The Everything Chess Basics Book (36 page)

Phase one of this very complex checkmate is to drive the lone king to the edge of the board. In the diagram, that phase has already been completed. Phase two is to drive the king toward the more friendly corner, and it is done like this:

1. Kc6.

White confines the Black monarch to the eighth rank.

1.
... Ka8.

If Black wants to cooperate with 1. ... Kc8 then White takes the b8-square away with 2. Ba7. But not 2. Bc7 stalemate!

2. Nc7+.

This move drives the king out of his comfy corner. Another stalemate is produced by 2. Bc7.

2.
... Kb8 3. Bc5.

A big key to chess strategy is to not give anything up if you can help it. White keeps all the squares she has gained and prepares to take more away from Black.

3.
... Kc8 4. Ba7.

Now we have the lone king traveling in the right direction.

4.
... Kd8 5. Nd5.

Notice how all the White pieces cooperate in the effort to keep Black from gaining squares.

5.
... Kc8.

Black tries to stay near his most comfortable corner. If he tries to go to the middle, he will wind up in the wrong corner: 5. ... Ke8 6. Kd6 Kf7 7. Bf2 Kg6 8. Ke5 Kg5 9. Nf6 Kg6 10. Ke6 Kg5 11. Bg3 Kg6 12. Bf4. White keeps using all 3 pieces to gradually take squares away from the slippery Black monarch.

6. Ne7+ Kd8 7. Kd6 Ke8 8. Ke6 Kd8 9. Bb6+ Ke8 10. Nf5 Kf8.

Now White should transfer the bishop to a more useful diagonal.

11. Bd8 Ke8 12. Bf6 Kf8 13. Be7+ Kg8.

Black could end it prematurely with 13.
... ... Ke8 14. Nd6 checkmate.

14. Kf6 Kh7 15. Kf7 Kh8.

This is a tricky situation. Although the Black king is in the proper corner, it’s premature to try to cash in, since there is no good follow-up after 16. Bf6+ Kh7.

16. Kg6 Kg8.

Now we’re ready for the final blow.

17. Nh6+ Kh8 18. Bf6 checkmate.

The Two Knights

This one is not possible except against a cooperative opponent. There simply is no way to force checkmate against a lone king when you have king and two knights. Incredible but true.

The only way to convince yourself of the truth of this statement is to try to do it. Any opponent who doesn’t wish to get checkmated can simply head his king to the corner. There will always be a way out.

Other Checkmates

The basic checkmates are only a beginning. There are many, many checkmates possible. There are hundreds of them, thousands of them. Although it is impossible to go into detail on all the possible checkmates, not to mention the plans leading up to them, in an introductory work (or, for that matter, in a huge encyclopedic work!), here is a smattering of various checkmates and a little on their history.

Arabian Mate

A rook supported by a knight on the edge of the board cooperate in an Arabian mate.

This one is named after the early Arabian form of the game, before the queen and bishop had their new powers. Thus the strongest pieces in use were the rook and knight. The rook always produces this mate, and is defended by the knight, which also covers the king’s escape square.

Epaulette Mate

The king wears these fringes in the form of his own pieces or pawns, which take away his escape squares on either side.

Gueridon Mate

A
gueridon
is a small French café table. The king represents the tabletop, while the pieces or pawns diagonally behind him, which deny him those squares for escape, represent the table legs.

Anastasia’s Mate

Anastasia’s mate is actually a special corridor or back rank mate, with a rook delivering the mate and the escape squares taken up by a friendly pawn and an enemy knight.

This one is named after
Anastasia und das Schachspiel
, an 1803 novel by Wilhelm Heinse.

Philidor’s Legacy

All the ingredients are here for a Philidor’s Legacy Mate.

The ingredients include the open b3-g8 diagonal, a White queen able to get there with check, an exposed Black king on g8 with Black pawns on g7 and h7, the White knight on g5, a Black rook guarding the eighth rank, and complete White control over the f7-square. This is a form of smothered mate that Philidor first worked out in the eighteenth century. It goes like this:

1. Qb3+ Kh8.

If 1. ... Kf8. White plays 2. Qf7 mate.

2. Nf7+ Kg8.

Note that the Black king and the White queen are on the same diagonal. The only reason there isn’t a check is that the White knight is in the way on the same diagonal. So White moves it out of the way with:

Setting up the enemy king for destruction by forcing his own pieces to take away his escape squares is a worthy goal. The sacrifice of the queen makes it appear spectacular, but the idea of setting up a smothered mate as in Philidor’s legacy is actually quite logical.

3. Nh6+.