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Table of Contents:

• Introduction
• Lesson 1: Mate at the Edge of the Board
  • The Back Rank Mate
  • Variations on the Back Rank Theme
  • Other Mates at the Edge
    • Queen vs. King at the Edge
    • Other Pieces vs. King at the Edge
  • A Few Thoughts
• Lesson 2: Mate in Middle of the Board
• Lesson 3: Mate in the Corner
• Lesson 4: Forcing Mate
• Conclusion

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Mortal Blow:

An Introduction to the Art and Science of Checkmate

 

by Joe Iannandrea

 

 

Introduction

Here is a situation that happens time and again in games between newer players – one side gains an overwhelming material advantage only to wind up endlessly chasing the opposing king around the board. The player who is winning, or at least should be winning, struggles to corner the opponent only to allow them repeatedly slip through the cracks until the game ends in some kind of draw.

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You will find plenty of instructional material for beginners out there with advice on playing sensible opening moves, building a strong position and finding ways to win the other guy's pieces while avoiding losing your own. In short they are aimed at helping you get the upper hand during the game. These are great, indispensable in fact if you plan to continue developing into a strong player. However getting the upper hand is of little use if you can't win the game even with a large advantage.

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Winning the game boils down to one thing- checkmate. In games between stronger players one side may resign once their opponent builds a big enough advantage without ever playing to checkmate, but that is only because they know the player they are up against knows how to bring it on. Until you reach this level yourself however you'll have to prove you can deliver checkmate by doing it. Learning how to gain an advantage is fine but you have to know how to finish the job.

There is a certain science to checkmate (or more simply just "mate"). Once you learn it you'll know what conditions must exist for you to deliver checkmate. You don't have to invent a new method of checkmate every time you play. As with many things in chess there patterns that occur again and again. By learning to easily recognize these you will not only find it easier to drive home an advantage you have built up but also spot opportunities your opponent may have left open for you. Just as importantly, perhaps more importantly, you'll learn to spot potential danger that might leave you open to a sudden checkmate attack. There are few things in chess as bad as struggling to build a superior position only to lose suddenly because you left the other guy a chance to checkmate you.

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To get a better understanding of these patterns let's have a close look at what has to happen for the king to be checkmated. First of course, the king must be in check, which again means an enemy piece is in a position to capture the king on the next move if nothing is done about it. There are three potential ways to get out of check – capture the piece that is attacking the king, block the attack with another piece or move the king to a square where he is not attacked. If none of these are possible then check is checkmate. In general the ability to capture a the attacking piece or block check usually depend on the specific situation on the board. Checkmate patterns are all about ways that the King can be attacked so that it has no escape square.

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When a pattern occurs in a game it doesn't mean checkmate is possible. If the attack can be blocked or the attacking piece captured the King is still protected. However it is still important to learn to spot patterns however, even if checkmate isn't possible at the moment. For example the square you need to attack from may be guarded by an enemy piece but that situation can change. Of course your opponent may unwittingly move the guarding piece away, especially in beginner level games. You may find that it is possible to force the matter by first capturing the guarding piece. Even if you have to give up a more valuable piece to do this anything you have to give up for checkmate is worth it. (In fact combinations of moves like this that involve sacrificing valuable pieces, especially the Queen, are considered exciting chess and will win the respect of your chess playing peers.)

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To understand where these patterns come from let's start with the King situated in the middle of the board. This is where he has the most freedom to move. Any checkmate pattern involves cutting off all the King's escape routes. When the King is attacked in the middle of the board he can potentially retreat to any of the eight squares that surround it (see figure 1). If we hope to checkmate the King there must be something preventing him from moving to any of those eight squares. There are three things that can be cutting of his escape to any one square. If the piece that is currently attacking the King would still be attacking it on any of these squares he can't move there. If there is another piece covering an escape square (i.e. if the King moved to the square he would then be attacked by a different enemy piece) it is similarly prevented from moving there. Finally any square that is occupied by the Kings only pieces cannot serve as an escape either. Like any other piece in chess the King can't capture it's own pieces, even to save it's life.

