Secrets of Trapping Pieces: Opera Mate

The primary purpose of this blog is to allow you to test your skills in applying an Opera 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 diagram an Opera 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 Opera configuration. Why? Because the mere threat of an Opera configuration may be sufficient to compel significant concessions from the opponent. Perhaps sufficient concessions to state that the game is effectively over.  There is one example of that included. And there is also a puzzle in which the Opera configuration results in a draw by repetition. For the querulous, the Opera mate is also known as Mayet's mate, named after the 19th-century player Carl Mayet.

Diagram of the Opera Mate
The diagram below depicts two examples of an Opera mate. A rook delivers checkmate on the back rank while a bishop protects the rook and prevents escape along one or two diagonals. The king's pieces block other flight squares. The Opera mate is very closely related to Morphy's Mate. A rook and bishop are still the protagonists but in Morphy's mate, the bishop delivers mate while the rook covers flight squares.

And sometimes sacrifices are required to establish the proper conditions for an Opera mate.

Let the Puzzles Begin! (all puzzles include extensive notes with insights and alternatives)
Morphy, Paul - Duke Karl II of Brunswick and the French aristocrat Count Isouard de Vauvenargues 02.11.1858
A Night at the Opera! Not to be confused with the 1935 Marx Brothers movie starring Chico, Harpo, and Groucho. Gummo was never in any of their films and Zeppo had left the act before this movie. Perhaps he was tired of his straight-man role?

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. Twenty-two! Think about that! A good reason that he was considered "The Pride and Sorrow of Chess". There are still recorded simul games and odds games until 1869, such as this game in which he removed his b1 knight to start the game.

The German Duke Karl II of Brunswick and the French aristocrat Count Isouard de Vauvenargues were strong amateur players. Clearly not strong enough if they needed the advantage of a minor piece to start the game and still lost. The Duke was born in 1804. At age eleven he assumed rule of the Duchy of Brunswick, lasting in that role until 1830 when he was forced to flee from an enraged mob and his palace was destroyed. It had to be a bitter moment when his brother, William, was joyfully welcomed to the throne shortly thereafter. Karl spent most of his remaining years, until 1873, alternating between Paris and London. As for the count, one source indicated he played a number of games against Morphy but I found no information at the provided link. So it goes.

What move should you play to secure victory? And thereby re-create an origin story.

Lessons learned or revisited:
A. Material is frequently found irrelevant when king safety is imperiled. In the final position, Black has the material advantage of an extra queen and knight. All for naught.
B. If you haven't explored this full game, then I recommend you visit KIMPLODES! Explosive Analysis Approach--Break it up, baby! The full game is found after some lengthy introduction to the topic of analysis. Yes, it is one of my blogs. After all, if you enjoy this then you should enjoy that. And if not, well don't click on the link!

Peixoto, Antonio Pedro B Dua - Fernandes, Antonio (2410) POR-ch 1996
Antonio Pedro B Dua Peixoto is a Portuguêse player born in 1969. In 1996 he did not yet have a FIDE rating at the time of this championship. His peak FIDE rating of 2280 was reached later that same year!

Antonio Fernandes is a Portuguêse GM born in 1962. He earned his IM title in 1983 but did not earn the GM title until the late age of 50 or 51 in 2003! Talk about your late bloomers. All IMs stuck on earning norms or reaching 2500 however briefly should take note.

White just played 15. Nc4 attacking the bishop on b6 and opening a line for White's dark-squared bishop. Unfortunately, this dual-purpose move overlooked a dagger to the heart.

Lessons learned or revisited:  
A. Rooks and bishops love open lines.
B. Kings who linger in the center are prone to misfortune.

Varga, Zoltan (2540) - Varga, Peter (2420) Budapest FS02 GM 1996
Zoltan Varga is a Hungarian GM born in 1970. He achieved his peak FIDE rating of 2592 in July 2004. His rating currently stands at 2321 and he continues to play actively.

Peter Varga is a Hungarian IM born in 1970. He achieved his peak FIDE rating of 2515 in 2001. His rating currently stands at 2358 and he continues to play actively. I have no idea how he is related to Zoltan as none of the links I explored gave an answer one way or the other.

Black appears to be holding on by their fingernails, matching White's threat to capture on b8 with a countering threat to capture on e7. How did White expose Black's bomblet as a dud?

Lessons learned or revisited:
A. White had an advantageous ratio of attackers to defenders. Why do I say that? Because Black's knight, bishop, and e6-rook were not assisting, one could argue that White had three attackers coordinating against a lone defender, the black rook on a7.
B. Anytime an attacker has rooks on or near the back ranks the defender must be concerned. Here, mere concern was insufficient to save the day.

