Checkmate in the middle of the board

Checkmate in the middle of the board

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Back when I was a young and brash (maybe I should just say rude) blitz player, I would often ask weaker opponents on which square of the board they would like to be checkmated. Those who would play along usually said something like e1 if they were playing Black, or a center square like d5. I was reminded of this practice when I played this fun game on chess.com recently.

Now this was a 3 0 Blitz game against an 1850 opponent and we both missed a lot of better moves, but I really like the final position with the Bishop delivering the checkmate while the King is blocked by his own pawn.

Out of curiosity I was searching for a regular game between IMs or GMs with a checkmate at the center of the board, but unfortunately couldn't find one. I guess those games are usually resigned before they get there.

I did however find a very nice study, which ends with a checkmate at c5. Close enough, and as an added bonus it also ends with a Bishop delivering the checkmate. Try to solve it yourself before checking the solution.

If anyone is aware of a regular game with a checkmate in the middle of the board between 2 strong opponents, do let me know in the comments!