Secrets of Trapping Pieces: Greco's Mate

The primary purpose of this blog is to allow you to test your skills in applying Greco's Mate, not just trapping the King but putting an end to His Majesty. The puzzles range from very easy to...well, it took a very strong player to see this over the board. The puzzles are provided after some brief discussion of some typical configurations of pieces that constitute an example of Greco's Mate. You can skip the discussion and go directly to the puzzles by scrolling past the picture further below.

We begin with some diagrams showing some typical features of Greco's Mate in which the King is checked, perhaps mated, by two major pieces, usually a pair of Rooks. 

Note that I prefer the term Greco's Configuration. My reasoning being that the mere threat of Greco's Configuration may be sufficient to compel significant concessions from the opponent. Perhaps even concessions sufficient to state that the game is effectively over from a technical perspective. If I can find a compelling instance or two, then at least one puzzle in this blog will point to the value of realizing a mate threat can be almost as powerful as an actual mate! I know there are examples, I am simply not positive one that is sufficiently convincing will pop out from my database.

Diagrams of some typical Greco's Mates
This mate derives its name from Gioachino Greco (1600-1634). 

In Greco’s mate, a rook or queen delivers checkmate, in most cases on the open h-file. The mate, in general, exploits pressure on the f7 and h7 squares, or the f2 and h2 squares in White's bailiwick. A bishop covers one or two escape squares, usually g8 or g1. And one of the opponent's own pieces, generally a pawn or pawns because they are the least flexible of defenders, blocks escape via a square not covered by the bishop.

Diagram 1
Upper right-hand corner: Prototypical Greco's mate. A major piece (the Rook could obviously be replaced by a Queen) delivers mate on the h-file. White's Bishop controls g8, preventing flight towards the center. The pawn on g7 is a traitor blocking the King's departure. Black's doubled g-pawn is not a requirement but is a significant, even critical, feature in many instances of Greco's mate. The extra pawn on g6 is shown for two reasons. First, it indicates that a Knight might have delivered a check on g6 that required Black to capture on g6 with the h7 pawn. Thereby opening the h-file for a major piece to end the King's existence on h8. Second, the black pawn on g6 can be a critical traitor in Black's camp, along with the sibling twin on g7, if Black's King had managed to make his way to h7.

Lower left-hand corner: A standard pattern that should be learned. Black's Queen threatens mate on a2. Black's Bishop controls flight towards the center via b1. And in those instances where White's only momentary defense is to capture the Knight with axb4, there is then a game over moment with ...Qa4#.

Let the Puzzles Begin!

Related blogs: You can find an entire mini-universe of blogs about trapping various pieces at the links below. Or for the visually inclined you can just use your favorite search engine and ask to see images for "Secrets of Trapping Pieces". You'll either get pictures posted by animal trappers, I suspect mostly people who are not named Kristi Noem, or pictures posted by yours truly.
Knight

SUCCESS!! Publication of my "Secrets of Trapping Pieces: Fundamentals"