Chess Endgame Studies Trivia Quiz

Answer: It's usually a draw, but you can win some positions

There are certain positions of this endgame where your king, knight, and bishop can forcibly create a barrier separating the opponent's king and knight. Once the opposing knight is separated from its king, you can usually trap the knight and proceed to mate with bishop and knight. In most positions, your pieces will not be in a position to win, so your opponent will be able to draw.
Computers have analysed this endgame and positions were found with forced mate in 95 moves!

Answer: You will always be able to forcibly win

You always have a forced win in any position where none of your pieces can be forcibly taken. It can take more than 60 moves to win this endgame even with perfect play, so the winning side must play like a machine. The winning side must forcibly corner the opposing king into a position where it has to sacrifice the exchange in order to not get mated.

The winning side can then mate with the two remaining minor pieces.

Answer: You can usually win, but some positions are draws

Despite some positions taking longer than 80 moves, the technique of winning is easier than most endgames. Most online chess servers will employ the 50-move rule, so it would be sad if you encountered this endgame and had to settle for a draw. There are some positions where the side with two bishops can set up a drawing fortress, by simply putting the bishops in positions where they will always be able to chase away one of your pieces if it attempts to infiltrate. Most positions won't allow the bishops to set up the drawing fortress.

In positions where the queen wins the queen and king can force the king and two bishops onto the edge of the board. Once the losing side has limited mobility, the queen can force some kind of zugzwang tactic that wins a bishop. Winning with the queen against the remaining bishop should be easy.

Answer: You can usually win, but some positions are draws

Most endgame theorists know that two rooks can hold a draw if they're both on the third rank and their king is on the back two ranks. The queen and knight cannot penetrate that defense, but the rooks won't be on the third rank in the majority of possible positions.

In positions where the defender cannot position the rooks to the third rank, the queen and knight can force a win. Computers have analysed positions of this endgame that are forced mate in over 120 moves! The method of winning is very complicated and almost impossible for a human to play correctly.

The queen and knight have to make precise maneuvers to force zugzwang to where the rooks have to become disconnected. Once the rooks are not supporting each other, the queen usually has checks leading to a forking tactic to win one of the unsupported rooks.

Answer: It's usually a draw, but you can win some positions

In order to draw this endgame, the defender must know which squares the knights need to control to prevent the enemy king and queen from penetrating. There are some positions you can win even if your opponent's defense is perfect. If you get a drawn position from this endgame, you should still continue playing because your opponent could blunder into a theoretically lost position if he doesn't know how to defend.

Answer: bishop or queen

With 3 bishops vs. 1 bishop, there is no way you can win if you only have one bishop that is the same color as your opponent's. The defender will have full control of one color, and you cannot counter your opponent's control of the light squares since exchanging bishops will leave you with only two dark-squared bishops left. You can only win against a bishop if you have exactly two bishops that are the same color as your opponent's.

A queen can easily draw against three bishops, and three bishops can easily win against a knight. Winning against a rook can be done with a cornering method as long as you don't let the rook exchange itself for your bishop that is not on the same color as either of your other bishops.

Answer: You can always forcibly win

The bishops can forcibly corner the king and knight into zugzwang. Once the defender is in zugzwang, the knight will have to move away from the king. The bishops can then forcibly trap the knight when it's away from the king.

Answer: You will always be able to forcibly win

You can win this position if your opponent's bishops are not in a position to properly defend the infiltration with the queen. The queen and king can usually penetrate by only moving on the opposite color of the bishops. The bishops can draw with proper maneuvering in certain positions, but the defensive method is hard to explain.

This ending will probably never happen in a real game, but endgame theorists still study it anyway.

Answer: You will always be able to forcibly win

Even though this ending probably won't ever occur in a real game, people with a lot of time on their hands have used computers to prove that three knights can always beat a bishop. Since knights cannot waste moves, you have to play very accurately to control the squares needed to forcibly corner the opposing king. You will be able to get the defender's king into a position where you can mate or forcibly win the bishop.

This ending could actually happen in a real game, if you promote to a knight in order to fork your opponent's king and queen.

Answer: You will always lose

Your opponent has enough pieces to block queen checks while the two rooks can forcibly push the opponent's king to the side or corner. The queen is too valuable to interfere with the rooks' cornering attack, but it will eventually have to sacrifice itself for a rook and knight in order to stop immediate checkmate. Mating with the remaining rook is simple.