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Despite the freedom he has in the middle of the board, in the earlier stages of the game when there are still a lot of attacking pieces on the board, as well as a lot of friendly pieces that might obstruct escape route, a King in the middle of the board is vulnerable. Experienced players know well that it is far safer to tuck their King away as far from the action as possible. This is usually done by castling. The special rules for castling were in fact developed for this exact purpose. But being at the edge of the board involves dangers of it's own. Instead of having eight potential escape squares the King has only five. This is one of two good reasons that players are advised to bring their King towards the center of the board in the later stages of the game when the Queens and most other pieces are off the board. (The other good reason is the King's value as a fighting piece becomes more important). Since Kings typically spend much of their time at the edge of the board and they have fewer escape squares than when they are in the middle of the board, mate patterns at the edge of the board are both the easiest and the most important to learn. There is another factor that makes them even more important – most of the techniques for forcing a King into mate later in the game involve driving it to the edge of the board so that the final blow can be delivered there. For these reasons we'll look at these patterns first.

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Finally, there are a few mating patterns that occur in the corners of the board where the king has only 3 squares to move to. Though there are only four corner squares on the board it's not uncommon for kings to end up on one of them. A short castled king, for example, is only one square from the corner and it's common for them to move into the corner in the course of the game. Of course the patterns that work at the edge of the board apply just as well in the corners, but there are a few special patterns to mate cornered kings. Also, forcing mate when you have the advantage may involve driving the King into a corner instead of just the edge.

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Now let's look at some of the most common checkmate patterns you will encounter...

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Lesson 1: Mate on the Edge of the Board

Checkmate patterns that occur at the edge of the board are probably the most important ones to learn. The reasons for this are fairly simple. The King starts the game at the edge of the board and, usually after castling, typically stays there through much of the game. As the previous diagrams illustrate it is also easier to trap the King at the edge since it has fewer escape squares. Thus, even if the King has wandered into the middle of the board many of the techniques for forcing the King into checkmate involve driving it to the edge.

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Though there are many ways the King may be checkmated at the edge of the board, most are just variations of a few basic patterns. In the following sections then we'll learn to recognize some common patterns, then see how this knowledge can help us recognize patterns that, though they sometimes look quite different are really based on the same idea.

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The Back Rank Mate:
Back rank checkmate is a pattern that occurs frequently in chess, both in its basic form and in its many variations.In it's standard form back rank mate is based on the position of the castled king. Since even beginners learn very soon to castle early in the game, the potential for this pattern to occur is laid down early, usually for both sides. The term back rank mate is often only used when referring to this pattern only when it occurs against the castled King

position and the variations often are given names of their own, often with no reference to their relationship to the general back rank theme. The essence of the back rank mate however occurs in many pattern that occur in other situations and not always along the back rank. It would be a shame if you thought you had to learn something brand new every time you encounter a new variation on something you already know. Learning to become a strong chess player is less about memorization than most people imagine, and more about learning to recognize general patterns in specific situations you may only see once. For this reason I have placed ideas that may be presented on their own elsewhere under the back rank umbrella.

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To illustrate the basis for the back rank mate pattern, consider the typical position of the castled King with 3 pawns ahead of it as shown in figure 3. On the whole these pawns serve as protection for the King. Having them there is part of the reason it was good idea to castle in the first place. The other thing that they do however is prevent the King from moving away from the edge of the board, or the "back rank" as this is the rear of the player's position. In this formation in fact the King has only two squares he can move to as marked by the x's in fig.3. Both of these squares, you will note, are also on the same rank as the King. ("Ranks are the rows of squares running from left to right across the board.) Thus any piece that can move along this rank would, if it found itself on that rank not only be able to attack the King but would cover both escape squares as well. The two types of pieces that can do this are the Rooks and the Queen. Therefore if an attacking Rook or Queen manages to land itself on the back rank and there is no other way to block the check or capture the attacking piece the King will find itself checkmated. You can roll over fig.3 with the mouse to see this illustrated.

