>>> BECOME A CHESS MASTER! Get Chess Course "The Grandmaster's Secrets"! Big Discount NOW!
>>> List of Chess Courses from Grandmaster Smirnov (Ukraine)! Big Discount! Click here!

Checkmate Patterns

The game of chess is all about checkmating your opponent’s king. Millions of people know the game of chess, but very few people know these checkmate patterns. For those who know, these patterns works like a charm!

To win a game of chess, you must checkmate your opponent’s king or force your opponent to resign the game. Checkmating your opponent’s king is not so easy, so here is a list of some basic checkmating patterns you should use to checkmate your opponent’s king.

15 Checkmating Patterns

Anastasia’s Mate
Arabian Mate
Back Rank Mate
Blackburne’s Mate
Boden’s Mate
Corner Mate
David and Goliath Mate
Hook Mate
Max Lange’s Mate
Opera Mate
Reti’s Mate
Smothered Mate
Suffocation Mate
Triangle Mate
Vukovic Mate

Anastasia’s Mate

Anastasia’s Mate
Pieces Required:
Knight
Rook

Anastasia’s checkmate got its name from the novel “Anastasia und das Schachspiel” by Johann Jakob Wilhelm Heinse. To checkmate the opponent’s king, the opposing king must be in the edge files, the knight must close the squares of the opposing king and checkmating the king by using the rook.
You can understand Anastasia’s checkmate pattern in the above image.

Arabian Mate

Arabian Mate
Pieces Required:
Knight
Rook

Arabian checkmate is derived from the older Persian form of chess. The knight and the rook were the two most powerful pieces of chess in that form of chess.
Also Arabian mate is mentioned in ancient Arabic manuscripts. In this checkmate pattern, the opposing king must be in the corner, the knight and the rook team up to checkmate the opposing king. The knight must be placed on two squares away diagonally from the king, and the rook gives checkmate to the opposing king.
See above image to understand it easily.

Back Rank Mate

Back Rank Mate
Pieces Required:
Queen/Rook

Back Rank checkmate can be done when the opposing king must sit in the 1st or 8th file. It can occur when a queen or a rook checkmates the opposing king that is blocked by its pawns or other pieces.
The given image will help you understand it easily.

Blackburne’s Mate

Blackburne’s Mate
Pieces Required:
Knight
2 Bishops

The checkmate got its name after Joseph Henry Blackburne. In this checkmate, the opposing king must be on the edge file. A knight and a bishop closes all the possible moving squares of the opposing king bby taking advantage of the opponent’s piece sitting next to the opponent’s king.
Another bishop gives checkmate to the opponent’s king and wins the game. To understand it easily, check out the given image above.

Boden’s Mate

Boden’s Mate
Pieces Required:
2 Bishops

The opposing king must be obstructed with two friendly pieces, usually a rook and a pawn. The two bishops attack the opposing king diagonally and checkmate the king. Checkout the above image to understand Boden’s Checkmate Pattern easily.

Corner Mate

Corner Mate
Pieces Required:
Knight
Rook

It is a very common method of checkmating your opponent’s king.The mate can be done when the opposing king sits on the corner square with a friendly pawn sitting next to him. Knight closes all possible moving squares of the opposing king and checkmated by the queen or the rook.
The above image helps you understand this checkmate pattern.

David and Goliath Mate

David and Goliath Mate
Pieces Required:
2 Pawns
Rook

The checkmate got its name from the biblical account of David and Goliath. In this checkmate pattern, the opposing king’s possible squares from the upside are closed by a rook, while a pawn also closes one square off the opposing king. Remaining squares are also closed by its friendly pieces except one.
The other pawn can checkmate the opponent’s king by taking help of the exceptional square. Given image will help you understand this checkmate pattern.

Hook Mate

Hook Mate
Pieces Required:
Knight
Pawn
Rook/Queen

The hook mate involves a rook/queen, a knight and a pawn. In this checkmate, the opponent’s friendly piece sits next to the opponent’s king. A knight and a pawn closes all the possible moving squares of the opponent’s king and a rook/queen checkmates the opponent’s king in this checkmate pattern.

You can understand it by taking help of the above image.

Max Lange’s Mate

Max Lange’s Mate
Pieces Required:
Bishop
Queen

The checkmate got its name after Max Lange. This mate is one of the less common checkmating patterns. In this checkmate, the opponent’s king’s all possible squares are closed by its friendly pieces and a bishop of another opponent. While the queen checkmates the king in this checkmating pattern.

See above image to understand it easily.

Opera Mate

Opera Mate
Pieces Required:
Bishop
Rook

The checkmate pattern got its name after its implementation by Paul Morphy in 1858 in a game at the Paris opera. The mate is a common checkmating method.
The opponent’s king’s all possible squares are restricted by its friendly pieces as well as other opponent’s bishop, and then the opponent’s king can be checkmated by a rook which is protected by a bishop.
You can understand this checkmating pattern by seeing the above image.

Réti’s Mate

Réti's Mate
Pieces Required:
Bishop
Rook

It is one of the famous checkmates in a game of chess. The famous checkmate is named Richard Réti. The checkmate can happen when the opponent’s king’s most of the squares are closed by its own pieces, while a bishop which is protected by a rook checkmates the opponent’s king and wins the game of chess.
For understanding this checkmate pattern, see the given image above.

Smothered Mate

Smothered Mate
Pieces Required:
Knight

It is one of the most amazing checkmate patterns of all time. It is also known as Philidor’s Legacy. The checkmate got its name Philidor’s Legacy after François-André Danican Philidor.
If the opponent’s king’s all possible moving squares are closed by its friendly pieces, a knight checkmates the opponent’s king when the king has nowhere to move nor is there any possible move to capture the knight.

Understand this checkmate pattern in the above given image.

Suffocation Mate

Suffocation Mate
Pieces Required:
Bishop
Knight

It is a common checkmating pattern. The opponent’s king must be in the corner side of the chessboard. In this checkmate, a bishop closes one possible moving square of the opponent’s king while the other squares are close by its friendly pieces. A knight checkmated the opponent’s king by taking the advantage of no possible moving squares for the opponent’s king.This is known as suffocation mate.

To understand this checkmating pattern, you can see the image given above.

Triangle Mate

Triangle Mate
Pieces Required:
Queen
Rook

It is also known as the Fish Tail Mate. In this checkmate pattern, a pawn takes a square of the king and sits next to him. While a rook threatens the king. Before capturing the rook, the queen defends the rook as well as checkmating the opponent’s king. It is known as the triangle mate.

You can see the above image to better understand this checkmating pattern.

Vukovic Mate

Vukovic Mate
Pieces Required:
Knight
Pawn
Rook

This checkmate pattern is mentioned in a book “The Art of Attack in Chess” written by a chess International Master Vladimir Vukovic. This checkmate pattern is also named after him.
In this checkmate, the king must be on the last file of the chessboard, three possible moving squares for the king are close by the knight and a pawn, while a rook checkmates the king and wins the game of chess.
You can see the checkmate pattern to better understand it in the above image.

Author:
written by BattleOfChess

Get UNIQUE Chess Video Courses from Chess Grandmaster Igor Smirnov (Ukraine)! BIG DISCOUNT! Click here!