Newsletter Issue #33

Tactics Time

Anastasia's Mate

A weak enemy in the fortress is more fearsome than the strongest outside. - Johann Jakob Wilhelm Heinse


M

any checkmate patterns have their own names, just as openings and tactical patterns have their own names.

In the position on the right it is Black to move.

Answer below.

The solution to this problem is an example of "Anastasia's Mate". According to Wikipedia the checkmate got its name from the novel Anastasia und das Schachspiel (English: Anastasia and the game of chess) by Johann Jakob Wilhelm Heinse, who wrote the quote above.

There is a very brief Wikipedia entry for the Anastasia checkmate pattern, which has several other useful checkmating pattern's on the same page.

Ward Farnsworth also has an excellent section on Anastasia's Mate on his Predator at the Chessboard site (which I HIGHLY recommend).

Here is the complete game:

[Event "Open invite"]
[Site ""]
[Date "2008.05.27"]
[White "foomip"]
[Black "Scobie"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C02"]
[WhiteElo "1576"]
[BlackElo "1461"]
[PlyCount "60"]

1. e4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. d4 cxd4 6. cxd4 Nge7 7. a3 Nf5 8. Bb5
Bd7 9. Bxc6 Bxc6 10. O-O g6 11. Nc3 Bg7 12. Bg5 Qb6 13. Rb1 O-O 14. Bf6 Bxf6
15. exf6 Rfe8 16. Ne5 Nxd4 17. Nxc6 Nxc6 18. Na4 Qd8 19. Nc5 b6 20. Nd3 Qxf6
21. Rc1 Rac8 22. Qa4 Nd4 23. Rxc8 Rxc8 24. Qxa7 Qf5 25. Qa6 Rc6 26. Nb4 Rc4 27.
Qxb6 Ne2+ 28. Kh1 Qf4 29. Nd3 Qxh2+ 30. Kxh2 Rh4# 0-1