The Knight-on-the-Rim Check

The second lesson I had to learn at my tournament is about knights on the rim. Their future is not necessarily dim, but it has to be checked very carefully. I did not, and threw away a game that was equal up to this moment against a higher rated opponent.

Here is my loss against this 200+ Elo lady ...

I try to figure out what conditions must be met to play a knight on the rim. The first one is a path to a better square where the knight stands well, so being on the rim is just a short episode. This was not the case in my game. The second condition is a strong threat that puts the opponent in danger and/or forces him to weaken his position. This was not the case in my game. It was a lame threat that could easily be met, allowing my opponent to improve rather than weaken his position. The third condition is making sure that the knight has a safe retreat from the rim. This was most important in my game and was definitely not the case. It even lost the game.