 

Right after castling of course the King does have protection. If castling had just taken place the King in figure 3 would have a Rook to it's left that not only bocks attacks on the back rank, but threatens to capture any enemy piece that lands there. The second Rook as well as the Queen can also provide the same protection if they remain on the back rank and their line to the King is unobstructed by other pieces. For this reason you should carefully consider whether your King is and will remain safe before moving these protective pieces further up the board.

 

There is also a second way of making the King safer from the threat of back rank mate, which is to move one of the obstructing pawns forward. By doing this the King has a square to flee to should an attacking Rook or Queen land on the back rank. You mare hear this idea is referred to as giving the King air or "making luft". This can be a good defensive idea, but two words of caution. First the pawns in front of your King also protect it from other kinds of attack. Making too many moves with them can create weaknesses that may allow other kinds of mating attacks. Second, if the escape square you created is covered by an enemy piece, you are still vulnerable to back rank mate. We will consider this possibility shortly when we look at variations on the back rank theme. So while giving the King space like this can be worthwhile and is sometimes critically important it's better to avoid developing the habit of doing this automatically.

 

For now though let's stay with the idea of the castled King behind 3 pawns that are all still on their starting squares so we can look at how it can be attacked by overwhelming the defenses.From a defensive standpoint it is not enough simply to note that there is protection available on the back rank and go on with other plans. In fig. 4 White notes that his back rank is protected by both Rooks. He also notes that his pawn on b3 is attacked by the Black's Queen, but it seems guarded well enough by his Rook alone so the decision is made to attack the Black pawns with 1.Qb7??. Black however has piled up 3 pieces which can attack the back rank on the e1 square. Even though he knows he will loose the Queen in the process he plays 1...Re1+. White of course must respond with 2.Rxe1 to which Black answers 2...Qxe1+. White's delight at winning the Queen with 3. Rxe1 is short lived as Black now has the knockout blow 3...Rxe1 #. Instead of trying to win pawns White could have stayed in the game one of several ways. Protecting the e1 point one more time with 1.Qc3 would mean Black's attack would not have worked. Likewise making luft (as Black has already done earlier in this example) with a move such as 1.h3 would have meant, had Black gone forward with the attack after 3...Rxe1+ White could safely play 4.Kh3 and the fact that he had won the Queen in the exchange would have meant a huge advantage for him. A third way White could have protected his King would have been to play 1.Kf1. It may seem odd to move the King closer to the attack but it should not be forgotten that, while it is wise to protect it with other pieces, your King is no slouch in the self defense department. If Black had foolishly decided to proceed with the attack here it would have ended with the final move 4.Kxe1 and White would happily find himself a whole Queen ahead. In fact had White tried any of these 3 defensive moves Black would have been foolish to proceed with the attack.

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To illustrate a further point, let's imagine that after 1.Qb7 Black also fails to asses the situation properly but instead plays 1...Qxb3, what can we now make of White's notion that this pawn was adequately guarded by the Rook? We can now see that taking the Queen with 2. Rxb3?? would be just as large a mistake as the previous move was. Black could again follow up with 2...Re1+ and White's only escape from 3.Rxe1 Rxe1# is to resign immediately. Instead giving the King a way to escape with a move like 2.g3 would simply leave Black up a pawn and White can hope to play on.

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Variations on the back rank Theme:

Now that we understand how back rank attacks on the castle King can be coordinated and the implications of keeping it inadequately defended let's look at a few other ways the King can become vulnerable to mate on the back rank even if it is no longer imprisoned by it's own pawns. Back rank mate patterns can often look look quite different from the case of the King in the castled position. Variations on the back rank mate theme do not even need to take place along the back rank. They can happen at the side of the board or even at the far end of the board if the King has been chased that far.

