Corner the King!

Have just remembered a little exercise my father and I had done back when the game was still a huge mystery. It was called Corner the King. Sometimes it does make sense to start near where you'd finish. Because at some point, you will find yourself at the ending of a game with the quandry of having a King and one or two other pieces while your opponent is left with only their King.

It isn't sexy as a mate within the first few moves. It usually comes after a long, drawn out battle of exchanges. Possibly after a single mistake left your opponent at the disadvantage. They've learned from experience that "it isn't over until it's over" (as Yogi Berra has been known to state). So they are vying for the ultimate victory in trying to draw the game. For those not familiar with Chess lingo, that's a tie. They will try their best to end the game in a stalemate. And it isn't always easy to avoid one. The King and one Bishop or one Knight isn't enough to force checkmate. Even the King and two Knights might not gain one.

The purpose of this exercise that my father had put through the paces was to demonstrate that you don't expend energy on something that can't happen. A draw after 27 moves is the same as a draw after 54 or 61.

Pieces attack the same as they move, with the exception of the pawns. Those same paths are used to protect other pieces in that they will capture whichever piece takes the "protectee". By default, that line of movement or attack is blocked by the very piece it seeks to defend... except for the Knight. The Knight is an very useful while extremely limited piece. At the beginning of the game, it has only two possible squares on which it can be placed. The same with the end game, it has only two squares it can cover which a King might possibly wander. Your own king will deny it three spaces. While it might be possible to heard their King into a corner with it, it won't be a checkmated space. And the bad thing is that if your King isn't right next to it, theirs will move right next to it and force it to move away... even to the point of forcing it into a corner in some mid-games.

The demonstrations paid off eventually. While the competitive spirit wishes to fight on, at least the mind knows it is a wasted effort. And there is nothing quite as devastating as playing an entire game to have the final advantage over your opponent end up in them smiling and saying "Stalemate".

So be careful when you go to cornering kings.