Nihal Beats Vidit in a Knight Endgame Played in Seconds

Photo: Unknown author / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

The white pawn on f6 is two steps from becoming a queen. The black king is far away on g3, and the black knight on c7 is on the other side of the board. Black has no good way to stop it.

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Final position, after 67.f6. White's f-pawn is two squares from promoting, and Black's king and knight are both too far away. Black resigned.

Analyze this position in the full game

This was a long knight endgame, played with both players' clocks down to seconds, and one pawn move decided it.

Nihal Sarin 1-0 Vidit Santosh Gujrathi Tata Steel India Rapid 2026, Kolkata · Round 6 · Rapid, 15 minutes plus 10 seconds a move White: Nihal Sarin (2660) · Black: Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (2632)

Into a knight endgame

The game began as a Catalan Opening, where White puts the bishop on g2.

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.c4 e6 4.g3 Be7 5.Bg2 O-O 6.O-O c6 7.Nbd2 b6 8.b3 Bb7 9.Bb2 Nbd7 10.Qc2 Rc8 11.Rad1 c5

The pieces came off one pair at a time.

12.Qb1 dxc4 13.Nxc4 Be4 14.Qa1 Qc7 15.dxc5 Bxc5 16.Nfe5 Bxg2 17.Kxg2 Nxe5 18.Bxe5 Qb7+ 19.f3 Ne8 20.Bd4 b5 21.Bxc5 Rxc5 22.Ne5 Nf6 23.Rc1 Rfc8 24.Rxc5 Rxc5 25.Rc1 Qc7 26.Rxc5 Qxc5 27.Nd3 Qc2 28.Qe5 Nd7 29.Nb4 Nxe5 30.Nxc2 Nc6

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Position after 30...Nc6, with White to move. Only kings, knights and pawns are left. Each side has six pawns.

Analyze this position in the full game

After 30 moves, only kings, knights and pawns were left, with six pawns each. Our own Stockfish 16 run, at depth 18, called it almost exactly level.

Kings march in

In an endgame with few pieces left, the king becomes a fighting piece. Both kings walked toward the centre.

31.Kf2 Kf8 32.Ke3 a6 33.Nd4 Nb4 34.a3 Nd5+ 35.Ke4 Ke7 36.Nf5+ Kf6 37.Kd4 b4 38.axb4 Nxb4 39.Ne3 Ke7 40.Kc4 Nc6 41.Kc5 Kd7 42.Nc4 f6 43.f4 h6 44.e4

By now both players were playing on the increment. From move 29 on, Nihal never had more than about 80 seconds on his clock, and in the moves around 40 both players were often below 30 seconds. The engine's evaluation swung back and forth, sometimes by a full pawn in one move. That is normal when there is no time to calculate.

The pawn move that decided it

44...g5

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Position after 44...g5, with White to move. The g-pawn has left g7, so no black pawn protects f6 or h6 any more.

Analyze this position in the full game

Vidit played this with 17 seconds left. Our engine marked it as the decisive mistake. It rated White about two and a half pawns better after it, and preferred 44...h5.

Why? On g7, the pawn protected the pawns on f6 and h6. On g5 it protects neither. Those two pawns now have to be guarded by the king, and White can go after them.

45.f5 Na7 46.Nd6 exf5 47.exf5

White's pawn break swapped off the e-pawns. Now the black pawn on f6 stood alone in front of White's f5 pawn, and nothing but the king could protect it.

Collecting the pawns

47...Nc6 48.Ne4 Ne5 49.Nxf6+ Ke7 50.Ng8+ Kf7 51.Nxh6+

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Position after 51.Nxh6+, with Black to move. White has won the pawns on f6 and h6. White has four pawns, Black has two.

Analyze this position in the full game

The white knight took on f6 and h6, the two pawns the g-pawn used to protect. White now had four pawns against two, and the f5 pawn had become a passed pawn: no black pawn in front of it, or on the files beside it, could stop it.

51...Kf6 52.Kd5 Nd3 53.Kd4 Nf2 54.b4 Kg7 55.Ke3 Nd1+ 56.Kd2 Nf2 57.Ke2 Ne4 58.Ng4 Nd6 59.Ne3 Kf6 60.Kd3 Nb5 61.g4 Ke5 62.Nc4+ Kd5 63.h3 Nc7 64.Nd2 Ke5 65.Nf3+ Kf4 66.Nd4 Kg3 67.f6

Black's king went after White's kingside pawns, but the f-pawn was too fast. After 67.f6, Vidit resigned.

What this game teaches

1. In endgames, kings attack. With the queens and rooks gone, both kings walked to the centre. Nihal's king reached c5, deep in Black's half.

2. Every pawn move leaves something behind. 44...g5 stopped protecting f6 and h6, and White's knight later took both of them.

3. A passed pawn is the goal of most endgames. White's f-pawn had nothing in front of it, and it decided the game.

4. Knights are good pawn-eaters. The white knight took on f6 and h6 in three moves.

5. Play fast endgames on general principles. With seconds on the clock, you cannot calculate everything. Keep your king active and avoid pawn moves that give up squares.