 

In the most general form the back rank mate pattern is based on the fact that in order to move away from the edge of the board the King has 3 possible escape squares (or 2 if it is on a corner square.) These squares are the squares marked by the red X's in figure 5. Any time there is something preventing the King from moving to any of these 3 squares it is pinned to that edge. If there is a Rook or Queen that can attack it along that edge the King is vulnerable to the back rank mate pattern, The trick here is that there are many ways for the King to find itself pinned to the edge of the board, and they can look quite different from the first case we looked at where the King was trapped by it's own pawns on all three escape squares. Once you learn to recognize this vulnerability no matter how it happens you'll not only be able to spot chances to finish off your opponent, you'll also be able to see this weakness in your own camp and address it before it's too late.

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It is time, therefore, to state in the most general terms how to identify the back rank pattern:

Whenever a King that

a) is against any edge of the board and

b) is prevented by any combination of factors from immediately moving away from that edge

can be attacked by either a Rook or a Queen along the rank or file it is pinned to, the potential for a back rank style checkmate exists.

Now, I did say potential. You won't be able to mate your opponent every time these conditions arise, not even most times. They may be abe to block the check or the square your Rook or Queen would have to land on may be guarded. However, being alert when the conditions exist, even if you can't take advantage of it right away, can pay dividends. They may neglect to leave it adequately guarded a little later on for example, or you may be able to capture or draw away the guarding piece. Even if there's no real chance to force mate, adept chess tacticians can often use the potential mate to force their opponent to give up material in order to keep the King safe. Now you know some of the advantages of being able to spot when the pattern exists let's have a look at some of the variations on the back rank theme.

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Having seen the most common back rank mate situation in which the King is prevented from moving off the edge of the board by it's own pawns occupying all the escape squares the natural solution is to move one of these pawns. There are times when it's a good idea to create this escape route even before any real threat to the King has started to develop. However, this is no guarantee of immunity from disaster on the back rank. In figure 6 we see that, while Black has tried to provide a safe retreat, White has the square covered with his Bishop. The King is still as vulnerable to mate as if he had not moved the pawn. Here we can see that, had Black moved the g pawn instead the King would be safe here. One of the problems that can occur when you make space for the King early is that it may turn out that you moved the wrong pawn. Of course it is possible to move more than one pawn but this can create other weaknesses. For example, in figure 6 if it had been possible for Black to play the move ...g6 as well as ...h6 before White could play Re8# this situation would not have occurred, but there may have been other problems. For example, the h pawn would have been undefended, which not only might lead to the pawn being lost but could allow other mating attacks if White was able to park a Bishop or Queen on h6.

 

Even if the King is not obstructed by any of it's own pieces however there are still many ways for the back rank pattern to occur. If you look at figure 7 for example there are no pieces in the King's way at all but this is still an example of back rank checkmate. The first Rook gives check which the King cannot escape on any back rank square. The second Rook covers all three of the King's retreat squares on the next rank. Though it appears very different than the castled King position we started with but it is just a variation of the same pattern. You can roll over the image to see exactly how the second Rook covers the same three squares occupied by the King's own pawns in the original example. This is an important pattern to remember for a couple of reasons. The first is that the King can often be forced into a post ion like this with a "Rook Roll" pattern that will be discussed in future lessons. The second is that you can see how powerful the second Rook in this example is because it confines the King to the back rank. Even if it were not possible to bring the other Rook in to deliver checkmate right away Rooks can be very powerful if you can place them in this position (on 7th rank if you are playing as White or 2nd rank if you're playing Black) and you may want to look for a chance to do so if you can. This not only makes it more likely you'll be able to carry out a back rank mate pattern but also may make other mate ideas possible and can also be a good position to attack and win enemy pieces and pawns.

