How to Checkmate with the Knight & Bishop

 

Checkmating with the knight and bishop can be a tricky checkmate. Unlike a checkmate with the rook & queen, this involves a bit more precision, due to the movements of the knight and bishop.

 

When checkmating with the knight and bishop, it’s very important to remember to use your king along with the knight and bishop. Without your King, you will not be able to place your opponent in checkmate.

 

Now, let’s get to it:

 

How to Checkmate with the Knight & Bishop

 

There are several different ways to checkmate your opponent with the knight and bishop. Today, we’ll cover 4 of these. The first 3 will be placing your opponent’s King in checkmate with the knight, the last will be placing the King in checkmate with the bishop.

 

Checkmate with Knight

This checkmate involves moving your opponent’s King to the corner of the chessboard with your knight, bishop, and king, and placing the final move for checkmate with the knight. The knight places the king in checkmate, while the bishop and king block the 2 spaces the King could move.

 

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With this checkmate, it usually occurs when attempting to place the King in the corner, but instead, manage to achieve checkmate one space below the corner. Obviously, you can’t fully control where your opponent moves, so it’s good to know all of these variations.

 

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This checkmate is again with the knight, with the bishop and King blocking any escape for your opponent’s King. Make sure not to trap the King with your bishop and King or it will be stalemate. Instead, you want the King to be forced into E1, and then the next move should be placing the King in checkmate with your knight.

 

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Checkmate with Bishop

 

 

If you plan on placing the King in checkmate with your bishop, be sure to move the King toward the corner of the chessboard that is the same color your bishop can capture on. With this checkmate, the bishop places the King in position for capture, while your King and knight ensure your opponent’s King has nowhere to escape.

 

 

Learn More:

Learn Chess 101: Learn How to Play Chess, the Rules of Chess & Basic Chess Strategy

Learn Chess Strategy

Learn How to Correctly Set Up a Chessboard

Learn How to Castle in Chess

Learn How to Perform the En Passant Capture in Chess

How to Checkmate in 2 Moves (Fool’s Mate)

How to Checkmate in 3 Moves

How to Checkmate in 4 Moves (Scholar’s Mate)

How to Checkmate in 5 Moves