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Note: If the opponent’s king is stuck in the middle of the board, the stronger side should
“walk” him onto the 8th rank to the shown position by given interchangeable checks with the
rooks, and then mating on the back rank.
Diagonal checkmate
The setup Queen + Bishop lined up on the same diagonal was proven to be very
powerful. In this case, the setup is even more powerful since black dominates the so-called
long (a1-h8) diagonal.
White mates with 1.Qxg7#. The diagonal checkmate should be in the arsenal of every
practical chess player. At the same time, players should be aware of this kind of setup
when on the defensive side.
Note: Similar type of mate is possible if White’s Queen and Bishop are lined up on b1-
h7 diagonal, double attacking the weak h7 square which is often guarded by the King alone.
Smothered checkmate
It is a mate given by the knight alone when an opponent’s king is unable to move because
it’s blocked by its own pieces or pawns. This mate is quite hard to see sometimes because
players usually don’t expect the knight to be a mating piece.
In the diagram above the Black’s King is tightly surrounded by its own pawns and the rook.
In fact, Black’s King cannot move at all! Any check delivered to White would be a
checkmate. The knight is a perfect piece for doing that since it can check without changing
Black’s pawn structure.
White checkmates with 1.Nf7#.
Note: When you see that your opponent’s King cannot move due to surrounding pieces,
smothered mate theme should click in your mind.
Anastasia’s checkmate
This checkmate is another great example of how the knight can be used in mating
schemes. In Anastasia’s mate knight and rook work together to lock an opponent’s King on
the h – file (it works as well on a – file too, in the case of a long side castle) and to
checkmate thereafter.
The knight controls g6 and g8 squares, while rook will take care of entire h-file and deliver a
checkmate:
1. Rh5#.
Note: The Anastasia’s mate shows an importance of a rook lift in the middle game, which is
a technique when one player lifts his rook from the back rank to an active position, usually
close to an opponent’s King.