Checkmate pattern

checkmate

A checkmate pattern is a pattern of checkmate that occurs fairly frequently in chess. The diagrams that follow show the checkmates with White checkmating Black.

Anastasia's mate

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

An archetypal Anastasia's mate

Anastasia's mate is a common method of checkmating. The checkmate got its name from the novel Anastasia und das Schachspiel by Johann Jakob Wilhelm Heinse. It works by using the knight and rook to trap and checkmate the black king.

Anderssen's mate

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

An archetypal Anderssen's mate

Anderssen's mate is a common method of checkmating and is named for Adolf Anderssen. The checkmate involves using the white rook or queen to checkmate the black king. The checkmating piece is supported by either a pawn or bishop. Anderssen's mate is often seen far in advance where little can be done to prevent it.

Arabian mate

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

An archetypal Arabian mate

The Arabian mate is a common method of checkmating. The checkmate works by using the knight so that it is two diagonal squares from the black king to trap it in conjunction with using the rook to supply the check. The rook can checkmate on either the rank or file.

Back-rank mate

Main article: back-rank mate

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

A typical back-rank mate

The back-rank mate is a common method of checkmating. It occurs when a rook or queen checkmates a king that is blocked by his friendly pieces (mostly pawns) on the first or eighth rank nor is there any way to capture the piece attacking the troubled king. Here, for example, the black queen cannot capture the white rook.

Bishop and knight checkmate

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

A typical Bishop and knight checkmate

The Bishop and knight checkmate is a common method of checkmating. It occurs when the king and his friendly pieces, the bishop and knight, force the opponent king to the corner of the board the bishop can control to deliver a possible mate. It also possible by forcing the losing king into a stalemate position where it can be checkmated. However, out of the four major checkmates along with Queen mate, Box mate, and king and two bishops checkmate, this one is the most difficult to force a mate, for it can take as many as 34 moves with perfect play. Sometimes the result is also a draw.

Blackburne's mate

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

An archetypal Blackburne's mate

Blackburne's mate is named for Joseph Henry Blackburne and is a rare method of checkmating. The checkmate utilizes the black rook (it could be a bishop or queen instead) to confine the black king's escape to the f8 square. One of the bishops confine the black king's movement by operating at a distance, while the knight and bishop operate within close range. Threatening Blackburne's mate can be used to weaken Black's position.

Box mate

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

A typical Box mate

The Box mate is one of the four major checkmates along with Queen mate, king and two bishops checkmate, and bishop and knight checkmate. It occurs when the side with the king and rook box in the bare king to the corner or edge of the board.

Corner mate

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

An archetypal Corner mate

The Corner mate is a common method of checkmating. It works by confining the king to the corner using a rook or queen and using a knight to engage the checkmate.

Cozio's mate

Cozio's mate is a common method of checkmating. The checkmate is an upside down version of the Dovetail mate. It was named after a study conducted in 1766 by Carlo Cozio.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

An archetypal Cozio's mate. After 1.Qh6+, then black is forced to play 1. ...Kg3

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

White then checkmates with 2.Qh2

Damiano's bishop mate

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

An archetypal Damiano's bishop mate

Damiano's bishop mate is a classic method of checkmating. The checkmate utilizes a queen and bishop, where the bishop is used to support the queen and the queen is used to engage the checkmate. The checkmate is named after Pedro Damiano.

Damiano's mate

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

An archetypal Damiano's mate

Damiano's mate is a classic method of checkmating and one of the oldest. It works by confining the king with a pawn and using a queen to initiate the final blow. The rook could also be a bishop or queen. Damiano's mate is often arrived at by first sacrificing a rook on the h-file, then checking the king with the queen on the h-file, and then moving in for the mate. The checkmate was first published by Pedro Damiano in 1512. In Damiano's publication he failed to place the white king on the board which resulted in it not being entered into many chess databases due to their rejection of illegal positions.

David and Goliath mate

The David and Goliath mate is a common method of checkmating. Although the David and Goliath mate can take many forms, it is characterized generally as a mate in which a pawn is the final attacking piece and where enemy pawns are nearby.

Double bishop mate

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

An archetypal Double bishop mate

The Double bishop mate is a classic method of checkmating. It is a similar to Boden's mate, but a bit simpler. The checkmate involves attacking the king using two bishops, resulting in the king being trapped behind a black pawn that has not been moved.

Dovetail mate

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

An archetypal Dovetail mate

The Dovetail mate is an common method of checkmating. It involves trapping the black king in a pattern shown to the right. It does not matter how the queen is supported and it does not matter which type Black's other two pieces are so long as neither is a knight.

Epaulette mate

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

An archetypal Epaulette mate

Epaulette or epaulet mate is, in its broadest definition, a checkmate where two parallel retreat squares for a checked king are occupied by his own pieces, preventing his escape. The most common Epaulette mate involves the king on his back rank, trapped between two rooks.^[1] The perceived visual similarity between the rooks and epaulettes, ornamental shoulder pieces worn on military uniforms, gives the checkmate its name.^[1]

Example games

• Van Wely–Morozevich, Wijk aan Zee 2001; Loek van Wely is forced to resign after blundering into an unavoidable Epaulette mate against Alexander Morozevich.^[2]
• Carlsen–Ernst, Wijk aan Zee 2004; a twelve year old Magnus Carlsen achieves an unusual "sideways" Epaulette mate against Sipke Ernst on his way to winning the C Group at the Corus chess tournament in 2004.^[3]
• Anand-Carlsen, Tal Memorial Blitz World Championship 2009; when Carlsen essentially clinched the blitz world champion title.

Greco's mate

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

An archetypal Greco's mate

Greco's mate is a common method of checkmating. The checkmate is named after the famous Italian checkmate cataloguer Gioachino Greco. It works by using the bishop to contain the black king by use of the black g-pawn and subsequently using the queen to checkmate the king by moving it to the edge of the board.

h-file mate

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

An archetypal h-file mate

The h-file mate is a method of checkmating. The checkmate involves the use of a rook attacking the black king supported by a bishop. It often comes about after the black king castles on its kingside in a fianchetto position. White usually arrives at this position after a series of sacrifices on the h-file.

Hook mate

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

An archetypal Hook mate

The Hook mate involves the use of a white rook, knight, and pawn along with one black pawn to limit the black king's escape. The rook is protected by the knight and the knight is protected by the pawn.

King and two bishops checkmate

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

King and two bishops checkmate is one of the four major checkmates along with Queen mate, Box mate, and the bishop and knight checkmate. It occurs when the king with two bishops force the bare king to the corner of the board to force a possible mate.

King and two knights checkmate

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Checkmate with a king and two knights, but it cannot be forced

In a two knights endgame, the side with the king and two knights cannot checkmate a bare king by force. This endgame should be a draw if the bare king plays correctly. A mate only occurs if the player with the bare king blunders or is already trapped in a corner of the board.

Lolli's mate

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

An archetypal Lolli's mate

Lolli's mate is a common method of checkmating. The checkmate involves infiltrating Black's fianchetto position using both a pawn and queen. The queen oftentimes gets to the h6 square by means of sacrifices on the h-file. It is named after Giambattista Lolli.

Max Lange's mate

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

An archetypal Max Lange's mate

Max Lange's mate is a common method of checkmating. The checkmate is named after Max Lange. It works by using the bishop and queen to checkmate the king.

Morphy's mate

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

An archetypal Morphy's mate

Morphy's mate is a common method of checkmating. It was named after Paul Morphy. It works by using the bishop to attack the black king and a rook and Black's own pawn to confine it. In many respects it is very similar to the Corner mate.

Opera mate

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

An archetypal Opera mate

The Opera mate is a common method of checkmating. It works by attacking the king on the back rank with a rook using a bishop to protect it. A pawn or other piece other than a knight of the enemy king's is used to restrict its movement. The checkmate was named after its implementation by Paul Morphy in 1858 at a game at the Paris opera against Duke Karl of Brunswick and Count Isouard, see Opera game.

Pillsbury's mate

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Pillsbury's mate example. 1.Rxg7+ Kh8 2.Rg1+ Rf6 3.Bxf6#

Pillsbury's mate^[4] is a common method of checkmating and is named for Harry Nelson Pillsbury. It works by attacking the king with either the rook or bishop as shown to the right. The king can be either on the g8 or h8 square during the checkmate.

Queen mate

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

A typical Queen mate

Queen mate is one of the four major checkmates along with Box mate, king and two bishops checkmate, and bishop and knight checkmate. It occurs when the side with the king and queen force the bare king to the edge or corner of the board. The queen fully checks the bare king and her friendly king supports her.

Réti's mate

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

An archetypal Réti's mate

Réti's mate is a famous method of checkmating. The checkmate is named after Richard Réti. It works by trapping the enemy king with four of its own pieces that are situated on flight squares and then attacking it with a bishop that is protected by a rook or queen.

Smothered mate

Main article: Smothered mate

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

A typical Smothered mate

Smothered mate is a common method of checkmating. It occurs when a knight checkmates a king that is smothered (surrounded) by his friendly pieces and he has nowhere to move nor is there any way to capture the knight.

Suffocation mate

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

An archetypal Suffocation mate

The Suffocation mate is a common method of checkmating. It works by using the knight to attack the enemy king and the bishop to confine the king's escape routes.

Swallow's tail mate

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

An archetypal Swallow's tail mate

Swallow's tail mate also known as the Guéridon mate is a common method of checkmating. It works by attacking the enemy king with a queen that is protected by a rook. The enemy kings own rooks block its means of escape. It resembles the Epaulette mate.

See also

• Outline of chess: Checkmate patterns
• Boden's Mate
• Fool's mate
• Scholar's mate

References

1. ^ ^{a b} " Checkmates with Names", Mark Weeks, About.com: Chess
2. ^ "Kasparov makes same mistake twice and lives", Tim Krabbé, Open chess diary 88, January 16, 2001
3. ^ "The Mozart of Chess", Mathias Berntsen, Chessbase.com, January 27, 2004
4. ^ [1] Teach Yourself Visually Chess By Jon Edwards

• Schiller, Eric (1999), Encyclopedia of Chess Wisdom, Cardoza, ISBN 0940685930