More Examples: Balestra Mate Blackburne’s Mateīlackburne’s Mate involves two bishops and a knight against a castled king:ĭiagram above: 1.Bh7# demonstrates the typical coordination between two bishops and a knight that resembles Blackburne’s Mate. An important observation here is that the case of Balestra Mate, the bishop MUST be the checking piece if the queen has the task to block all escape squares (without the help of the opponent’s own pieces). It appears that the name “Balestra Mate” (performed by a queen and bishop) was first used as a tag on –in order to distinguish it from Boden’s Mate (which involves two bishops). The Balestra Mate is a checkmate pattern that demonstrates optimal coordination between a queen and bishop:ĭiagram above: 1.Bc6# shows how the white bishop and queen coordinate perfectly to checkmate the black king on the side of the board. More Examples: Back Rank Mate Balestra Mate This proves that your own pieces can sometimes work against you! The Back Rank Mate happens when a king is trapped behind its own pawn shield and gets mated by a rook or queen:ĭiagram above: White plays 1.Rd8# The black king is trapped on the back rank, behind his own pawn shield, hence the name “Back Rank Mate”. More Examples: A rabian Mate Back Rank Mate This demonstration of the knight’s unique abilities is the main feature of the Arabian Mate. The Arabian Mate is a checkmate pattern that features the unique abilities of a knight (horse) with the help of a rook:ĭiagram above: 1.Rh7# Note how the white knight defends the rook on h7 and at the same time covers the escape square, g8. More Examples: Anderssen’s Mate Arabian Mate A particular feature of this position is that white’s pawn is defended by his king. The pattern is named after Adolf Anderssen, a German chess master from the 19th century:ĭiagram above: 2.Rh8# White concludes the game with the Anderssen Mate. The pawn is then also defended by another piece or pawn. More Examples: Anastasia’s Mate Anderssen’s MateĪnderssen’s Mate is a checkmate pattern that features a rook supported by a pawn as it checkmates the opposing king along the eighth rank from the corner. Note how white’s knight is perfectly placed to cover the escape squares. The first checkmate pattern in the list illustrates Anastasia’s Mate:ĭiagram above: 1.Rh3# checkmates the black king against the side of the board. How Famous Checkmate Patterns Got Their Names.List of Checkmate Patternsįor easy reference the checkmate patterns are listed in alphabetical order: On this page you will find examples of 36 common checkmate patterns. You can further improve your chess tactics skill by studying all the different checkmates that commonly occur in chess games. There are many possible attacking ideas and threats that take place surrounding those two critical points.A checkmate pattern is a particular and recognizable arrangement of the pieces that deliver the checkmate. This advantage can be material, like winning a piece, or even an attack that results in checkmate! Richard Teichmann's famous quote that "Chess is 99% tactics" may not be exactly true, but this sentiment shows the importance of chess tactics.Ī tactic or threat that involves the targeting of the opponent's "weakest square." Often f7 and f2 are referred to as the weakest squares on a chessboard because they are protected only by the king at the start, so often these tactics would occur somewhere in the opening to early middlegame stages. Understanding these motifs will help you recognize tactical patterns - both in Trainer, and in your actual games!Ĭhess tactics are discussed often, but what is a chess tactic? There are many ways to describe chess tactics, but perhaps the simplest is to say that a chess tactic is a move (or series of moves) that brings an advantage to a player. Tags allow us to label each puzzle in Tactics Trainer with one or more tactical motifs ( types of tactics) commonly encountered in chess.
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