Smothered Checkmate Patterns
Smothered checkmates are perhaps the most beautiful ways to finish a game. In this post, I will explain the basic strategy concerning these checkmates.
A smothered checkmate is a type of mate where the knight delivers mate and the king is surrounded by it's own pieces.
There are many ways to get to a smothered checkmate, but the most common involves sacrificing the queen.
In the example, White's queen moves right next to the black king to deliver check and after the rook takes, the knight delivers the smothered checkmate.
Often, a smothered mate combination takes more than just two moves to execute. Can you find the mate below?
As you could see in that puzzle, a smothered mate often involves many discovered checks and double checks. This type of combination takes some time to master, but it is worth it.
Example Game:
Here is an example game containing a smothered checkmate:
Smothered Checkmate Traps
It feels so good to trap your opponent in the opening, especially when the game ends in a smothered checkmate. Here are three traps you should know:
- Budapest gambit: In this lethal trap, the queen is smothered (!) so white must take with the pawn. Then, black delivers the final blow, a mate in 2.
- Blackburne-Shilling Gambit
In this trap, black sacrifices a pawn and goes on the attack. On move 7, black interposes his bishop so that he doesn't lose his queen, and then white does a smothered mate.
- Caro-Kann defense
In this trap, black doesn't play very well. He allows his king to be smothered.
