Anastasia's Mate
Do you ever dream of giving a stunning checkmate after sacrificing one of your most powerful pieces? Learning how to deliver Anastasia's Mate can help you with that!
What Is Anastasia's Mate?
Anastasia's Mate is a common checkmate pattern that happens in chess. This checkmate involves the knight and either a rook or a queen. It occurs when the enemy king is near one of the board's corners. The knight pushes the king to the edge of the board while the rook or queen attacks the king on an open file.
As you can see, the rook attacks the king, and the knight cuts off the escape g6- and g8-squares, delivering mate.
Why Is Anastasia's Mate Important?
Like any other checkmate pattern, learning Anastasia's Mate can be the difference between winning or losing a game.
Identifying this pattern is also important because it opens the possibility of creating an attack against an apparently well-defended king. If you look at the position below, you'll see the white king hiding behind a wall of pawns:
However, the player who knows Anastasia's Mate understands that the white king is actually quite vulnerable. In fact, Black can win the game in just three moves:
Because this pattern often involves the sacrifice of the powerful queen, many players can miss it! If you know Anastasia's Mate, you can seize this opportunity to end the game in style!
Test Your Skills
Now that you know what Anastasia's Mate is, it's time to test your skills. Solve the puzzles below using what you've learned:
Puzzle 1
Puzzle 2
Puzzle 3
Conclusion
You now know what Anastasia's Mate is, its importance, and more. Head over to our Puzzles page and practice other types of tactics and checkmate patterns!
