Rook vs knight endgame: keep the knight next to your king

A knight against a rook can usually hold the draw, with one rule: keep the knight next to your king. There it can't be trapped or won. Away from the king, the rook hunts it down.

The defence, played out

You have Black. The rook is attacking your knight on f7, and it's a long way from your king.

Black to move. Step through the defence.

Bring the knight back

1...Nd6! The only move that holds. The knight comes back towards your king. Moving the king instead, like 1...Kc4?, leaves the knight to 2.Rxf7, and White wins.

King and knight together

2...Ke6 protects the knight. 2...Kc5 and 2...Kc6 also hold. Moving away, like 2...Kc4?, loses it to Rxd6.

Checks to gain time

After 3...Nc4 4.Ke4, 4...Nd6+! The knight stays close to your king and gains time with checks: 5.Kd4 Nf5+. White makes no progress. Knight moves away from the king, like 4...Na3? Rxa3 or 4...Nb6? Ra6, lose it.

The idea to remember

Against a rook, keep the knight next to your king, and use its checks to gain time. A knight on its own near the edge gets trapped.

Train it

This is one of the endgame techniques OptiChess teaches as a walkthrough: the moves play themselves until a moment that matters, then you find the move, checked against the tablebase. The bishop's version is rook against bishop. More endings are in the chess endgame trainer.

Try it. Real positions, set at your level, every answer checked against the board. No account needed to start.

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