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Kool checkmates ...
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Kool checkmates ...

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When I was just a teenager, (at a U.S. Open); I told a group of masters that I thought that there were like 35-50 basic mating positions. (They all laughed at me!!!) However, when IM Danny Kopec published his book, "Practical Middlegame Techniques," Dr. Kopec began his landmark volume with a catalog of all the known mating positions.  

I have always taught that a thorough knowledge of the standard mating positions was essential knowledge for any aspiring chess student. (More.) 

Two positions from my games ... 

null

(See #23.) 

null

 (See #25.) 

This blog will be about cool mates that occurred in my games ... 
No standard, run-of-the-mill mates ... (like a simple back-rank mate) ... but events AND the board position should be a little outside of the norm. 

  1. A nice mate in bullet chess, my opponent never saw it coming ... 
  2. A garbage game, but a sudden mate just before I lose on time.  
  3. Play as quickly as you can and never worry about finding decent moves ... this seems to be the modus operandi of many bullet players on CDC. Here my opponent is doing just that, but suddenly finds himself in a hopeless position. The result? A nice mate that is (also) very picturesque. 
  4. I once had a tournament game - we both stopped recording when we got low on time - and I had dropped my Queen due to an oversight, but managed to get a Rook and a Knight for it. (I think my opponent had better ...) Anyway, he was White, his King was on g1. I had Rooks on h2 and c2 I believe. I played a Knight move, in two moves it would give a strong check. My opponent could have stopped my roaming Knight with a judicious Pawn move but instead played Nf1??? and I responded with  ,,,Rcg2#. It seems even strong players will occasionally miss this particular mating pattern, see it now in this game. 
  5. I play the insane Danish Gambit, my opponent resigns one move before mate. 
  6. Another stupid mouse-racer ... goes down in flames.  
  7. I get a version of one of the pettiest mates possible. (See notes to the game.) 
  8. In severe time trouble, I find a nice mate, see this game.  
  9. Black gives a lesson about doubled-Pawns and edge-of-the-board mates. (Click here.) 
  10. This is a very nice mate involving both of my Bishops and a little help. 
  11. I don't know exactly what the name (of the mate) is, but this game features a cute checkmate by White's Knight and Bishop.  
  12. A nice mate ... at the last possible moment, just before I will lose the game on time. 
  13. Its an opening trap ... but it is also a cute little mate that many people have fallen for. 
  14. See the final position of problem number two ... of this blog.  
  15. The "Two-Bishop mate" has been occurring a lot in my games recently, this game is a good example of that common chess tactic.  
  16. White misses an easy N+B mate, click here to see it. 
  17. Here is a standard/stock sacrifice which results in an easy checkmate. (Click here.) 
  18. The Black King is driven from pillar to post ... and finally checkmated! (Click here.) 
  19. Black thinks he is crushing White, he thoughtlessly takes my Q ... & got mated! (Click here.) 
  20. Two Bishops ... pinning down two Knights ... click here.  
  21. Black effects a nice mate ... click here to see it. 
  22. Black plays fast and loose, his King was very insecure, The result? Indigestion!  
  23. I played this mouse-racer many games, he won a bunch just by making stupid moves ... really fast. In this game, I nail him quickly, before he has a chance to run out my clock!  
  24. What do three pieces do? Never heard of this rule? Then click here.  
  25. "Wait a minute!!! I have a Rook guarding that square, how is that checkmate???" He ran on and on and on after the game, he could not understand what happened. (See it, 2nd example.) 
  26. The Epaulette Mate. (Always pleasing!) For the game, click here.   
  27. The Bishop and Knight mate. (It seems that it caught my opponent by surprise.) 
  28. Black ... way ahead on the clock and about to promote a Pawn ... forgot something. 
  29. A nice (surprise?) mate with only one second left. (Click HERE to see it.) 
  30. I played a nice game vs, Fisher2002, see the puzzle below.   
  31. This game is thoroughly annotated, I was never really in any trouble.
    (There were many mating opportunities for White!)   
  32. Kingkidnap gets his King kidnapped!!! (Its a VERY unusual mating pattern ... not one I come across every day - so maybe you should just look at the end of the game. Would YOU have seen the mate in two moves ... that I found with just a few seconds left on the clock?)   
  33. HERE is a nice mate - I also missed a mate in six ... analysis on that page.    
  34. I passed on several mates ... because I had one mate in mind ... which was an idea that I got from a previous game with a similar pattern where I missed a forced mate-in-one.  
  35. A die-hard "mouse racer" ... moving "Fast and Furious" (LOL) is busy moving quickly, feeling confident that he cannot lose in the amount of time that I have left on the clock. (See it.)    
  36. In this game, my opponent and I had played a pretty decent 1-0 game. At the end of the game, many times my opponent does a bunch of "pre-moves" and just moves back and forth ... and eventually, I lose on time. (Seemingly always.) Tiring of these kind of results, I decided that, since my opponent had less time than I did and probably was not thinking but just moving fast, I would simply go for checkmate. How did it turn out? See for yourself. 
  37. I get a nice (surprise) checkmate ... with my opponent's King seemingly secure in the middle of the chess board. 
  38. This is NOT from one of my games ... but it is an interesting problem. (Click here.)  
  39. I get a nice "half epaulette" mate right in the middle of the board. (Click here.)  
  40. Another player ... who is just zipping right along ... walks into the big hammer. (Click here.) 
  41. In the game, Karl Mayet - Phillip Hirschfeld; Berlin/GER; 1861 ... Black found a really nice mating combination, after a terrible misstep by White. In his VIDEO ... "Old School Cool, Mayet vs. Hirschfeld," GM Ginger_GM goes over this game in great detail. (Check out the problem below ... see if you can find the mate!!!) 
  42. Black is cruising along, he thinks he is about to promote his QRP, but suddenly gets smacked with a surprise mate.  
  43. Black gets crushed in one of the most complicated and sacrificial games that I have ever played. The end of the game is absolutely amazing!!! [I already shared this game with a few friends and students. One {former} student - who is now attending college in Florida - said he was "Blown away," by this game! The game ends in a nice form of an pursuit/epaulette mate. (This game is not perfect - but its still great!! I would like to advance it as my "Immortal Bullet Game".)]   
  44. A rather simple mating patten. (I guess my opponent, a die-hard mouse-racer ... was too busy moving quickly, and probably thought that the game was won, as I only had like 1.5 seconds on the clock at the end of the game.)   
  45. This game features a nice "vertical mate." Plus - if you go to that page, you get to see a very thoroughly annotated chess game. 
  46. Black exerts constant pressure from the opening. The result ... a nearly model game ... 
    and a nice "edge of the board" checkmate. 
  47. Short of time ... White makes the game a "Help-Mate" and commits hari-kari. 
  48. A mouse-racer is screaming along ... the only thing he cared about was bashing those moves out as quickly as possible. The result? White is justly mated - right on the edge of the board.   
  49. Af first - I thought it was just blind luck. But when it happens ... over and over and over again ... you begin to realize its not luck, but a PATTERN is beginning to emerge! I have studied the patterns of chess for so long, especially the ones that lead to checkmate, that I am able to conjure up mates again and again. More importantly, I have (repeatedly) been able to do it from positions where I am technically lost and both sides are VERY short of time!! 
    (Click HERE to see the latest example.)     
  50. Here is a nice attack - culminating in a nice (shocking!!!) sudden, surprise mate. (Click HERE.)  
  51. This is a game where I was getting crushed as Black ... both on position and I was WAY behind on the clock. However, I have noticed that many opponents - when their opponent is very short of time - are just playing moves, confident that they will win on time ... and they are not really carefully watching the chessboard. (This is yet another example of that.) 
  52. Here is a mate, White gets hammered.   
  53. Here is a cool mate, with a nice trick at the end. (With less than five seconds left, Black promotes his Pawn ... and then gets a nasty shock.) 

Here is a nice position ... I was Black. Seeing that we were both very short of time, I figured that White would be busy pushing his Pawns. So ... GO FOR MATE!!!!! 

See the first example (and link) ... #1, above.  

Here is something wild ... culled from an actual game, call it "Helpmate ... in FOUR moves." 
(Note: Black always moves first in a helpmate. This is a "game-like" position ... I could have eliminated many of the un-necessary pieces frpm this puzzle ...
... but, for me, it makes the problem dull and boring.) 

Click HERE ... to see the game of mine ... that gave me this idea.  

     *****************************************************************     

This is the same puzzle as above ... but with all the un-necessary pieces removed. 
(So now it should be a legal problem.) 

Here is a game excerpt - from a game with Fisher2002 - with a nice mate: 

White just played 43.Rb8, how would you have played this position as Black? 

---> See problem #32, above.   
White to move .... and mate in 6 moves:  
--------> See #33, above. 
White to play and mate in two moves.  
----->  See #33, above.  
White to move ... and mate in two moves. 
------> See #34, above.  
White to play and mate in five moves. 
See # 35, above. 
Tiring of seemingly always losing on time, I go for mate. (Its not at all forced, but it is the ONLY possible checkmate in 6-8 moves. Can you find what I found?) 
See #36, above. 
White to move ... 
See #37, above.  
See #38, above. 
Black just played 38...Qe6; how does White proceed?  
See #39, above.  
White to move ... aim for mate.  
See # 40, above for the answer and a link to the game. 
Black to move:  
See problem #41, above for the details and links.   
White to move, go for mate, its not forced, but it sure works!  
See #42, above.  
This is from (maybe) one of the best bullet games that I have ever played. (I might analyze the game in full somewhere else, for now we are only concerned with the tail-end of this game.)   
White to move, I just lost my Queen (on purpose!) to a Knight fork on c3, Black's last move was 27...NxQ/d1; now ... go for the throat!!!  
See # 43 {above} for a description of the events and the link to the actual game.  
White to move - the object is mate: 
See #45 (above) for the description - and a link to this game.   
Black to move; find the best/sharpest move every time, mate will come rather quickly.
(In only nine moves!!!) 
See # 46 (above) for a description ... and a link to the game. 

Go for mate! ---> Black to move. 
(I know, its NOT forced ... in fact, you get a LOT of help from your opponent, hehehe.)   

See # 47 for details - and a link to the game.  

Here is a nice (practical) mate problem ... 
Go for mate, play the sharpest / most threatening mover every time. 
(Don't worry! You get lots of help from your opponent!!!)  

See # 48 (above) for the details and a link to this game. 

White to move - you are down a Pawn or two - and (realistically) ... you are completely lost. However, take heart - you are NOT playing a machine, but a fallible carbon-based-unit. Not only this, your opponent is very short of time - so ... ... ... brace yourself, and give it your best shot!!! (I also wanted to remind you that - generally speaking - Rooks belond BEHIND passed Pawns!!!!!)  

See #49 {above} for a description of events and a link to the actual game.   

Example # 50.) Here is a nice attack - culminating in a sudden mate:  

See problem #50 {above} for all the details ... and a link to this game. (Clock times & all of that.) 

Example # 51.) In this game, I was getting badly beaten on position and just totally wallopped on time. (At one point, my opponent was over 20 seconds ahead on the clock, I had under 10 seconds left on my clock at the end of the game.) 

One thing that I have noticed - some of these guys ... when they are so far ahead on time, they feel very confident of victory - they are NOT playing with great care and carefully scrutinizing every single move. (Quite the opposite, they are just bashing out their moves, feeling cocky and full of themselves ... watching you twist helplessly in the wind ... as your clock winds down to the certain loss on time.) In these situations, if you are brave and daring and creative enough, you can set mating traps for your opponent. A large part of the time, they will oblige you by stumbling headlong into your trap!!!!!) 

This is the starting position, White just played 28.g4? (Better was 28.b4!) 

     **********************************     

Now it is "Black to move," how would you play this position? (See below.)    

See the link (and description) on #51 (above) for the actual game - with clock times.   

Here is a nice game, as usual, go for mate:  

See # 52 for the link to the actual game ...   

Think about how you could get a mate. (Hint, you need to expose the Black King.)  

See # 53 for a description and a link to the game.  

  --->  Please check back from time to time ... I definitely will be adding more problems. 😎