Of all the pieces on a chessboard, the Knight is the most feared among beginners. Though everyone knows that the Queen is the game’s strongest denizen, the Knight exudes so much mystery and hidden threat that most players live in terror of the forks that these “horses of death” so love to give.

First, let’s see where “point count” (a numeric system of piece values. To read more about this click HERE for our glossary definition) places the Knight on the food chain:

KING: infinite value.
QUEEN: 9 points.
ROOK: 5 points.
BISHOP: 3 points.
KNIGHT: 3 points.
PAWN: 1 point.

That doesn’t make the Knight sound too impressive, does it? However, mere numbers can’t convey this pieces’ true power.

WHY THE KNIGHT IS SO USEFUL

1) It’s the only piece that can jump over other men. This makes it very useful in closed positions (i.e., positions with locked pawns).
2) Unlike the Bishop, which is forever stuck on one color, the Knight can ultimately reach any square on the board.
3) The Knight’s strange L-shaped movement is something that many beginners have real trouble dealing with. In turn, this makes the Knight’s knockout punch – the fork – difficult to anticipate.

RULE ONE: A Knight on the rim is dim.

(dia.1)

THE DIFFERENCE IS OBVIOUS

In diagram 1, the dark-colored Xs show the squares the Black Knight can leap to. The light-colored Xs show the squares that the White Knight can reach. A simple count will show you that White’s Knight controls 8 squares, while Black’s only controls 4. Thus, logic would tell us that a Knight on the side of the board (i.e., rim) isn’t as strong as a Knight in the center.

RULE TWO: A KNIGHT NEEDS A SUPPORT POINT IF IT WANTS TO REACH IT’S FULL POTENTIAL.

(dia.2)

A WONDERFUL HOME ON d5

In diagram 2, White’s Knight rules the board on d5 and nothing can chase it away. Note how pathetic Black’s Bishop is compared to the proud Knight.

A support point (click HERE to see the explanation in the glossary) is a square that can’t be attacked by an enemy pawn. Such a weakened square can easily turn into a home for a Knight.

(dia.3)

THE e5-SQUARE IS NOT A SUPPORT POINT!

In diagram 3, the Knight on d5 is living on a support point. However, the Knight on e5 isn’t since …f7-f6 can chase it away.

RULE THREE: A Knight’s strength is often gauged by the rank it reaches.

(dia.4)

THE e6-KNIGHT RULES THE GAME

In diagram 4, White’s Knight is like a cancer in the Black position. Nothing can chase it away, and if Black manages to exchange his Knight for Whites’ (for example, by …Na5-b7-d8xe6), a pawn (after dxe6 or fxe6) will powerfully take its place on the sixth rank.

In general, a Knight is said to be poorly placed on the first and second ranks, adequate on the third rank, as good as a Bishop on the fourth rank, stronger than a Bishop on the fifth, and sometimes as good as a Rook on the sixth! The Knight loses strength once it reaches the seventh and eight ranks for the same reason that Knights on the rim are weaker than Knights in the center (i.e., they control less squares).

RULE FOUR: Knight’s love to fork enemy pieces!

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BLACK TO MOVE AND SUFFER

In diagram 5, White has a huge advantage because Black can’t stop both 1.Nd6+ (stopping Black from castling since he would have to move his King) and 1.Nc7+ with a family fork that attacks the a8-Rook, the King, and the Queen all at the same time.

(dia.6)

A BRUTAL FAMILY FORK

We’ll end our discussion of Knights by showing a true family fork – the most brutal fork of all! The White Knight is checking the Black King (which freezes the other pieces in their tracks since they can’t move until their King gets out of check), attacking the Black Queen, and also attacking both Black Rooks!

TWO TESTS

(dia.7)

FIND WHITE’S DREAM SQUARE AND THE KNIGHT’S ROAD THERE

(dia.8)

WHITE TO MOVE AND FORK

ANSWERS

Diagram 7: The White Knight would love to live on the e5-square. It can reach that wonderful post by Nd1-f2-d3-e5.

Diagram 8: White wins material by 1.Nb4, attacking Black’s Queen and Rook at the same time.