Delivering Checkmate With A Pawn

Can the lowly pawn deliver a checkmate? Has it ever happened in a top game involving grandmasters? Surprisingly, this way of delivering checkmate is not impossible, but it is rare. Several amazing games—historic as well as contemporary—illustrate how this can happen. Here is what you should know:

• Historic ‘Polish Immortal’ Game: Najdorf Delivers Checkmate With A Pawn
• Games In 2025 With Checkmate Delivered By A Pawn

• Can A Pawn Deliver Checkmate By Itself?
• How Else Can A Pawn Be Involved In A Checkmate?
• Is It Possible To Deliver Checkmate With A Pawn?

Historic ‘Polish Immortal’ Game: Najdorf Delivers Checkmate With A Pawn

GM Miguel Najdorf, a Polish-born Argentinian grandmaster, was one of the original 27 to receive the grandmaster title in 1950 from the International Chess Federation (FIDE). An eight-time champion of Argentina, he is well-known for his variation of the Sicilian Defense with its key move 5...a6. Perhaps almost lost to contemporary players is his win almost a century ago by advancing a pawn to deliver checkmate.

In the game known as “The Polish Immortal,” Najdorf defeated Glucksberg (only the last name is known) in 1930 in Warsaw, Poland. Najdorf created a rare but fabulous combination to deliver checkmate with a pawn after giving all four minor pieces away to remove defenders around the enemy king.

A game summary with annotations was originally printed in the Warsaw Courier (Kurjer Warszawski) on October 19, 1930. The game also appears in the book Najdorf: Life and Games on page 62 with Najdorf's notes, which include the following comment: “Young players have time enough to achieve results. Combination, attack, and the quest for beauty—these things are the privilege of talented youth.”

He had seen several moves ahead, but I saw one move further.
—Miguel Najdorf about his opponent (in annotation about move 9)

Najdorf also reflected that GM Savielly Tartakower was the first to call “this game the ‘Polish Immortal.’ Oddly enough, although it has travelled the whole world, I have never annotated it before [1975]." [Note: I’m indebted to the blog of Kamalakanta Nieves for Najdorf’s annotations.]

Games In 2025 With Checkmate Delivered By A Pawn

Although this historic game is sufficient for showing how checkmate can be delivered by a pawn, two games played this year are also instructive. Both were played in the same round—perhaps as rare as lightning striking twice in the same location—of the FIDE Grand Swiss Open in September in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. (See the Chess.com tournament report of this round here.)

Erdogmus’s Pawn Delivers Checkmate

The 14-year-old GM Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, currently the world's number-one chess prodigy (no one has been rated higher at the same age), played an impressive game against 18-year-old GM Aditya Mittal.

Erdogmus allowed two white queens on the chessboard before sacrificing his sole queen (with 30 seconds on his clock) for a pawn as he overwhelmed Mittal with a barrage of brilliancies to drive the white king from its castled position to the h5-square before delivering checkmate by a previously unmoved pawn. On Erdogmus’s 42nd move, his g-pawn makes its first—and last—move of the game. About Erdogmus’s play in this game, GM Magnus Carlsen said: “Erdogmus is really, really good at almost unprecedented levels at that age.”

Kosteniuk Wins With Checkmate By A Pawn

As uncommon as a checkmate by a pawn is, it happened again in round four of the FIDE Grand Swiss, this time in the Women’s section. IM Vantika Agrawal’s game against GM Alexandra Kosteniuk should have ended in a draw.

However, when Vantika was down to two seconds on her clock, she blundered by grabbing a piece with her queen that should have been protecting the black king. The positional weakness enabled Kosteniuk to chase the weakened king to the g5-square where checkmate was delivered by Kosteniuk’s h-pawn. Much like in the win by Erdogmus, the first—and last—move of a pawn ended this game.

Can A Pawn Deliver Checkmate By Itself?

No, a pawn requires assistance from its king, or another piece, to trap an opponent’s king. (Otherwise, the pawn would be captured if it moved into an attacking position alone.)

How Else Can A Pawn Be Involved In A Checkmate?

In addition to delivering checkmate by attacking an enemy king that has no legal moves, a pawn can also unblock an attack by another piece against the opposing king. It's checkmate if this discovered attack places the king in check and it has no legal moves.

Is It Possible To Deliver Checkmate With A Pawn?

Now you know unquestionably the answer is yes. As the wins by Najdorf, Erdogmus, and Kosteniuk illustrate, the pawn can be invaluable in delivering checkmate.

Have you delivered a checkmate with a pawn? If you have, post your game in the comments. And remember to be alert that an opponent can deliver a checkmate this way.