Secrets of Trapping Pieces: Morphy's Mate
The primary purpose of this blog is to allow you to test your skills in applying Morphy'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. In some cases, they missed it over the board! The puzzles are provided after a brief discussion of a typical configuration of pieces that constitute an example of Morphy's mate. You can skip the discussion and go directly to the puzzles by scrolling past the first picture below.
Note that I prefer the term Morphy's configuration. I reason that the mere threat of Morphy's configuration may be sufficient to compel significant concessions from the opponent. Perhaps sufficient concessions to state that the game is effectively over from a technical perspective. Indeed, one puzzle transitions from Morphy's configuration to an Arabian mate.
Curiously, Morphy's mate is not named after a mate that appeared on the board in one of Paul Morphy's games. Instead, it was an analytic improvement that Zukertort pointed out in a post-game analysis. That game was Paulsen versus Morphy and is near the end of this collection.
Diagram of Morphy's Mate
The diagram below depicts two examples of Morphy's mate. The defining characteristics are that the bishop (a queen will obviously suffice in a pinch) delivers checkmate while a rook covers potential flight squares along a file or rank. Other escape squares are blocked by the opponent's pieces, usually a single pawn. Another frequent contributor to the king's untimely demise is a "friendly" rook that serves only to block a flight path or square. In the lower left-hand corner below we see an example where White's pawn and rook doom their king, blocking his escape along the a-file. Morphy's mate is very closely related to the Opera mate. A rook and bishop are still the protagonists, but in the Opera mate the rook delivers mate while the bishop covers flight squares.
Frequently mate is preceded by a rook check and a windmill attack to eliminate key defenders. Below we show a simple example that removes Black's f-pawn from the board so it cannot impede the range of the white bishop.
Let the Puzzles Begin!
Martinovsky, Eugene (2280) - Lonoff, Marc (2310) Illinois open 1993
Eugene Martinovsky was born in 1938 and lived until 2022. The highest rating I could find for him was 2395 at the Eastern Class-ch in 1995. He was strong enough to beat six-time US CC winner Walter Browne at Lone Pine in 1972.
Marc Lonoff is an American FM born in 1952 who lives in Chicago, Illinois. His peak rating was 2340 in 1990 when he played in the USA Masters. He has played eight games on chess.com this year, including a couple 960 games.
A downside to this problem is that the second move has two solutions. Don't fret if you get that second move wrong the first time you make an entry.
Szabo, Marcell (1895) - Wagh, Suyog (2210) Titled Tuesday 2022.01.11
Marcell Szabo is a US player born in 2001 with a peak FIDE rating of 1937 achieved in March 2024.
Suyog Wagh is an FM from India born in 2000. He achieved his peak FIDE rating of 2376 in December 2022 but has since dropped to 2230. That still leaves him #6535 in the world! So, on any ordinary day he will beat almost anyone who challenges him.
This problem has two equivalent first-move solutions. Stick with the thematic Morphy's mate if you want to get this "correct" the first time.
Cross, JF. - Morrison, John CAN-ch 1908
JF. Cross played in this Canadian Championship in 1908 and lost two of the three games I found for him. Other than that, he appears to be a complete cypher. Well, unless I put in more research than he appears to merit as a chess player.
John Morrison was a Canadian master who won the Canadian CC five times. He played in three tournaments that Capablanca won, and one of Morrison's games found its way into Capablanca's Chess Fundamentals. He did manage to bat Max Euwe at the British CF-15 London International in 1922 and also upended David Janowski at the Manhattan CC International in 1918. Apparently, he lost every time he played Capablanca or Alekhine. Certainly, no dishonor in that.
At last! A problem with only one correct solution!
Song, Guannan (2145) - Zia, Tahsin (2071) Bullet op1, chess.com 2020.12.19
Guannan Song is a Canadian FM born in 1998. Their peak rating of 2340 was reached in September 2015, but they have since lost over 200 rating points. Author of several books including Practical Chess Puzzles and Mastering Chess Logic by Everyman Chess,
Tahsin Zia is a Bangladesh FM born in 2005. His peak FIDE rating was 2345 in June 2023.
In this bullet game Black dooms themself by making obvious moves. You simply have to make good moves and allow Black to herd themselves into a fatal spot.
Lessons learned or revisited:
A. Sometimes defending loose pieces finds the king falling off instead. So sad, too bad.
B. Always check, it might be mate! 😜
C. Bullet chess provokes poor decisions, even though they shimmer with reasonableness.
Milovic, Aleksandra (2163) - Kerpe, Andreas (1955) Davos op 6th, 2007.08.12
Aleksandra Milovic is a Montenegro WIM born in 1986. Her peak rating of 2252 was achieved at the 42d Women's Olympiad in September 2016.
