What is the Smothered mate?
Smothered Mate is a chess checkmate pattern that occurs when a king is checkmated by a knight, and the king’s own pieces are blocking the squares that the king could move to for escape. The knight delivers the final checkmate move, but the king’s own pieces, or “smothering” pieces, have cut off the king’s escape routes. This checkmate pattern is considered to be one of the most beautiful checkmate patterns in chess, and is highly valued for its elegance and surprise factor.
What is the history of the Smothered mate?
The history of Smothered Mate can be traced back to the 16th century, where it was first recorded in the chess literature. The pattern was popularized by the Spanish chess player Ruy López, who wrote about it in his famous book, “Libro de la invención liberal y arte del juego del axedrez” (Book of the Liberal Invention and Art of the Game of Chess). López wrote about the Smothered Mate as a special checkmate, and it has been studied and admired ever since.
How to execute the Smothered mate?
The key to successfully executing Smothered Mate is the coordination of the knight and the smothering pieces. The knight should be placed on a square where it can attack the king, while the smothering pieces should be placed on squares where they can cut off the king’s escape routes. The position of the king should be such that it has no other move than to move to a square where it can be checkmated by the knight.
How to set up the Smothered mate?
In order to set up Smothered Mate, the knight should be placed on a square where it can attack the king, while the smothering pieces should be placed on squares where they can cut off the king’s escape routes. The king’s position should be such that it has no other move than to move to a square where it can be checkmated by the knight.