Checkmate Patterns - Anastasia Mate

One of my favourite checkmate patterns is this one,the one called Anastasia Mate.

In it, a knight and a rook team up to trap the opposing king between the side of the board on one side and a friendly piece on the other. Often, the queen is first sacrificed along the a-file or h-file to achieve the position. This checkmate got its name from the novel Anastasia und das Schachspiel by Johann Jakob Wilhelm Heinse.

Very often this mate is achieved via a Queen sacrifice. To demonstrate how it's best to look at the next example. In databases you will see several games such as this one:

I was one of those victims of a similar game in an online blitz game before the turn of the millennium! I played 12...d6?? and after 13.Qxh7+ I realized what was happening!

The World Champion once used this pattern in a World Junior championship vs his compatriot Jon Ludvig Hammer

Lasker once executed this mate nicely. Black just played ...Nc5 forking the Queen and the Rook.

The deceptive rook move to a4 was precisely to set up the pattern. Black didn't realize and took the bait and opened the door for Lasker to finish this simul game with 29.Ne7+ Kh8 30.Qxh7!! and mate follows.

In the game, black played kingside castles. How should white continue?

Finishing for white should be easy at this point!

In the next one, white just played the horrible blunder, Bxg7??

I've had this pattern secure a lot of sweet points in my chess career, including this game. The situation is slightly different though as we need some extra layers. How does white finish the job in this one, go ahead and solve it!

I have a video on this checkmate pattern along with several other checkmate patterns on my YT channel, if you want to see different examples of this mate and video explanation then check it out here:

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