Sunday, September 02, 2007

How pieces function (part II)





On August 30th we talked about the pieces of King, Guard, Bishop and Pawn. Today we shall mention Knight, Cannon, and Rook.

The path of Knight is a zigzag one, full of intrigues, when supported by a Rook or a Cannon, the Knight is irresistible. In diagram 9, Black's defence looks strong.







Diagram 9

Red succeeded in breaking up the Bishops' links.




In the example in diagram 10, the Knight can choose to attack in several ways.







Diagram 10

Red is aiming to give checkmate by capturing the Guard.





A Cannon is ideal for taking control far behind the scene. It is good at uniting pieces which otherwise seemed scattered.







Diagram 11

Checkmate is inevitable as the Knight cannot stop the attack.





Let's look again at another example of the far distance controlling power of the Cannon.







Diagram 12

Checkmate is inevitable.





The Rook attacks in all directions (except diagonally). One Rook equals 10 (other pieces), many enthusiasts like to repeat these words.







Diagram 13

The back-rank Cannon cannot be saved.





In this example the Rook captures one by one the defending pieces.







Diagram 14

The defender's Cannon and Knight will also be captured in time. We leave it as an work-out exercise.


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