Ľubomír Ftáčnik (2553) - Vallejo Pons, Francisco (2679) Bundesliga 0708, 2007.12.09
Ľubomír Ftáčnik is a Slovakian GM. He was born in Czechoslovakia in 1957 and won the national championship four times. His peak rating of 2618 was reached in January 2001 while his peak world ranking was #15 in July 1984. I know him primarily from his wonderful analyses in ChessBase. In 2004 he co-authored Winning the Won Game with Danny Kopec in 2004, a topic that does not receive enough attention. He remains active and plays league chess in the German Bundesliga.

Francisco Vallejo Pons is a Spanish GM born in 1981. His peak rating was 2724 in July 2011, and he still sports a 2657 rating, good enough to rank #75 in the world. In January 2005 he peaked as the #18 player in the world. He has won the Spanish CC five times but reduced his devotions to the royal game in 2012 after losing to Karjakin in the penultimate round of the 2012 Bilbao Chess Masters Final. Vallejo Pons finished the tournament with a dismal, for him, 2649 performance rating. Vallejo Pons has played in several high-level events since his announced "retirement" in 2012.

How does White polish off their higher-rated opponent?

Lessons learned or revisited:
A. Mate is mate. The fact it is called an Opera mate if the king goes to f8 and a back-rank mate if the king goes to h8 is largely irrelevant. Go ahead. Call me a heretic.
B. Double check always means the enemy must move or topple their king. Well, unless it's double check and mate.

Schulten, John - Horwitz, Bernhard, London Casual Games 1846
John Schulten was born in 1821. A German and American master, he played against many of the leading lights including Adolf Anderssen, Daniel Harrwitz, Lionel Kieseritzky, Paul Morphy, and Johannes Zukertort...losing to most of them! He does have several opening variations named after him including the Schulten Defense to the Evans Gambit.

Bernhard Horwitz was born in 1807. A German and British chess master, chess writer, and chess composer he lost matches to Lionel Kieseritzky and Howard Staunton but won a match against Henry Bird. Notably, he played in the first international chess tournament, London 1851.

White would love to trade queens. Should Black capture on d5 and allow White to achieve their fondest dream?

Lessons learned or revisited:
A. If your opponent seems to want to trade queens, always ask yourself why they think that's a good idea?
B. Double check proves fatal again.

Riemann, Fritz - Anderssen, Adolf, Casuals 1876
Fritz Riemann was born in Prussia in 1859 and was a chess pupil of Adolf Anderssen. Riemann should not be confused with the German psychologist and astrologer of the same name! He did manage to share first in Leipzig 1988 with Curt von Bardeleben but most of his tournament results found him in the middle of the pack or lower.

Adolf Anderssen was a German chess master born in 1818. He was considered the world's leading chess player from 1851 to 1858, when he lost a match to 1858 to Paul Morphy. Known best for his phenomenal sacrifices, he is immortalized by his play in the 1851 Immortal Game and the 1852 Evergreen Game. Idiosyncratically, he is also known for the opening named after him 1. a3.

White just played 12. Bxf7 intending to win an Exchange with the fork. How did Anderssen respond?

Lessons learned or revisited:
A. When both kings linger in the center it is often a case of "who can bring the mostest the fastest!"
B. Always look for sacrifices on f3. The same consideration applies to f6, c3, and c6. All too often serving as dismal parking spots for knights unexpectedly greeting their disappointing doom.

Marshall, Frank - Rabinovich, Ilya Baden-Baden International 1925.04.16
Frank Marshall was the U.S. CC from 1909 - 1936, a record length of time with an asterisk. The asterisk is that no tournaments or matches were held for that crown in those years. Marshall is well known for his brilliant tactics. Born in 1877 he won the 1904 Cambridge Springs International Chess Congress, placing ahead of Lasker. Three years later he played a match for the World CC against Lasker, but his overwhelming defeat (0W-7D-8L) indicated that Marshall's tactical skills simply were not enough to overcome the more complete reigning champion. In 1909 he was similarly crushed by the young Capablanca.

Ilya Rabinovich was a Russian and then Soviet chess player and considered among the elite in his country from 1910 - 1940. His best result was shared first in the 1934-35 Soviet CC. As a writer his most notable contribution is considered his treatise The Russian Endgame Handbook, published in 1927.

Black has three defenders eyeballing various squares around His Majesty. In addition, Black has an immediate threat to capture on h8. And Black is preparing to play a move such as 30...Nd4 or 30...Nd8 to open the long diagonal for the b7 bishop.

