4 Must-Know Mates

Checkmate; the goal of a chess game. You must know how to mate if you want to play chess well. So today I will show you 4 must-know mates.

Boden's Mate

The Boden's mate combines the power of the two bishops dominating diagonals that cross each other. For this pattern to work we also need opposing pieces blocking the king's escape. In this case and most often it's the rook on d8 and the knight on d7.

Can you find the Boden's Mate that Edward Duncan found in this position?

Arabian Mate

The mate was first recorded in a ninth-century Arabic manuscript! Hence the name: the Arabian Mate. In it, a knight and a rook team up to trap the opposing king on a corner of the board.

Can you find the Arabian Mate that Paul Johner found in this position?

Anastasia's Mate

In it, a knight and a rook team up to trap the opposing king between the side of the board on one side and a friendly piece on the other. Often, the queen is first sacrificed along the a-file or h-file to achieve the position. This checkmate got its name from the novel Anastasia und das Schachspiel by Johann Jakob Wilhelm Heinse. Very often this mate is achieved via a Queen sacrifice.

Can you find the Anastasia's Mate that the World Champion found in this position?

Blackburne's Mate

Blackburne’s Mate is a rare checkmate pattern that involves two bishops and a knight against a castled king. The pattern is named after Joseph Henry Blackburne, a British chess player who once demonstrated this checkmate in one of his games.

Can you find the mate in this position?

I hope you enjoyed this blog!