Position of Mutual Zugzwang
Troitsky| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | ||
| 8 | 8 | ||||||||
| 7 | 7 | ||||||||
| 6 | 6 | ||||||||
| 5 | 5 | ||||||||
| 4 | 4 | ||||||||
| 3 | 3 | ||||||||
| 2 | 2 | ||||||||
| 1 | 1 | ||||||||
| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h |
There are positions of mutual zugzwang in the endgame with two knights versus one pawn. In this position, White to move draws but Black to move loses. With Black to move:
- 1... Kh7
- 2. Ne4 d2
- 3. Nf6+ Kh8
- 4. Ne7 (or 4.Nh4) d1=Q
- 5. Ng6#
With White to move, Black draws with correct play. White cannot put Black in zugzwang:
- 1. Kf6 Kh7
- 2. Kf7 Kh8
- 3. Kg6 Kg8
- 4. Ng7 Kf8
- 5. Kf6 Kg8
- 6. Ne6 Kh7! (but not 6...Kh8? because White wins after 7.Kg6!, which puts Black to move)
- 7. Kg5 Kg8
- 8. Kg6 Kh8
and White has no way to force a win (Averbakh & Chekhover 1977:106).
Read more about this topic: Two Knights Endgame
Famous quotes containing the words position of, position and/or mutual:
“I believe that all women of working ages and physical capacity, regardless of income, should be expected to earn their livings either in or out of the home. Until this attitude prevails I believe the position of women will be uncertain and undignified, in spite of poetic rhapsodies to the contrary.”
—Mary Barnett Gilson (1877–?)
“There is a certain relief in change, even though it be from bad to worse; as I have found in travelling in a stage- coach, that it is often a comfort to shift one’s position and be bruised in a new place.”
—Washington Irving (1783–1859)
“Rules and particular inferences alike are justified by being brought into agreement with each other. A rule is amended if it yields an inference we are unwilling to accept; an inference is rejected if it violates a rule we are unwilling to amend. The process of justification is the delicate one of making mutual adjustments between rules and accepted inferences; and in the agreement achieved lies the only justification needed for either.”
—Nelson Goodman (b. 1906)