Some time after writing the piece about checkmate patterns, I bought V. Vukovic’s
famous book The Art of Attack in Chess. In it he
gives a chapter full of mates, shown below; the numbering and
terminology are his.
UPDATE: PGN file attached ]
All of these mates are worth knowing, although you may
only pull off Reti’s mate once in your life. But the threat to
carry out Reti’s mate may come up every year.
White is to move unless indicated otherwise.
30
31 Arab mate
32
33
34
Black to move Solution/Notes
35 Damiano’s mate
36
37
Black to move Solution/Notes
38
Can Black, to move, save the game? Solution/Notes
39 Philidor’s legacy
40
Black to move Solution/Notes
41
A common pattern Solution/Notes
42 Greco’s mate
Black to move Solution/Notes
43
Black to move Solution/Notes
44 Morphy’s mate
45 Morphy’s concealed mate
46
47 Anastasia’s mate
48
49 ‘blind swine’
Black to move Solution/Notes
50 epaulette mate
51 swallow’s tail
52
53
54 as Rotlewi-Rubinstein
55 Boden’s mate
Black to move Solution/Notes
56 Pillsbury’s mate
57 Legal’s mate
58 Max Lange’s mate
Black to move Solution/Notes
59 Reti’s mate
60 Blackburne’s mate
Solutions and notes
1 Bg6+ Kg8, 2 Qh7+ Kf8, 3 Qf7 mate
1 Bf5+ Kg8, 2 Be6 mate
1 Nf6+ Kh8, 2 Rh7 mate
cannot be forced in this situation
but worth looking out for in a castled King’s-side
position, because the Knights cover so many squares
Oh, how many times have we overlooked this…
1…Kh7, 2 Qh4+ Kg8, 3 Qh6 and 4 Qg7 mate
1 Rh8+ Kxh8, 2 Rh1+ Kg8, 3 Rh8+ Kxh8, 4 Qh1+ Kg8, 5 Qh7
mate
1 Qh5 Be7, 2 Qh7+ Kf8, 3 Qh8 mate
1…f5 2 Qh7 mate
1…Re8 2 Qh8 mate
1…g6! 2 Qh6!
1 Nf7+ Kg8 2 Nh6+ Kh8 3 Qg8+ Rxg8 4 Nf7 mate
1…Rb8, 2 Qxf7+ Kh8, 3 Ne6 Rg8, 4 Qh5 mate
1 Nf6+ Kh8, 2 Nh5+ f6 escapes
1 … Kg2, 2 Ne8++ Kh6, 3 Qf4+ g5, 4 Qf6+ Kh5, 5 Ng7+ and
White needs only a Pawn on g2/h2 to force mate
1…h6 2 Bxf7+ Kh8 3 Qg6! hxg5 4 Qh5 mate
1…Rf8, 2 Rg5+ Kf8, 3 Rg7!
1 Qxf6 gxf6, 2 Rg1+ Kh8 3 Bxf6 mate
1 Rxg7+ Kh8, 2 Rxf7+! Kg8, 3 Rg7+ Kh8, 4 Rg1+ Rf6, 5 Bxf6
mate
1 Rd8+ Kf7, 2 Rf8 mate
1 Ne7+ Kh8, 2 Rxh7+
1 Qg5 Kh8, 2 Qh6 Rg8, 3 Qxh7+
1…Rfd8, and White has only perpetual
the Rooks ‘grunt out check’ but cannot get sight of mate
(Janowski)
1 g6 Bg8, 2 g7 mate
1 Nxf7+ or 1 Ng6+ mates
1 Be6 d4, 2 Bh2 and 3 Be5 mate
Macdonnell-Boden 1869
1…Qxc3+ 2 bxc3 Ba3 mate
1 Rxg7+ Kh8, 2 Rg8+ Kxg8, 3 Rg1 mate
(compare Morphy’s mate)
1 e4 e5, 2 Nf3 d6, 3 Bc4 Bg4, 4 Nc3 g6
5 Nxe5! Bxd1? 6 Bxf7+ Ke7, 7 Nd5 mate
10…Bc5+ 11 Kh1 Ng3+ 12 hxg3 Qg5, 13 Rf5 h5! since 14
Rxd8 hxg4 mate
9 Qd8+ Kxd8, 10 Bg5++ Kc7, 11 Bd8 mate
1 Qh1 h5, 2 Qxh5! gxh5, 3 Bh7 mate