Andreas Kerpe is a German player born in 1966. His peak rating of 2172 was reached at the Pula open in May 2011.
Black just played 18...Nxf4. Oopsie Daisie.
The fourth move has multiple equivalent solutions. Hint: Make the shortest of those moves. I offer the hint because there's no reason to let a software shortfall slow you down as you move through these puzzles.
Owen, John - Burn, Amos, London, 1887
John Owen was an English vicar full-time and an amateur chess master who was considered among the world's top ten in the 1860s. He did manage to beat Paul Morphy in 1858. That led to a dismal match that Owen lost 6-1 despite being given odds of a pawn and the first move in every game. Probably his top achievement was placing third in the 1862 London tournament, ahead of Steinitz. And he beat the eventual tournament winner, Adolf Anderssen, in their game.
Amos Burn was an English chess master and one of the world's leading players in the late 1800s. The following variation of the French Defense is named for him because he was the first to play it regularly with good results 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 dxe4. During his career he was equal first at London 1887, first at Amsterdam 1889, and first at Cologne 1898. All those tournaments had remarkably strong players, including Emanuel Lasker, Wilhelm Steinitz, Joseph Blackburne, and Johannes Zukertort, amongst others. Steinitz was actually his instructor for a period of time.
This is a particularly useful attacking configuration to be aware of. Note that the queen is positioned in front of the bishop. Deciding which of the two pieces belongs in front is often a decisive factor in determining whether an attack succeeds or fails.
Lessons learned or revisited: An open g-file and weakness along the a1-h8 diagonal are frequent indicators that an attack on the g7 square is imminent.
Rieder, Anita (2060) - Kovac, Martin, Mureck op U17, 1996
Anita Rieder, born in 1964, is a German player whose rating peaked at 2120 in 1993. She has not played a FIDE rated game since July 2007.
Martin Kovac played in a few tournaments from 1996 - 1999 and the sole rating I found was 1700. The games were all played in Czechoslovakia, Slovakia, and Slovenia.
Hint: On the fourth move make the shortest move possible that leads to mate. There are five equivalent solutions. Why waste your time being told they are not the correct solution when the truth is that they work perfectly well.
Lessons learned or revisited: Consider this proof that opposite color bishops often make for great attacks.
Bogoljubow, Efim - Klein, Ernst, Staunton Memorial 1951
Efim Bogoljubow was born in 1889 and had what we now consider a late start, learning how to play at age 15 and only developing a sincere interest at age 18. The winner of numerous tournaments (Berlin 1919, Stockholm 1919, Kiel 1921, Berlin 1926, Kissingen 1928, etc.) he won the Soviet CC in 1924 and 1925. Bogo played for the World CC twice against Alekhine, losing by large margins in both 1929 and 1934.
Ernst Klein was an Austrian-British master and author, including co-authoring the book The Anglo-Soviet Radio Chess Match. Born in 1910, the earliest result I found for him was in 1928. He played against many of the world's best including Max Euwe, Salo Flohr, Paul Keres, and Savielly Tartakower.
White just played 32.b3?? How should Black have punished this transgression? Black missed the best move in the game.
Lessons learned or revisited:
A. An immediate threat can be greater than the execution of a mistimed check or capture. Black's 15...Qa3! certainly qualifies as a threat that stuns the mind.
B. Material is irrelevant when the king is unsafe. White's unsafe king was such a handicap that Whites harvesting a full queen was immaterial to the outcome.
Rynd, JA Porterfield - Pollock, William, Counties CA-16 Masters, Nottingham 1886.08.05
JA (James Alexander) Porterfield Rynd was an Irish lawyer and chess player born in 1846. Unofficially recognized as the first Irish CC after winning an event in 1865, he retained that unofficial title until 1886 when a tournament was held to again contest the title. The crown was restored to his head following a victory in 1892. In 1884 he played and won a match against George MacDonnell by the score of 2W-1D-1L.
William Pollock was a surgeon and English chess master. He was strong enough to merit an invitation to the 1889 New York International Chess Tournament, the Sixth American Chess Congress. Pollock finished 11th of the 20 players. Around 1890 he moved to Baltimore, Maryland and edited a chess column for a Baltimore newspaper. He also reported on the American chess scene for the British Chess Magazine. Born in 1859 he succumbed tuberculosis in 1896, a victim to one of the scourges of pre-antibiotics treatments.