 

In the examples we have seen so far it has always been a Rook that actually carries out the checkmate but of course a Queen can always be substituted for the Rook in a back rank mate and the result is the same. There are a few special back rank mates that can only be carried out by the Queen. This is because, with her added ability to attack along a diagonal the Queen simultaneously cover an escape square that the Rook wouldn't be able to. We see two examples in figure 8. In figure 8a there is no pawn obstructing the King' on the f2 square, however the Queen is still attacking the King if it moves here and so it cannot escape checkmate. Note that if the attack came from a Rook instead of the Queen on the same square escape to the f2 square would still be possible. In figure 8b only the h2 square is blocked by a White pawn but the Queen covers both of the other escape squares on f2 and g2. Since the Bishop on e2 prevents the attacking Queen from simply being captured by the Queen this is again checkmate.You can mouse-over the image for an illustration of how these squares are covered. Again if it were a Rook instead of a Queen attacking on f1 the King would have an escape square on g2.

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Now lets look at a few more ways that checkmate can be carried out using the back rank motif. In figure 9a we see that the White King is in the castled position but has had a pair of potential escape squares created through pawn moves but the Black Knight is covering them both. This is a good example of the kind of havoc a Knight can cause when allowed to take up residence near the enemy King. Normally one would hope to drive a nuisance piece off with pawns. However while pawn moves may have created possible escape squares here, they have moved too far to be of any use defending the King here since we would need one on either f3 or h3 to drive the Knight off. Since pawns cannot move backwards this is no longer possible and so the Knight is able to set up camp on the White King's front lawn. You may hear it said that moving these protective pawns can result in weak squares around the King, and this is certainly an example of that. The result, for White, is disaster.

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In figure 9b we again see some space has been created around the King but it still doesn't save him. The Black Bishop cuts off the g2 square while simultaneously guarding the attacking Rook from being captured by the King. The Rook meanwhile not only gives check but also covers the remaining escape square on h2, making it mate. Amazing teamwork! Also note that, while the Bishop here is close to the King on f3, this square was chosen mainly to make the diagram more compact. It could serve the same function from the far end of the board, on b7 for example, as long as it's path is not obstructed.

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The situation in figure 9c is a little different from the other two examples. It's a situation you're almost certain to encounter in endgame situations. Now if you're not familiar with the phases of the game you may wonder why I refer to this diagram as an endgame situation. These are checkmates after all, so the game has ended in all of them. If you remember in the introduction I mentioned that once most of the pieces have come off the board and the threats have been reduced experienced players will bring their Kings out of their protected positions and into the action. The game takes on a different character at such times and this is referred to as the endgame phase. Not all games get that far however. In figure 9c however we can see that both Kings, which have probably spent the majority of the game at opposite ends of the board, now face each other directly. Notice also that we are no longer at one end of the board or other but along the side. The Black King is pinned there solely by the White King, allowing the Rook to deliver mate using the same back rank pattern that should should be feeling quite familiar with. Looking at this diagram you might be tempted to think that if only the hapless Black King had been paying attention he would never have allowed the allowed the White King to sneak up and pin him down like that. In fact, if we assume these are the only 3 pieces on the board this mate (or a variant if the King flees to a corner) can be forced by any player who knows the trick of mating with a King and Rook against a lone King no matter how tricky their opponent was. Remember this position, you'll be seeing it again.

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As we've seen the back rank mate pattern has many faces and may be seen at nearly any phase of the game. The theme appears regularly in real games at all levels from beginner to grandmaster (it would be very rare for anyone to get checkmated on the back rank when grandmasters play each other, but forcing the other side to defend against the threat can be enough to gain a winning advantage somewhere else on the board.) The situations you encounter in your games may differ in the details from any of the examples presented here but it's the idea that's important. Remember, you will probably see some of the variations on the back rank theme shown elsewhere under different names, often with no connection drawn to the back rank theme. For example, you may see the mate shown in figure 7 labeled simply as mate with two Rooks. There is also a pattern called "Anastasia's Mate" that is essentially figure 9a turned on it's side. It's fine to learn these patterns in other contexts and refer to them by other names. There are often good reasons for including certain variations in other categories as well. My hope though is that whenever you do encounter a variation on the back rank theme, even ones we haven't touched on here, you'll recognize it as just that. It is easier to deal with situations if you can see it as a new wrinkle on something you know well rather than something you've never encountered before. That applies not just to back rank mates but to most things you will learn in chess... or for that matter anything you learn about anything.

