Checkmates: Rook and Knight Mates
From Winning Chess Combinations:
The most common Rook and Knight mate, also called the Arabian Mate, is shown below. White's Knight has taken roost on the most attractive f6 square and the Rook has conquered the 7th rank. This is a skeletal set up. 1...Kh8 2.Rh7# is the standard finish, most often because the f8-square is occupied by a Black piece or covered by a White piece.
In the case where Black can move his King to f8, White can get a perpetual check going for a draw. Here's an example where that could be desirable for White:
Here's a similar situation where the King is mated from the 8th rank:
Below we have a completely different form of coordination between the Knight and Rook. This is known as the Anastasia mate. This time, White's Knight is denied the ideal f6-square, but thanks to the blocking f8-rook and open h-file, White has this checkmating coup:
Here's a much messier version:
Here we have a very interesting Knight and Rook mate from an unlisted game:
And here's a full game that was listed:
From a video by FM Ingvar Johannesson called "Intermediate Checkmates" pt. 1
Variation of Closed Ruy Lopez leading to Anastasia mate:
and...
a game between Hammer & Carlsen, 2003:
Another game of two GMs:
a King's Gambit game, cool (from 2 more GMs, I think):
Johannesson's final example, from a Blitz game of 2 Gms:
