CHECKMATE PATTERNS
A checkmate pattern is a pattern of checkmate that occurs fairly frequently in chess.
Anastasia’s Mate Anderssen's mate
In Anastasia's mate, a knight and rook team up Anderssen's mate (named for Adolf Anderssen), the rook
to trap the opposing king between the side of the is supported by a diagonally-attacking piece such as a pawn
board on one side and a friendly piece on the other. or bishop as it checkmates the opposing king along the eighth rank.
Arabian mate Back-rank mate
The knight and the rook team up to trap the opposing king The back-rank mate occurs when a rook or queen
on a corner of the board. The rook sits on a square adjacent checkmates a king that is blocked in by friendly pieces
to the king both to prevent escape along the diagonal and to (usually pawns) on his first rank.
deliver checkmate while the knight sits two squares away diagonally
from the king to prevent escape on the other two squares and to protect the rook.
1
Blackburne's mate Boden's mate
Blackburne's mate is named for Joseph Henry Blackburne In Boden's mate two attacking bishops on criss-crossing
and is a rare method of checkmating. The checkmate utilizes diagonals deliver mate to a king obstructed by friendly
the black rook (it could be a bishop or queen instead) to confine pieces, usually a rook and a pawn.
the black king's escape to the f8 square. One of the bishops
confines the black king's movement by operating at a distance,
while the knight and the other bishop operate within close range.
Threatening Blackburne's mate can be used to weaken Black's position.
Corner mate Cozio's mate
The Corner mate is a common method of checkmating. Cozio's mate is a common method of checkmating. The
It works by confining the king to the corner using a rook or checkmate is an upside down version of the Dovetail mate.
queen and using a knight to engage the checkmate. It was named after a study conducted in 1766 by
Carlo Cozio.
2
Damiano's bishop mate Damiano's mate
Damiano's bishop mate is a classic method of checkmating. Damiano's mate is a classic method of checkmating and
The checkmate utilizes a queen and bishop, where the bishop one of the oldest. It works by confining the king with a is
used to support the queen and the queen is used to engage pawn and using a queen to initiate the final blow.
the checkmate. The checkmate is named after Pedro Damiano
David and Goliath mate Dovetail mate
The David and Goliath mate is a common method of The Dovetail mate is a common method of checkmating.
checkmating. Although the David and Goliath mate can take It involves trapping the black king in a pattern shown to the
many forms, it is characterized generally as a mate in which a pawn right. It does not matter how the queen is supported and it
is the final attacking piece and where enemy pawns are nearby. does not matter which type Black's other two pieces are so
long as neither is a knight.
3
Epaulette mate Greco's mate
Epaulette mate is, in its broadest definition, a checkmate where The checkmate is named after the famous Italian two
parallel retreat squares for a checked king are occupied by checkmate cataloguer Gioachino Greco. It works by his
own pieces, preventing his escape.The most common Epaulette using the bishop to contain the black king by use of the
mate involves the king on his back rank, trapped between two rooks. black g-pawn and subsequently using the queen or a rook
to checkmate the king by moving it to the edge of the board.
Hook mate Lolli's mate
The Hook mate involves the use of a white rook, knight, and pawn Lolli's mate is a common method of checkmating. The
along with one black pawn to limit the black king's escape. The rook checkmate involves infiltrating Black's fianchetto position
is protected by the knight and the knight is protected by the pawn. using both a pawn and queen. The queen often gets tothe
h6 square by means of sacrifices on the h-file. It is named
after Giambattista Lolli
4
Morphy's mate Réti's mate
Morphy's mate is a common method of checkmating. The checkmate is named after Richard Réti, who delivered it in an
It was named after Paul Morphy. It works by using the 11-move game in 1910 in Vienna. It works by trapping the enemy
bishop to attack the black king and a rook and Black's king with four of its own pieces that are situated on flight squares
own pawn to confine it. and then attacking it with a bishop that is protected by a rook or queen.
Smothered mate Swallow's tail mate
It occurs when a knight checkmates a king that is smothered It works by attacking the enemy king with a queen that is
(surrounded) by his friendly pieces and he has nowhere to move protected by a rook or other piece. The enemy king's own
nor is there any way to capture the knight pieces (in this example, rooks) block its means of escape.
5
solution
Black to play
White to play
6
White to play
White to play
7
Black to play
White to play
8
White to play
Black to play
9
White to play
White to play
10
White to play
White to play
11
Black to play
White to play
12
White to play
White to play
13
White to play
White to play
14
White to play
Black to play
15
White to play
White to play and mate in
4 moves
16
MATE IN 2 MOVES
+- 1 +- 2
+- 3 +- 4
17
MATE IN 3 MOVES
+- 1 +- 2
+- 3 +- 4
18
MATE IN 4 MOVES
+- 1 +- 2
+- 3 +- 4
19