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Other Mates at the Edge

One of the important things to recognize with any mate pattern is the pre-condition that there be certain squares to which the King is prevented from moving. In the case of the back rank mate we just looked at that was the three squares that the King could usually move to that would take it away from the edge of the board must somehow be cut off. It doesn't matter how. When the pre-condition is met it means the potential exists for a certain type of piece to carry out a mate attack. In the case of back rank mate that piece could be either a Rook or Queen. If that piece can be moved into attacking position and there is no other way to defend such as blocking the check or capturing the attacking piece, the result will be checkmate. As we examine other patterns what we'll see that what makes each one different from the other are the squares that must be cut off for the King as a pre-condition and the type of piece that must be moved in for the attack. As we saw with back rank mates the diagrams, most of the diagrams showed exactly the same mate with variations in the specifics of how the King was deprived of escape squares. In many of the examples that follow then we'll be sticking with the conventions of figure 5 and simply noting which escape squares must be cut off with X's as a pre-condition rather than delving into endless examples of how the conditions might be met. At the end of each section I'll have a few examples with all the pieces shown just to be sure you have the idea.

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While recognizing which escape squares are covered is an essential part of knowing when conditions are ripe for a mate attack there is one other type of pre-condition that some patterns rely on. We have already encountered it in figures 8b and 9b. In both diagrams we see the attacking piece is on a square right next to the King. This is made made possible by a second friendly piece that covers the square the attacking piece is on, preventing it from simply being captured by the assailed King. The examples shown earlier in 8b and 9b were special cases of a more general pattern. However, having a certain protected square for the attacking piece in the vicinity of the opposing King is a key ingredient in many mating patterns. We'll begin our look at the other common mate patterns along the edge of the board then with one such pattern.

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The Queen vs. King on the Edge:

Given a protected square directly in front of the King at the edge of the board a Queen can deliver the mortal blow without any other help. There are no other pre-conditions for escape routes that need to be cut off. All she needs is the right protected square and the Queen can both deliver the attack and cut off all the escape routes. As is the case with any such protected square it must be covered by one of the Queen's own pieces, but it does not matter which piece this is. The situation is illustrated in figure 10a where the highlighted square the Queen sits on is protected by another piece which lies outside the area shown in the diagram. (For an example which shows the piece protecting the square the Queen sits on see figure 8b). The King is under attack from the Queen of course and since we know the square the Queen sits on if off limits there are 4 of the remaining 5 possible escape squares remaining. As indicated by the arrows, the Queen covers all of these. This is an especially important pattern to remember because it is one of the final positions that can be forced in an situation in which you have a King and Queen against a lone King. It's a more common situation than you may think since in an evenly matched game where there's not much left on the board but the Kings and a few pawns the result usually comes down to who can get their pawn to a promotion square first to make a new Queen. This is why finding yourself one pawn ahead of your opponent may be almost meaningless earlier stages, but in the endgame it can be all the difference in the world.

 

 

As you may have noticed there is another situation involving the Queen on a protected square attacking a King against the edge, and that is if the protected square is diagonal to the King.This is shown in figure 10b. In this case the Queen will need a bit of help as there is one escape square she cannot cover herself. Once again the highlighted square the Queen sits on is protected by a friendly piece outside the area shown in the diagram. The King here has one escape square marked with the "x". As with escape squares in earlier examples this square would have to be cut off by another White piece or blocked by being occupied by one of Black's own pieces in order for there to be any checkmate here. Note however that if it were occupied by a Black Knight the Knight would be able to capture the White Queen and the King is still saved. Remember that when an attacking piece is on a protected square it can't be captured by the King (because it would be in check from the protecting piece), but there's no reason it can't be captured by any other piece.

