Checkmate Patterns

In chess, several checkmate patterns occur frequently enough to have acquired specific names in chess commentary.

With this application you can solve thousands of checkmate puzzles grouped by theme (Anastasia's mate, Arabian mate, Back-rank mate, Boden's mate, Double bishop mate, Dovetail mate, Hook mate, Smothered mate). Also you can choose different types of boards and chess pieces.

In Anastasia's mate, a knight and rook team up to trap the opposing king between the side of the board on one side and a friendly piece on the other.

In the Arabian mate, the knight and the rook team up to trap the opposing king on a corner of the board. The rook sits on a square adjacent to the king while the knight sits two squares away diagonally from the king.

The back-rank mate occurs when a rook or queen checkmates a king that is blocked in by its own pieces (usually pawns) on the first or eighth rank.

Boden's mate involves two attacking bishops on criss-crossing diagonals delivering checkmate to a king obstructed by friendly pieces, usually a rook and a pawn.

The double bishop mate is a classic method of checkmating. It is similar to Boden's mate, but the two bishops are placed on parallel diagonals. The escape squares are occupied or controlled by enemy pieces.

The dovetail mate (also known as Cozio's mate) involves trapping the black king in the pattern shown. It does not matter how the queen is supported and it does not matter which type Black's other two pieces are so long as neither is an unpinned knight.

The hook mate involves the use of a rook, knight, and pawn along with one enemy pawn to limit the enemy king's escape. The rook is protected by the knight, and the knight is protected by the pawn, while the pawn also attacks one of the enemy king's escape squares.

Smothered mate occurs when a knight checkmates a king that is smothered (surrounded) by his friendly pieces and he has nowhere to move nor is there any way to capture the knight.