Knight Outposts

How often, when playing chess, have you been infuriated by an opponent’s piece that just prevents you from playing anything? It’s even worse when this happens at the beginning of the game, when you should be developing your pieces but can’t because of a pesky piece. Many times, the situation occurs with a knight protected by a pawn, like below.

The circles show the squares that the white knight controls.

In this situation, white is completely controlling the squares on black’s side. The knight is protected by the pawn on c5, so it can’t be taken by black’s queen. This is great for white because it means that white can keep its knight there, preventing black from moving pieces onto any of those squares. Now we can practice: is the board below an example of a knight outpost?

If you guessed yes, then you’re correct! The white knight is protected by the pawn on e4, and it can attack into black’s side of the board. The knight isn’t as deep as the earlier example, but it’s still enough to qualify as a knight outpost.

The concept of outposts may seem a bit abstract at times, but doing it properly provides a massive advantage. You can often control the center squares, the inside of the opponent’s territory, and attack your opponents major pieces, all with just one tactic.

Author: Priyanshu Alluri