https://www.chess.com/game/live/147548876326 I was going for "Killer Knight" and was about to lose my knight (it was pinned to my rook and it was next to the opposing king but I needed the rook to lawnmow the king to the corner where I could mate with the knight) so I wanted to check the king with my queen to get it away from the knight but I accidentally mated the king in the process)
Unintentional Mates
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I wanted that rook so bad! 
Jan 17, 2026
0
#144
https://www.chess.com/game/live/162989827605
This really was unintentional in the truest sense. I was in a bit of a quandary, and had to move quickly.
Feb 1, 2026
0
#145
29 days ago
0
#148
I was thinking if getting the rook, but it turns out it is a mate
29 days ago
0
#149
I was just trying to get my knight out of danger. I don't think either of us realized it was a smothered mate.
29 days ago
0
#150
PrincessChloe42 wrote:
I was just trying to get my knight out of danger. I don't think either of us realized it was a smothered mate.
Black's lack of development got him into that mess. I had one of those same motifs in my archive, It can come up, and while rare, it happens.
I have had so many of these that I am ashamed. Do others among the readers of this thread find the same thing.
It seems to me that what a witty friend once said to a crowd of us "Give a Check. It might be Mate!" has a point.