White is threatening to capture the rook on f8 with check! What is Black to do!?!?
Lessons learned or revisited:
A. Create a greater threat!
B. Discovered check can be as game ending a concept as double check.
Reshevsky, Samuel - Shainswit, George, Wertheim Memorial, New York 1951.06.10
Samuel Reshevsky was a Polish chess prodigy who relocated to the USA where he became a leading GM with eight US CC, tied with Fischer. He regularly contended for the World CC from the 1930s to the 1960s, tying for third in the 1948 World CC tournament and tying for second in the 1953 Candidates.
George Shainswit was an American chess player born in 1918. He played in five US CC, with his best finish a tie for 5th in 1948. He did manage a draw against the young Bobby Fischer in the 1956 New York-Rosenwal-03 tournament. But lost most of his games to top players such as Fine, the Byrne brothers, Reshevsky, Kashdan and others.
Given that this is Morphy's mate, that means there are often multiple equivalent mating points for the attacking rook. I will advise you that when the white rook makes its final move, it travels as far as possible. There is no reason you should be stuck trying all the equivalent rook moves and being falsely accused of making the wrong move.
Lessons learned or revisited:
A. Rook lifts are an alternative to consider when you don't have an open file to attack the enemy king. In this case White lifted the rook to f3 to both protect the e-pawn and to set a tempting trap.
B. Think twice when your opponent offers you a pawn fork of their queen and rook. Maybe they're up to no good.
Rogulj, Branko (2430) - Atlas, Dimitry (2315) Dresden zt 1.2, 1998.04.30
Branko Rogulj was born in 1951 and is a Croatian IM. He achieved his peak rating of 2460 in 1980 as near as I can determine. He still plays actively at all time controls.
Dimitry Atlas is an Austrian FM born in 1968. His all-time peak rating appears to have been 2355. In this century his peak rating was 2344 in May 2020.
This should be easy if you focus on creating the conditions that lead to a standard Morphy's mate.
Hint: When the Black rook makes its final migration to a mating square, choose the shortest distance possible. That will save you from trying all valid alternatives along the file.
Lessons learned or revisited:
A. When all lines seem to point at the kingside in general and the g2 pawn in particular, it is a good time to look for sacrifices.
B. Again we see the utility of the windmill attack. Just thought I'd mention that again. Repetition is our memory's friend.
Huesmann, Thomas (2295) - Luaces Rubio, Alfredo (2027) San Sebastian op 30th, 2007.04.05
Thomas Huesmann is an FM who plays for Belgium. Born in 1961 his peak rating was 2315 in January 2005. The last game I found for him on chess.com was in 2019. Earlier that year he played a chess.com game against GM Spike Ernst and lost.
Alfredo Luaces Rubio is a Spanish player born in 1965. His peak rating was 2054, achieved in March 2012.
The typical hint applies here. When the rook finally opens the diagonal for the bishop, choose the shortest move possible for the rook.
Lessons learned or revisited:
A. White showed a shocking lack of awareness or knowledge in the game by not executing the fastest mate possible. Such carelessness/obliviousness can lose half or even full points.
B. Key to White's success was the recognition that opening lines offered the best chances in the starting position of this problem. And resulted in striking gold when Black overestimated their defensive prowess and chose not to play 23...f6, a move that would have blocked the diagonal of White's bishop.
Paulsen, Louis - Morphy, Paul, USA-01 Congress Grand Tournament, New York 1857.11.08
Louis Paulsen was a German chess master born in 1833. Paulsen lost the final match of this tournament to Morphy, scoring only one victory against two losses and two draws. Later in his career Paulsen played three matches against Adolf Anderssen, drawing a match in 1862 and winning the matches in 1876 and 1877. Paulsen was renowned for his defensive prowess and both Wilhelm Steinitz and Aron Nimzowitsch praised his ideas and games.
Paul Morphy was the best chess player in the world at one time, but his last meaningful chess game was in 1859 at the age of 22. A good reason that he was considered "The Pride and Sorrow of Chess". After his too-early retirement there are still recorded simul games and odds games until 1869.
Finally, we get to the game that reportedly inspired the naming of this mating net.
See if you can find the faster mate that Morphy missed. Zukertort later pointed out this alternative improvement. This alternative may have been why this particular mating pattern is named after Morphy. Seems to me they should have named it "the Zuuuuuke" mate.
Note that the final move sees the Black rook placed on a square you do not normally see in a more typical Morphy's mate.
Lessons learned or revisited:
A. If the rook is protected, then Morphy's mate can occur with the rook snuggled up next to the enemy king delivering a double checkmate. Useful to know!!
