- A Knight outpost is a nice fairly central square for a Knight that the opponent cannot, or dare not, swap off or drive away. Teichmann Pegararo and Smyslov show how to use such outposts:
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[Event "Karlsbad"]
[Site "Karlsbad"]
[Date "1911.09.14"]
[Round "18"]
[White "Teichmann, Richard"]
[Black "Schlechter, Carl"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C90"]
[PlyCount "49"]
[EventDate "1911.08.21"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "25"]
[EventCountry "CZE"]
[SourceTitle "HCL"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1999.07.01"]
[SourceVersion "2"]
[SourceVersionDate "1999.07.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3
O-O 9. d3 Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11. Nbd2 Qc7 12. Nf1 Nc6 13. Ne3 Bb7 14. Nf5 Rfe8 15.
Bg5 Nd7 16. Bb3 Nf8 17. Bd5 Ng6 18. Bxe7 Ngxe7 19. Bxf7+ Kxf7 20. Ng5+ Kg8 21.
Qh5 Nxf5 22. Qxh7+ Kf8 23. Qxf5+ Kg8 24. Qg6 Qd7 25. Re3 1-0
[Event "XX"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1995.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Pegoraro"]
[Black "Scheipel"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C86"]
[Annotator "attack: knights"]
[PlyCount "60"]
[EventDate "1995.??.??"]
{[%mdl 4] Strasbourg. 1971} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7
6. Qe2 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. c3 d6 9. a4 b4 10. cxb4 {[#] for the pawn Black has
some initiative. In particular the d4 square is a potential launching-pad} Bg4
{(threat ...Nd4)} 11. Qc4 (11. h3 Nd4 12. Qd3 Nxf3+ 13. gxf3 Bxh3 {is even
worse}) 11... Bxf3 12. gxf3 Nd4 13. Bd1 {[#]} Nh5 14. d3 Bg5 {the master touch:
the defender of the f4 square is exchanged} 15. Kh1 Bf4 16. Bxf4 Nxf4 {[#]
most players dream of one such Knight outpost, but two is just greedy...} 17.
Rg1 Nh3 18. Rg2 Qh4 19. Nd2 Nxf2+ 20. Kg1 Nh3+ 21. Kf1 Nf4 22. Rf2 Qh3+ {
[#] White is helpless} 23. Kg1 (23. Ke1 Ng2+ 24. Rxg2 Qxg2) 23... Rae8 24. Nf1
Re6 25. Ne3 Rg6+ 26. Kh1 Rg3 27. Rc1 Nxf3 28. Bb3 {[#] White's position is
desparate} (28. Bxf3 Rxf3 29. Rxf3 Qxf3+ 30. Kg1 Ne2#) 28... Rg2 29. Rxg2 Nxg2
{(threatening mate on h2)} 30. Nf1 Ne3 {[#] the Knights dominate the board,
and White cannot stop the mate without huge losses} 0-1
[Event "Moscow"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1945.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Smyslov, V."]
[Black "Rudakovsky, Iosif"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B83"]
[Annotator "strategy: knight outpost"]
[PlyCount "55"]
[EventDate "1945.??.??"]
{[%mdl 2064]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Be2 Be7 7.
O-O O-O 8. Be3 Nc6 9. f4 Qc7 10. Qe1 (10. Ndb5 Qb8 11. Qd2 a6 12. Nd4) 10...
Nxd4 11. Bxd4 e5 12. Be3 Be6 13. f5 {[#]} Bc4 $2 {? Black needs that Bishop.
White now has a simple plan: exchange off the other defender of the d5 square,
improve the position of his pieces, and look for the win!} (13... Bd7 14. Rd1
Bc6) 14. Bxc4 Qxc4 15. Bg5 {!} Rfe8 16. Bxf6 Bxf6 {[#]} 17. Nd5 {!} Bd8 (17...
Qxc2 18. Rf2 Qc6 (18... Qa4 19. b3) 19. Rc1 Qd7 20. Nc7) 18. c3 b5 19. b3 Qc5+
20. Kh1 Rc8 {[#] White now transfers his attention to the King} 21. Rf3 Kh8 22.
f6 gxf6 23. Qh4 Rg8 24. Nxf6 Rg7 (24... Bxf6 25. Qxf6+ Rg7 26. Rg3 Rcg8) 25.
Rg3 Bxf6 26. Qxf6 Rcg8 27. Rd1 {Black's position cracks.} d5 28. Rxg7 {! 1-0
(28) Smyslov,V-Rudakovsky,I Moscow 1945} (28. Rxg7 Rxg7 29. Rxd5 Qf8 30. Rd8)
1-0