How did Marshall dismantle the defense? Should White trade queens?

Lessons learned or revisited:
A. Axiom: Pin to win! The queen on h8 served admirably in piercing the heart and soul of Black's defense, the queen on g8.
B. Principle: Deflect the defender! The bishop sacrifice on g7 pulled the rook from its primary duty as neither the black king nor queen could move from their final resting places.
C. Theorem: Material don't matter when the enemy king can be hunted down like a vicious, rabid animal. This theorem should not be considered an endorsement of the writings of an unnamed South Dakota governor.

Najdorf, Miguel - Gliksberg, Lodz 1929
Miguel Najdorf was a Polish-Argentine GM born in 1910. He is perhaps best remembered for the opening maned after him, the Najdorf Sicilian. There is much more he should be remembered for. In 1930 he crafted a game known as The Polish Immortal in a casual game versus B. Gluecksberg. If you haven't played through that game, I can highly recommend it. That talent led him to be recognized as one of the world's top players from the late 1930s until the 1950s. And FIDE named him on the inaugural list of International Grandmasters. Najdorf remained active and formidable in chess until the end of his life. Finally, Najdorf held the world record for the largest blindfold simul for multiple decades, only challenged by himself as he increased the number of games played.

Gliksberg...hmm. This is the only game I found that mentions him. Is Gliksberg the 1929 equivalent to NN? Nope, clearly not. NN shows up far more frequently in the databases.

Even a rook down White's initiative is so great, and the black king so unsafe, that White retains adequate compensation. That means it is quite difficult to defend the position. But Black just played 15...Bf8?? An instance where rushing a defender to the King's side was a fatal mistake.

Lessons learned or revisited:
A. White's access to open lines and Black's disheveled kingside pawn structure made the king's demise highly likely.
B. Another queen sacrifice to achieve a mate. What a lucky day to see so many queen sacs in such a short span!

Labatt, Leon - Capablanca, Jose Raul, New Orleans casual 1915.04.03
Leon Labatt had a lifetime winning record against Capablanca! Of course, most of those were casual games, simuls, or consultation games where Labatt had a partner. But don't assume too much from that. Labatt was good enough to beat Frank Marshall in the 1913 New Orleans tournament. Labatt also played Lasker three times in simuls, but only managed one draw against two losses. The first game I found for Labatt was an exhibition loss to Zukertort in 1883.

Jose Raul Capablanca. The third World CC was a child prodigy who became renowned for his exceptional endgame skill. I've played through any number of games where Capa traded queens early on the Black side of a Caro-Kann and went on to win. He also authored several books including Chess Fundamentals, a book that a friend of mine and I have passed back and forth over several decades with increasingly dense notes we have added over time.

Black is about to queen on d1. White has only one winning move. Play strong moves and the responses of a past world champion will steer you toward thrashing him resoundingly with Morphy's mate.

Lessons learned or revisited:
A. Connected passers close to queening do not always win. They were being held in check by a bishop coordinating with a pair of rooks.
B. That said, White could have gone wrong and snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
C. Even a future world champion can misevaluate the potency of a pair of passed pawns.

Aronian, Levon (2784) - Kovalev, Vladislav (2546) Wch Rapid 2015.10.10
Levon Aronian is an Armenian-American GM born in 1982. His peak rating was 2830 in March 2014 when he was the second-best player in the world. His current rating is still a phenomenal 2729, placing him #22 in the world. He has secured world championship titles in Chess960, in 2006 and 2007, and in blitz chess in 2010. And he has a great, sly sense of humor.

Vladislav Kovalev is a Belarusian GM born in 1994 who currently plays under the FIDE flag. His peak rating was 2703 in February 2019 which placed him #40 in the world. He won the Belarusian Chess Championship in 2016. His current rating has slipped to 2559, a rating most of us can only dream about.

In this game, White spotted a tactic. But on the second move of this puzzle, they missed a faster kill. Will you see it?

Lessons learned or revisited:
A. Black was doomed by light square and back rank weaknesses. But spotting those deficits was beyond a super-GM and former world #2 in a rapid game.
B. Once again we witness a queen sacrificing herself to draw the opposing king into a fatal embrace.
C. White's rooks fully embraced the value of activity along open files.

Asauskas, Henrikas (2358) - Malisauskas, Vidmantas (2525) LTU-ch 2004.04.23
Henrikas Asauskas is a Lithuanian FM born in 1982. His peak rating was 2384 in July 2002. His rapid rating declined precipitously over the last three years, but his standard rating still hovers near 2300.