B. The Keep It Simple, Smith (KISS) Principle would assert that Morphy's approach in the game was straightforward enough.
Whitehead, Jay (2245) - Rohde, Michael (2425) Lone Pine op Louis D. Statham Masters 1978.04.03
Jay Whitehead was an American IM born in 1961 who died shortly before turning 50. He was a US Junior Champion. His peak rating was 2440 but he effectively left the chess world circa 1988 with very limited play after that. His last tournaments I found were the World Open, US Masters Open, and North Bay Open, all in 1998.
Michael Rohde is an American GM born in 1959. Because of that title I forgive him for also being an attorney. He was once ranked #59 in the world with a peak rating of 2595 in January 1993. I find it amusing that he is the author of The Great Evans Gambit Debate that advocates for an early Qb3 in the mainlines. I don't know why I find it amusing...perhaps because an Alaskan GM with the last name Smith (no relation) published several blogs on the Evans Gambit. Michael also wrote the "Game of the Month" column for 15 years for Chess Life.
Hint #1: An example where the Morphy configuration appears briefly and, even against the best defense, is converted into an Arabian mate.
Hint #2: Our obligatory hint about the rook changes here. When the rook moves to open the diagonal for the mating bishop, there is only one best rook move. There are several winning alternatives, but they allow mate to be delayed.
Lessons learned or revisited:
A. When kings are unsafe it is not uncommon to find that a certain configuration will transform into either material gains or a different mating pattern. The hard part is being familiar with a sufficiently large number of patterns to recognize your opportunities.
B. All the opponent's responses must be considered. Realizing that 29...Rg6+ is slightly more accurate than 29...Rg4+ can be a difference maker.
Pedersen, Erik (2415) - Kroll, Ove (2340) Aarhus m, 1990
Erik Pedersen was born in either 1940 or 1945 and played for Denmark. I found the discrepancies in his actual year of birth interesting, so I did some research. The problem is that there are a number of chess-playing Erik Pedersens. That said, there are even more Kevin Smiths. As I discovered when attending a graduate school with 523 students and five of us were named Kevin Smith. Two of us shared the same middle names. Darned confusing at times. Anyway, Pedersen's peak rating was 2420 and he hovered in that range for over two decades. So, quite a strong player.
Ove Kroll was born in 1952 and is an untitled player in the Denmark Federation. In this century his peak rating was 2363 in November 2014, a rating he almost equaled in December 2022. His lifetime peak was 2375 in July 1990, so he has remained remarkably strong for over three decades.
Sometimes all you have to do is play good moves and along the way, as in the game, Black will offer some assistance that gets you to Morphy's mate in the end.
Lessons learned or revisited:
A. Another prime example wherein placing pressure on the opponent results in a game-ending mistake.
B. The straightforward habit of evaluating checks, then captures, and then threats (for both sides) often simplifies game time workloads. It's the Keep It Simple, Smith (KISS) Principle writ large.
Related blogs: You can find an entire series of blogs about trapping various pieces at:
Knight
Secrets of Trapping Pieces: Knight Trapped by Bishop, Knight and King
Secrets of Trapping Pieces: Knight Trapped by Rook Part 1 of 2
Secrets of Trapping Pieces: Knight Trapped by Rook Part 2 of 2
Secrets of Trapping Pieces: Knight Trapped by Knight
Secrets of Trapping Pieces: Knight Trapped by Pawns
Secrets of Trapping Pieces: Bishop Dominated by Pawns Part 2 of 5
Secrets of Trapping Pieces: Bishop Dominated by Pawns Part 3 of 5
Secrets of Trapping Pieces: Bishop Dominated by Pawns Part 4 of 5
Secrets of Trapping Pieces: Bishop Dominated by Pawns Part 5 of 5
Secrets of Trapping Pieces: Bishop Dominated by Rook + Pawn
Secrets of Trapping Pieces: Anastasia's Mate
Secrets of Trapping Pieces: Damiano's Mate
Secrets of Trapping Pieces: Lolli's Mate
Secrets of Trapping Pieces: David and Goliath Mate
Secrets of Trapping Pieces: Smothered Mate
Secrets of Trapping Pieces: Greco's Mate
Secrets of Trapping Pieces: Lawnmower Mate
Secrets of Trapping Pieces: Hook Mate
Secrets of Trapping Pieces: Double Knights Mate
Secrets of Trapping Pieces: Triangle Mate
Secrets of Trapping Pieces: Kill Box Mate
Secrets of Trapping Pieces: Opera Mate
