Checkmates With Names

8/11/2019 Checkmates With Names

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White wins with 1.Rxd7 Rxd7 2.Rc8+ Rd8 3.Rxd8 mate. Back-rank mates are undoubtedly the most commontype of checkmate to occur in practice. Here's another, more complicated example from a real game (Alekhine

- Freeman 1924).

White wins with 1.Nh6+ Qxh6 2.Rxf8+ Kxf8 3.Qd8 mate.

Smothered Mate

The Smothered Mate is a checkmate by a Knight on a King surrounded by its own pieces. Here is a well

known example from the Caro-Kann opening. After 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Qe2, Black

Checkmates with Names http://www.mark-weeks.com/aboutcom/aa03e24.ht

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must be careful.

If 5...Ngf6, then 6.Nd6 is checkmate. Most smothered mates happen in a corner, where the King is alreadyrestricted by the sides of the board. Here's a simple example.

White wins with 1.Qxh7+ Qxh7 2.Nf7 mate.

A smothered mate pattern which arises frequently is illustrated in the following diagram.


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White forces checkmate with 1.Qe6+ Kh8 2.Nf7+ Kg8 3.Nh6+ Kh8 4.Qg8+ Rxg8 5.Nf7 mate. The sequence ofWhite's 3rd, 4th, and 5th moves is in every good player's arsenal of tactical tricks.

Arabian Mate

Another corner mate is known as the Arabian Mate.

Black is helpless to prevent 1.Rc7 g5 2.Rh7 mate.

Legal's Mate


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Named after the Frenchman Legall De Kermeur (1702-1792), Legall's Mate(accent on the second syllable ofLegall) is more commonly known as Legal's Mate, where Legalrhymes with beagle. Legall tutored Philidor andis sometimes considered to have been an unofficial world champion before his protg assumed the title.

The mate can follow different variations. Legall's name is taken from his only recorded game, which started1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 d6 3.Nf3 Bg4 4.Nc3 g6...

...and continued 5.Nxe5 Bxd1 6.Bxf7+ Ke7 7.Nd5 mate. White's 5th, 6th, and 7th moves are typical of themany similar variations.

Epaulet Mate

The Epaulet Mate (also known as the Epaulette Mate) is a mating pattern where the King is hemmed in by itsown Rooks. Here's an example.


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White wins with 1.Rf8+ Qxf8 2.Rxf8+ Rxf8 3.Qxg6 mate. The unfortunate Rooks reminded someone ofmilitary epaulets and the name stuck.

Pedestal Mate

Similar to the Epaulet Mate is the Mat du Guridon(guridon mate), another mating pattern with Frenchorigins. Since guridonmeanspedestal table, let's just call it the Pedestal Mate. Some writers prefer thecolorful term Swallow's Tail Mate.

White wins with 1.Rxf6+ gxf6 2.Qg8+ Ke7 3.Qf7 mate. The Black King's escape squares are again blocked by


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its own pieces.

Boden's Mate

Our last mating pattern, named after Samuel Boden (1826-1882), is a disaster befalling a King castled on theQueenside. Our example is a position which could have happened in a game (Nimzovich - Alekhine 1912)from an early Russian championship.

White won with 1.Qc6+ bxc6 2.Ba6 mate. The White Bishops cooperate to cover all of the Black King's escapesquares.

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Our list of Checkmates with Namesis not exhaustive. The important point is not that they have names, butthat they represent mating patterns which arise frequently in real games. Knowledge of these patterns, plus

many more, comes early on the learning curve of every improving player.


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Checkmates With Names