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A final case is shown in figure 10c, which is similar to 10a except the Queen has backed up one square. Separated from the King by one rank she no longer needs to be on a protected square. Here the King has one escape square on either side, and so both of these must again be covered by other White pieces or blocked by Black's own pieces (which here could only be Rooks for this to be checkmate, as a Bishop or Queen on either square could block check, a Knight could capture the attacking Queen and Pawns can't go backwards so could never occupy these squares.) Other cases of the Queen mating the King at the edge of the board involve the Queen attacking from the back rank and have already been covered in figure 8 of the previous section, although arguably they belong equally with this section.

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As a final note let's me mention what would happen in these diagrams if the Queen were to move back further still. In figure 10b if the Queen were to move along the attacking diagonal (if the King is assumed to be on f8 here this means moving the Queen to d6). The King is still in check of course but with more escape squares. You can imagine though that if these square are also blocked or covered we should have a new checkmate pattern (albeit with more pre-conditions that must be met) and you'd be right. I am not depriving you of anything though, because if you imagine the Queen is now replaced with a Bishop on d6 the King is just as doomed. It, therefore, is a pattern for mating with the Bishop. Similarly if the Queen backs up one more square in 10c we can still get a mate pattern, but a Rook would do equally well in place of the Queen. Remember that any time we are looking at mate patterns for Bishops and Rooks that, since the Queen's range of movement is just a combination of Bishop and Rook we can substitute Her Majesty for either of these pieces with the same effect.

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Other Pieces vs. King on the Edge:

As you can imagine since no other piece rivals the power of the Queen mating patterns for other pieces are a little more restrictive, which is to say more pre-conditions must be met before they can be used to strike the mortal blow. As we have just seen however the Queen's power over the King diminishes the further away she gets. In close both her "Bishop" powers and "Rook" powers can combine to cover the King's escape squares, but once she gets farther back her influence over the opposing King's immediate sphere diminishes to equal that of one or the other lesser piece. Looking at things the opposite way then we see that, where Bishops and Rooks are concerned protected squares and getting in close, while still useful at times, do not carry the same advantages. They are usually just as happy to make checkmate a long distance affair.

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We can see this in figure 11a, which you'll notice is similar to diagram 10c except that a Rook attacks down the file in place of a Queen. This leaves two additional escape squares that must be covered if an attack like this can become checkmate. However, while the Rook here is shown separated from the King by only one rank, the situation with the escape squares would remain unchanged if the Rook were on the far end of the board. If it were one square closer to the King on a protected square however the Rook would cover the two squares to it's left and right leaving the King with only two escape squares (not shown).

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With figure 11b the Bishop attacks along a diagonal line (as Bishops do) that leads to the King. This only one of the Kings 5 escape squares lies along this same diagonal leaving 4 potential escape squares that must be covered. Again, the Bishop could be situated farther back along the same diagonal without the number of escape squares being affected. The mate with two bishops shown in figure 11c is a pattern that appears frequently in chess literature. As I hope you can easily see however it is really just one variation of the pattern shown in 11b, where the Bishop on the light square covers two of the four escape squares from the previous diagram. I'm showing it to you here in hopes of planting the seed of an idea that will blossom through the whole of your growth as a chess player. It may be, for example, that your opponent may leave his King blocked in with his own pieces in just the pattern shown in 11b and, with your ability to recognize this pattern you'll be able to checkmate them. If you just watch your opponent's King until a pattern occurs you'll lose many games waiting for it to happen. Good players do as much as they can to create these kinds of chances themselves. It might be that, knowing these patterns, the White player in 11c placed his light squared Bishop where it is to lay the groundwork for the pattern well in advance before everything finally came together to enable the second Bishop to do its job. So while knowing these patterns will let you take advantage if your opponent unwittingly leaves you a gift (and let's not forget help you avoid leaving your opponent any gifts) as you become a stronger player they'll become the raw materials you'll use to build towards the wins you'll enjoy.

