Knight against bishop in the endgame

The key idea

The bishop isn't good or bad in itself: it's good or bad depending on where the pawns are. Your own pawns on its color suffocate it; the rival's pawns on its color turn it into the best piece on the board. And with a closed position, the one that jumps over everything is the knight.

Example 1 · Knight against bad bishop

The black pawns are stuck on light squares and their bishop is light-squared too: it defends nothing and attacks nothing. The knight, on the other hand, goes wherever it wants.

1. Ke4 First, the diagnosis. The four black pawns (a6, c6, e6, g6) are on light squares, and the bishop on d7 is also light-squared: it can't defend a single one of them. The dark squares — c5, e5, g5 — are no-man's-land for Black. That's where the white king comes in, and that's why it starts by centralizing.
2. Kf6 The black king comes out to defend what its bishop can't. It's going to have to do the work of two pieces, and it won't have the time.
3. Nf2 The knight gets moving. Its natural route is f2-d3-c5 or f2-d3-e5: dark squares, exactly the ones the black bishop doesn't control. Here's the difference between the two pieces on display: the knight changes color every jump; the bishop doesn't change color its whole life.
4. e5 Black breaks out of desperation: they want to open lines for their bishop before it's fully suffocated. The price is a pawn.
5. fxe5+ We take it with check. Note we captured with the f-pawn, not the d-pawn: this way the e5 pawn is supported by d4 and the kingside opens up for our king.
6. Kg7 The black king retreats. Its position is already broken on both flanks.
7. Kf4 The white king repositions, aiming at g5. The entry through the dark squares is still the plan: nothing Black does can stop it.
8. Be6 The bishop finally comes out into the street. It arrives late and on a square that changes nothing.
9. Nd3 The knight continues its route toward c5, from where it will attack a6 and e6 at once. A well-placed knight attacks two things; a bad bishop attacks none.
10. Bb3 The bishop looks for activity on the other side. It's still a piece with no job.
11. Kg5 And the white king enters through g5, one of the dark squares Black could never cover. With the king inside, the black position collapses on its own.
12. Kf7 It tries to plug the hole. There's no plug left.
13. Nc5 Knight on its dream square, attacking a6 and e6. Review the whole mechanism: enemy pawns fixed on the color of their own bishop, squares of the other color free, a knight jumping from one to the next, and a king walking in through them. That's the ending where the knight is the best piece on the board.

Example 2 · And now the other way round: good bishop against knight

Exact same structure, but the light-squared bishop is White's and the knight is Black's. The pawns that used to be a prison are now a menu.

1. Ba4 Count the pawns and the squares: it's the position from the previous example, with the bishop and knight swapped sides. And now the light-squared bishop aims at all four black pawns, still fixed on light squares. From a useless piece it's become a sniper. It starts on a4, headed for c6.
2. Nf6 The black knight comes out to defend. It can — it jumps color to color — but it can only be in one place at a time, and there are four pawns to cover.
3. Bc6 The bishop settles in. From c6 it attacks a6 and fixes its stare on e8, and there's no black pawn that can kick it out: to do so it would have to step on a light square, exactly where the bishop rules.
4. Nh5 The knight goes off to pester on the other side. It leaves the queenside unwatched.
5. Ke4 The white king enters the center. Just as in the previous example the winning king came in through the squares the rival piece didn't cover: here the black knight has to choose between defending pawns and watching squares, and its legs don't stretch that far.
6. Nf6+ Check to win a tempo and come back to defend.
7. Ke3 The king steps aside and carries on with its plan. The check changed nothing.
8. Ke7 The black king comes over too. Both sides do the same thing; it's just that one attacks and the other plugs holes.
9. Kf3 The white king reorients toward the kingside, where the g6 pawn is hanging.
10. Kd6 Black runs to defend on the other side. It can't get to both places.
11. Bb7 And the bishop takes the a6 pawn next move. Keep the comparison between the two examples, because that's the whole lesson: not a single pawn changed square, only the piece changed sides — and the result flipped. And in case you still doubt that it's the pawns calling the shots: in this exact same position, with a DARK-squared white bishop instead of the light one, the engine gives the position level. Same bishop, same board, different color of squares, zero advantage.

Practice

You have White in the position from the first example: your knight against a bishop that trips over its own pawns. The plan has two legs — bring the king in through the dark squares and put the knight on c5. Carry it out.

1. King to the center. The dark squares are no-man's-land for Black: that's your way in. Start with the piece that decides these endings: centralize the king.
2. The knight sets off on its route toward d3 and c5, jumping through the squares the enemy bishop can never touch. Get the knight moving toward d3, headed for c5 or e5.
3. With the f-pawn, not the d-pawn: this way e5 stays defended and your kingside opens up. Black has broken out with e5. Take the pawn, and pick the capture that leaves your pawn supported.
4. The king places itself aiming at g5. The entry through the dark squares is still on. Reposition the king aiming at g5, your entry square.
5. Second leg of the knight's route. Destination: c5. Continue the knight's journey toward c5.
6. King inside. From here on the black position collapses on its own. Bring the king in through the dark square the black bishop can never control.
7. Knight on c5, attacking a6 and e6 at once. Two targets with one piece. Finish the route: bring the knight to the square from which it attacks two pawns.

The knight's plan carried out: king through the dark squares, knight to c5. And take away the rule that holds for all these endings, not just this one: before deciding which trade suits you, look at the color of the squares the pawns are on. If the rival's pawns are on the color of YOUR bishop, keep the bishop. If your own are on the color of your bishop and the position is closed, the knight is the better piece.