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Checkmate Patterns and Ideas

Checkmate Patterns and Ideas

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Checkmate in chess is when the king is under attack, and can't move anywhere without being under attack. Whoever is checkmated loses the game. In this blog, we are going to illustrate and instruct the most common, easiest, and most beautiful ideas and patterns to checkmate the King. 

                                                    1. Smothered Mate

                 This checkmate can only be accomplished by the knight. The mate got its name because it is in check by the knight and is incapable of moving due to its own pieces. "It is smothered by its pieces!" as many chess players put it.  Below is a visual of this mate. Note how the pawns and the rook take up the king's escape squares.                                                            

 

                             2. Arabian Checkmate

                       This mate involves a Rook and a Knight. This checkmate is only possible if the enemy king is on h1, h8, a8 or h8. Don't ask me how it got its name. Theorists suggest It got its name because it was possible in Shatranj, and old version of chess from the Middle East. 

                             Note how the f6 and h7 rook cornered the black king to the dangerous h8 corner, and how the f6 knight takes away the g8 escape square, and supports the h7 rook therefore allowing a checkmate. 

                                                               3. Reti's Mate

          This checkmate is named after chess master and famous endgame composer Richard Reti. He is known for this checkmate due to his beautiful 11 move miniature vs Tartakower in which he played Bd8#  to win the game.

                                                               

                                 

                                    4. Legal's Mate 

                      This mate is one of one of the most beautiful in chess, in which white plays the brilliant queen sacrifice 6. Nxe5!! to take advantage of the weak f7 pawn with the following sequence 6. Bxd1?? 7. Bxf7! 7. Ke7 8. Nd5#    

                                                           

                                    

                             5. Back Rank Checkmate

                   This checkmate is when a rook or queen delivers checkmate to the enemy king when the enemy king is on the back rank, or the rank it started on.   

                                                       

                                                6. Anastasias Mate

     This mate occurs when a Knight and king trap the enemy king onto one of the sides of the board, with the knight taking away the escape squares on the second file, with the rook delivering checkmate on the same file as the king. Without black's extra pawn, this checkmate wouldn't be possible. According to wikipedia, "This checkmate gets its name from the Novel Anastasia und das Schachspiel by Johann Jakob Wilhelm Heinse, but the novelist took the chess position from an essay by Giambattista Lolli."

                                             


                                   7. Boden's Mate

               This mate got its name from Samuel Boden, a leading chess player in the 19th century.  He is the first player in history to execute this mate in Schulder vs Boden 1853. This mate involves a King that has queenside castled to c8, and a Bishop on the h2-b8 diagonal taking away c7 and b8, and a bishop on a6 delivering checkmate. 

8. Damiano's Checkmates 
        Pedro Damiano was known as one of the first chess players and for bringing many checkmate ideas to light. We will be taking a look at 2 of his checkmates, his Queen + Bishop Checkmate, and his Queen and pawn mate. 
This checkmating is one of the oldest and most common in modern times. It is commonly used by all chess players in all levels. 
This is another very common checkmate used by many amateurs and masters in tournament play. 
9. Ladder Mate
This is another very common mate used by both patzers and tournament play. It is referred to as the "ladder" due to the rooks movement being similar to climbing up a ladder. It is also sometimes referred to as the "lawnmower mate" 
10. Lolli's Mate
  This is another very common checkmate used by chess players of all levels, especially attacking masters. This mate is named after Italian chess player and theoretician  Giambattista Lolli.
11. Suffocation Mate
This mate got its name due to the dark squared bishop taking away all the black king's escape squares, leaving the g8 king doomed for Ne7#
12. Blind Swine Mate
This mate got its name from chess master David Janowski. He referred to double rooks on the seventh rank as "swine" This mate involves 2 rooks on the seventh, with an enemy king on g8 and rook on f8, the 2 rooks end up on g7 and h7, to take up all the enemy kings flight squares resulting in a checkmate. 
13. Greco's Mate
This is another very common method of checkmating in speed chess, and in tournament play. It involves a bishop taking away the g8 escape square, and a Queen checkmating the king on the file. This mate is named by chess Italian chess player Gioachino Greco.
14. Max Lange's Checkmate
This checkmate involves a Queen and a light squared bishop, taking advantage of weak light squares around the enemy king. Its ideas or similar in Lolli's Mate. This mate is named after German chess player and composer Max Lange.
15. Hook Mate
This mate involves a Rook, Knight, and 1 pawn to limit the enemy's escape in a form of a "hook"
The mate got its name because the resulting checkmate look like a little king in a pirate's hook.
16. Blackburne's Mate
          Although this checkmate is one of the rarest in this list it is also one of the most beautiful. It involves 2 bishops and a knight checkmating a castled king. This mate is named after British chess player Joseph Henry Blackburne, who was one of the top chess players internationally during the 19th century. 


17. Vukovic's Mate
This checkmate involves a knight, rook, supported by a king. It is named after IM Vladimir Vukovic. He mentioned this mate in his classic book "Art of attack in chess" 

18. Cozio's Mate
This mate is also known as "Dovetail mate" to others. It is named after a study published in 1766  by Carlo Cozio, an 18th century Italian chess player and theorist. It involves trapping the black king. 
19. Epaulette Mate
This checkmate involves a king and queen checkmating an enemy king that has 2 pieces on the same rank take away its retreat squares. It is called the "epaulette" due to its appearance being similar epaulette's 
 
20. Anderssen's Mate
This mate is named after German chess master Adolf Anderssen. This mate involves a king, rook, and pawn checkmating an enemy king on the 8th rank. 


                                             21. Balestra's mate 

                       This is a checkmate involving a queen and a bishop checkmating a lone king. It is very similar to the Boden's mate because the queen cuts the off the enemy king from its escape squares allowing the bishop to deliver checkmate. 

                                                                   

                                  

                              This is the end of the blog. I hope you enjoyed and found this blog instructive! I want you to notice how important good coordination between pieces is, If it weren't for 1 piece cutting off or defending a piece, these checkmates wouldn't have been possible. I also apologize for the length of this blog, I'm just a lengthy writer. Anyways, have a nice day. Peace.