The Knight: KT

“The Knight as a symbol has come to represent the virtues of chivalry”
 

A mounted soldier - a man of noble birth, who after an apprenticeship as page and squire is raised to honorable military rank and bound to chivalrous conduct i.e., Thomas a Becket (1118-1170) was trained in Knightly exercises at Pevensey Castle and showed his Knightly prowess in the Toulouse campaign (1159). He was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral in the year of 1170 by four Knights. Staunton Chess-set: the major pieces shaped like a horse’s head which have an ‘L’ shaped movement. Chesmayne: 2 x 1, 2 x 2, 3 x 1, 3 x 2, 4 x 1 and 4 x 2 etc. The Knight moves two cells horizontally and one cell vertically. The Knight may pass through cells that are occupied by the :A or :B major and minor pieces. The Knights move has not changed or been modified since the game of Chess was inventsed / devised. 

Knight: errant a wandering Knight who travels in search of adventures, to exhibit military skill etc - quixotic conduct or action. “Every man has something of Don Quixote in his humour, some darling Dulcinea of his thoughts, that sets him very often upon mad adventures. What Quixote’s, does not every age produce in politics and religion, who fancying themselves to be in the right of something, which all the world tells ‘em is wrong...?” – Motteaux.

The 2 x 1 move of the traditional KT was invented over 1500 years ago - symbol: KT. The Chinese Knight symbol: KN.

Knights are effective when placed in the center of the board but when placed near the edge lose some of their power – “a KT on the rim is very dim”. KTs have the ability of jumping over MPs/mps, so you can bring them out early during a game. Because of their leaping ability, KTs work well in blocked positions as they may move to critical cells and stage surprise raids on your opponent. In the endgame they are at their weakest because of their slow movement which is a hinderance (compare them with the BSs). The move of the KT is unusual. The KT (Level-1) is the only MP which has the ability of leaping over other MPs/mps. The other MPs/mps are dependent on their freedom from obstruction by their own and your opponent’s MPs/mps.

The Knights are the only MPs which can be moved before the mps are moved. The KI, QU1, RO1, RO2, BS1 and BS2 are all hemmed in by the mps on rank-2. The KTs have the liberty of springing over the heads of the other MPs/mps and enter the field of action instantly. If a KT is stationed on a light cell (XL) of B$A, he has access to eight XD cells (dark coloured). If a KT is stationed on a dark cell (XD) of B$A, he has access to eight XL cells (light coloured). If you place a KT on the side of the board (B$D), he may move to four cells. Standing in a corner a KTs action is diminished, having only two cells to which to move. Since its introduction to European Chess the KT has not undergone any variation in power or action.

The attack of a KT is more subtle and dangerous than that of any other MP, because they attack without putting themselves en prise, and their attack cannot be prevented by the interposition of another MP/mp. Due to the KTs moving ability, they can jump over the other MPs/mps and wend their way into the penetralia of your opponent’s position, and if attacked can jump back (retreat) to safety. The L-shaped movement of the Knights (KT, KM, SB, KN etc) has rendered them the favorite MP of many players. In the end phase a KT plus three PAs has the advantage over a BS and three PAs because the KT can move from the XL to XD cells quite easily. A BS is confined to either the XL or XD cells. The KT is not as useful in defending as a BS or RO because if forced to retreat the KT ceases to defend, while a RO or BS can move back and still offer protection. The traditional KT is known by different names in differing countries:

Phidias was the sculptor who worked on the Parthenon (see Elgin Marble’s) and is considered the greatest sculptor of Ancient Greece. He was also an architect, painter, designer and mathematician. Grecian statues were designed in accordance with a set of mathematical proportions and Phidias’s supreme masterpiece was the Parthenon of Athens. He received his commission to build this edifice from the Athenian statesman Pericles. The Temple of the Parthenon honored Athene, the Goddess of Athens and wisdom. As Superintendent of public works he had a team of architects, stonecutters and sculptors under his command. He personally supervised the construction of the statue ‘Athene Chryselephantine’, (meaning Athene encrusted with ivory and gold’), measuring forty feet high and placed at the center of this building.

Phidias made detailed drawings of horse’s heads from which the traditional Knight (KT) of the Staunton Chess set was used as a model. If he were alive today he would surely be surprised to find millions of boys and girls using a symbol of which he was the inventor. The grandeur and drama of his creations were not to be excelled until Brunelleschi and Michelangelo (who considered the supreme art sculpture), made their appearance in the firmament of the Renaissance universe. His supreme masterpiece, KI of the Gods, the Olympian Zeus, was heralded as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, measuring 42 feet high and stood in the temple for nearly a thousand years before being removed by Emperor Theodosius-I of Constantinople.

Tristan und Isolde by Richard Wagner: tells the story of the Cornish Knight Tristan, who is taking the Irish princess Isolde to KI Marke as a bride. Considered one of the greatest operatic musical expressions of sexual love.

Arcite: a Thebian Knight and imprisoned with Palamon at Athens. After gaining their liberty Emily was promised by Duke Theseus to the victor in a tournament. Arcite won but was thrown from his horse and killed when riding to receive his prize.

Walter Map and other Arthurian writers introduced the romantic spirit of Chivalry and courtly manners into European literature. KI Arthur became the embodiment of the ideal Christian Knight.

Britomart: a female Knight. In Spenser’s Faerie QU, she is the personification of chastity and purity. She dashes her enemies violence into adoration and blank awe.

Sir Calidore, (Spenser’s Faerie QU): the most courteous of all the Knights who was given the name ‘all-beloved’.

Battle of Camlan: the fight which brought the end of the Knights of the Round Table.

The Knight of La Mancha: Don Quixote (hero of Cervantes’ romance of the same name).

Amadis of Gaul: a hero of the famous prose romance of the same title. Amadis is called the ‘Lion-Knight’, from the device on his shield. Gallant, Knight-errant and KI, a model of chivalry.

Latin: ‘salire’, ‘to leap.’

Baffle: a punishment or degradation of a recreant Knight including hanging him or his effigy by the heels from a tree.

Knight of the Bath: this order of Knighthood derives its name from the ceremony of bathing a Knight as a symbol of purity and was established in the reign of Henry IV.

Last: KT of the KIs :&G (Kings Gambit). This term was applied to Rudolf Spielmann.

St Thomas a Becket: murdered in the cathedral by four Knights of KI Henry the 2nd in 1170. In 1997 the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome loaned some relics of Beckett to Cantebury Cathedral. The Becket Chasse, the gold and enamel casket acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum and the National Heritage Memorial Fund for ST 3.8 million pounds was also on display. Cardinal Basil Hume (Roman Catholic Archbishop - VC) lent the Beckett mitre from Westminister Cathedral.
 

http://www.borderschess.org/KnightTour.htm

http://www.chess-poster.com/chess_problems/knight_tour/knight_tour.htm

The "Knight's Tour" is an ancient puzzle in which the object is to move a Knight, starting from any square on a Chess board, to every other square, landing on each square only once. This is usually considered to be a very challenging puzzle.

Back

Main Index

Next

 Home

Chess Gallery

Chess Poster

   e - mail

 Spanish