed pawn or protect one of your own pieces or pawns. In the time pressure of many tournament endgames, it is even more difficult to concentrate and feel confident that you have correctly calculated the possible path of the knight and the number of moves necessary in the variation. This often leads a player to repeat the sequence in the mind a number of times to feel certain that his projected moves will indeed accomplish the objective. Mr. Alexander has developed a set of tools which make it very precise and quick to determine the required number of moves, and whether or not a sequence of knight moves will achieve a goal. The author has developed a wonderful set of graphs which visualize the possibilities of moving a knight to a desired goal. Many players will find this technique to be invaluable in winning endgames involving the knight, or even combinations in the course of the middlegame.

06 INTRODUCTION

08 CHAPTER ONE: THE KNIGHT'S POTENTIAL FOR MOVEMENT IN A SPECIFIC NUMBER OF MOVES

08 The Knight's Potential In One Move

10 The Knight's Potential In Two Moves

14 The Knight's Potential In Three Moves

16 The Knight's Potential In Four Moves

18 The Knight's Potential In Five Moves

19 The Knight's Potential In Six Moves

20 CHAPTER TWO: THE KNIGHT'S POTENTIAL FOR MOVEMENT IN THE FEWEST MOVES POSSIBLE

20 The Exclusive Move Patterns

24 The Composite Move Pattern

31 CHAPTER THREE: VISUALIZING THE KNIGHT'S POTENTIAL FOR MOVEMENT

31 A User-Friendly Model

31 Description Of The Knight's Potential For Movement

34 Distinguishing Between Opposite-Color Squares

36 Distinguishing Between The Same-Color Squares

38 Simplified Rules Of The Knight's Movement

41 CHAPTER FOUR: THE VISUALIZATION TECHNIQUE IN PRACTICE

42 There Are Only Two Cases In Which Some Squares Are Five Moves Away

42 /. The Knight Is On An Edge Square

42 II. The Knight Is 'On Or Near A Corner Square'

46 The Fourth Diagonal Square Rules

47 Introduction To Alexander's Technique

48 Alexander's Technique

50 Application Examples Of Alexander's Technique

56 FINAL COMMENTS

58 PRACTICE EXERCISES AND VERIFICATION OF ALEXANDER'S TECHNIQUE

70 ANSWER KEY / GENERAL REFERENCE

81 INDEX