Vidmantas Malisauskas is a Lithuanian GM born in 1963. His peak rating was 2570 in January 1993, the same year he earned the GM title. He has won the Lithuanian CC six times. He still plays actively but his standard rating has slowly declined to a low of 2296 as of April 2024.

Black would have been fine had they chosen to "un"-develop by playing 18...Rh8. Instead, Black fell for the old spouse's tale of "develop your pieces and connect your Rooks", so they played 18...Bb7?? Turns out some tales need to be retired...or at least considered in the proper context. Or perhaps Black's bishop just wanted to stare at the white queen on f3 and threaten a future ...d4, forking White's minor pieces.

Lessons learned or revisited:
A. Open lines! Even if it requires a queen sacrifice! White needed to bring the bishop into the game stat.
B. Be aware of all your opponent's defensive tries. Before sacrificing the queen on f6 White had to be aware of, and able to prevent, Black's idea of using the queen to capture the e-pawn with check and then play ...Qh5 to block the h-file.
C, White's doubled f-pawns were critical!! The f6 pawn trapped Black's f-pawn in place, eliminating f7 as a possible exit point for the king. The f6 pawn also allowed the dark-squared bishop to squat on g7. Finally, the f2 pawn was able to advance to f4, protecting the vital pawn on e5.

Velimirovic, Dragoljub - Taimanov, Mark, Vinkovci 1970.10.10
Dragoljub Velimirovic was a Serbian (formerly Yugoslav) GM born in 1942 who passed away a decade ago in 2014. He won the Yugoslav CC three times, twice as the outright champion. Though he participated in three Interzonals he never qualified for the Candidates. I remember his games for their singular attacking style. His peak FIDE rating was 2575 in January 1986.

Mark Taimanov was a Soviet and Russian GM who was among the world's top players for over twenty years. The first time I heard his name was when he lost a Candidates match to Bobby Fischer by the unhinged score of 6-0 in favor of the soon-to-be World Champion. There are several opening variations named after Taimanov. His peak rating was 2600 in July 1971 at which time he was the #15 player in the world. In 1956 he won the USSR CC. In an interesting side note, he was also a world-class concert pianist.

WARNING! In this mind-bending problem, you will use Morphy's configuration to craft a draw. If you find this problem easy, then you are capable of playing GMs.

Lessons learned or revisited:
A. Sometimes recognition of a configuration can serve more subtle purposes than delivering mate or winning material. Occasionally a configuration procures a draw, the "saving grace" if you will.
B. Sorry, no queen sacs here.
C. Tricky folks, these GMs. Until I saw this game I would never have thought much about 20. Bf7. It just does not seem active. And thereby shows that activity can be subtle. That activity was worth a full exchange in this case.

Maczuski, Ladislav - Kolisch, Ignaz, Match Kolisch-Maczuski +2-2=0, March 1864
Ladislav Maczuski was born in 1837 and died in 1898. The two games I found for him were in 1863 and 1864. Apparently the other three games he played against Kolisch in this match did not make it into the database.

Baron Ignaz Kolisch was born in 1837 and played quite actively from 1857 until 1872. By the 1870s he had made a fortune in banking and became a sponsor of tournaments in the 1870s and 1880s. A very strong player he barely lost a match to Anderssen in 1861 by the score of 5-4 and drew a match with Louis Paulsen that same year. He also won the 1867 Paris tournament, beating Steinitz along the way. Apparently, he was well known for his lively attacking style. Based on this puzzle, I can believe that.

On their last move, Black could have captured on c3 and faced White with a dilemma that might have overtaxed them. That said, it required precise play on both sides and Black may not have been up to the task either. So, they chose a "simpler" path but one with an unforeseen, crashing pitfall. Instead of capturing on c3, Black moved their queen off the e-file to deliver what they surely thought was a useful intermezzo check from the g5 square. From that square the queen protected the g-pawn and gained time to get Black's king and queen off the open e-file.

Tragically for Black, they overlooked White's response. After White's next two moves, Black found an even more wayward path. Can you replicate the refutation of Black's cheeky check?

Lessons learned or reviewed:
A. A king in the center can turn the assessment of a game upside down with a single slip. Black needed to destroy White's bishop and queen battery by capturing on c3. But some complexities in that line may have confounded them.
B. Another one bites the dust! Attraction to a beguiling woman has done in more than one royal. And you've seen a series of such fatal attractions in this blog.

Related blogs: You can find an entire series of blogs about trapping various pieces at: 
Knight

Bishop

Rook

King

Miscellaneous

Secrets of Trapping Pieces: A Beautiful Loss
Secrets of Trapping Pieces: Said the Spider to the Fly
Secrets of Trapping Pieces: My Experience Writing a Chess Book