 

 

While distance does not have to be a factor for Rooks and Bishops, this is not so for the Knight of course due to its more limited range. This again underscores the value of finding a way to work your Knights up the board to a place where they can't easily be driven off. From such positions Knights often come into their own in support of other attacking pieces either by cutting off the King's escape squares or providing protected squares for attackers. We can imagine, for example, that in figures 10a and 10b the protected square the Queen is sitting on is being provided by a Knight lying just off-stage. The other threat however, especially given their unique ability to leap past any intervening defenders, is that they may themselves find a way to carry out the winning attack. In figure 11d we a pattern in which the King under attack by the Knight still has all 5 potential escape squares. While it may seem that this limits the possibility that this might succeed as a mate attack there is an important difference. Unlike other pieces that require some open path to the King, the Knight here can mate even if the King is completely surrounded by it's own pieces. The defenders that would protect the King from attack by any other piece can spell doom if the attacker is a Knight. If in diagram 11d the King is blocked on all 5 escape squares by it's own pieces (and assuming no Black piece stands to capture the Knight) this is known as a smothered mate. It is the Knight's signature move. Of course the escape squares in 11d can be cut off in other ways, so this general pattern includes more than just smothered mate. The Knight does have a second mate pattern available that is shown in figure 11e. Here the Knight attacks from one rank further back, but is able to cover one of the escape squares in addition to attacking the King. Once again, as the Knight's line of attack is not subject to being blocked, it does not matter which of these squares is occupied by a defender.

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A pawn is more likely to exert influence beyond it's station (assuming it's not destined for a promotion square) by providing a protected square for a mating attack. After all a pawn covers a single square as well as anything else on the board. However, as figure 11f shows, a pawn itself may deliver the final blow. Conditions must be just right however, as the pawn must itself be on a protected square and does not cover any other escape square itself. If the King does manage to escape here however the pawn still has the consolation of being one square away from a promotion.

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A Few Thoughts

To wrap up Lesson 1 of this mini course I'd like to leave you with a few thoughts on what we've seen. In this lesson, and in the lessons to come, you are being introduced to patterns that will certainly appear in chess games you will play in the future. While exposure to these new ideas may leave you feeling confident of finding new winning chances every time you play. This confidence is frequently shaken with the realization that just learning the patterns does not mean they're easy to spot in a real game. knowing you'll now be able to win it may be tempting to think that now you have seen them it will be a simple matter to see and take advantage of them when you play. As we saw with back rank mates the same basic pattern can take on many disguises. Just knowing a pattern does not mean it will jump off the chess board and announce itself during the game. The ability to see these patterns easily is something a player develops through repeated exposure. Though the experience gained from playing chess is important it is not the only way to gain this exposure, and probably won't be all that effective unless combined with other study. For example, if you don't take the time to examine the games you've played afterwards you might never know how many chances went by unnoticed. Further, doing chess problems and puzzles is a way to expose yourself to these patterns in a more concentrated form.

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While I have spoken of these patterns "occurring" it's worth restating that you have a hand in creating them. Good players speak of building an attack. Every time you move a piece so that it limits the opposing King's escape options or force a potential defender away you increase the potential for a winning attack. It is significant that I describe these patterns as pre-conditions. Although checkmate is carried out with a single move, unless your opponent is careless enough to give you an opening, it doesn't materialize in a single move. Since you can only move one piece a a time (not counting castling) this means you'll probably need to lay a bit of groundwork. While the idea of creating the conditions for a successful checkmate attack sounds pretty advanced, and indeed it can include some pretty advanced notions, it doesn't have to be. It really boils down to a simple notion- contain the King. For example a common failing less experienced players tend to share is that when they see the opportunity to put the opposing King in check they will do so without much thought. Often by doing so they are not only allowing the King to escape but forcing it to. This is why the situation I mentioned In the introduction - the player who is clearly winning but unable to do more than chase the opposing King around the board - may be so common. Taking a moment to consider the pre-conditions for checkmate may be all that is required to end the frustration and bring the game to a triumphant conclusion.

 

 

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