Bad Knight

A bad knight is the opposite of a “good knight”. A bad knight might be:

In chess middlegames, a “good Knight” is one which has a strong central position, or is in a “hole”, or is in a supported dominating position. In chess endings, a “good Knight” is similarly in a hole or a supported position, but can also refer to a position where there are lots of weak squares. For example, in a Good Knight vs Bad Bishop ending, the enemy Bishop and its own pawns are on one color squares, where the Knight can invade on the opposite color squares (which are weak).

There’s not really as much context about a “bad Knight” in chess endgames as there is about a “bad bishop”. In an open position with lots of space, a Knight is likely to do poorly in comparison with a Bishop (or a Rook). Knights really need closed positions, or a strong supporting position.

Related Chess Tactics

Read more about these related chess strategies: