to KQ, KRBN is vulnerable to fork and capture by the opposing queen, and KRBN is slowly outmaneuvered by KQN, until KQN wins a piece or a rook–knight exchange. Also, while in most open endgames, a knight is weaker than a bishop, a queen and a knight make a strong attacking combination. Also, two knights make a strong defense if the superior side does not have an extra piece that can be exchanged for the two knights, and we have KQ v KNN draw (and thus KQN v KRNN draw) despite KRB v KNN win. Queen, rook, and minor piece versus queen and rook: as of 2006, had not been analysed, but was thought to be too volatile to draw general conclusions. In endgames with queens, a minor piece advantage is not often decisive. Tempo is often more important than material in these situations. Two queens can win against two queens and a knight about half the time, when they have the move. Queens and minor pieces Queen versus one minor piece: a win for the queen. Queen versus two minor pieces: see above. Queen versus three minor pieces: draw except for a queen versus three bishops all on the same color, which in many positions is a win for the queen. Four minor pieces versus a queen: a win for the pieces if they are the usual four minor pieces (see the position from Kling and Horowitz). Alexey Troitsky showed that four knights win against a queen. Queen and a minor piece versus a queen: this is usually a draw unless the stronger side can quickly win (see Nyazova vs. Levant and Spassky vs. Karpov). With a knight, however, the stronger side has good winning chances in practice because the knight can create non-linear threats to fork the opponent's pieces and very accurate play is required from the defender to hold the position. There are 38 positions of reciprocal zugzwang and the longest win takes 35 moves until the knight forks the queen and king. Queen and two minor pieces versus queen and one minor piece: generally a draw except in the case QBB vs QN (won for the bishops). Many combinations involve extremely long winning lines. Examples from games An endgame with queen and knight versus queen is usually drawn, but there are some exceptions where one side can quickly win material. In the game between Nyazova and