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Checkmate pattern · Improver

Anastasia's Mate in chess

Anastasia's mate traps a king on the edge: a knight covers the squares in front of it, the king's own pawn blocks another, and a queen or rook gives check down the edge file..

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touch_appTry it: A knight seals the king's escape squares; a queen or rook mates on the edge.

What is a Anastasia's mate in chess?

Anastasia's mate traps a king on the edge: a knight covers the squares in front of it, the king's own pawn blocks another, and a queen or rook gives check down the edge file.

  • King on h7 (or a7) with a pawn on g7, and your knight on e7: one check down the h-file finishes it.
  • If a piece blocks the file, look for a sacrifice that opens it.

How it works, step by step

Anastasia's mate traps the king on the edge of the board. A knight covers the squares in front of the king, the king's own pawn blocks another, and a queen or rook gives check along the edge file. It is named after a 19th-century novel in which it appears.

How to spot it: a king tucked into the corner with a pawn next to it, and your knight two squares away from it. Look for a check down the edge file: the h-file here.

A worked example

Anastasia's mate: White to move. A knight seals the king's escape squares; a queen or rook mates on the edge.

Solution: 25.Qh5#. Qh5#! The queen checks down the h-file. The knight on e7 covers g8 and g6, the pawn on g7 blocks the last square, and nothing can capture the queen or block the check.

Ask Wingo why it works

Wingo, our coach, never works out chess moves on its own. Stockfish finds the best line, chess.js writes down the facts of the position, and Wingo's explanation is built from that analysis. This is its real answer for "Anastasia's mate", unedited (a person checked it before it went on this page).

1 · Position + engine

2 · Fact sheet (chess.js + Stockfish)

Side to move: White.
White: king h2, queen f3, rook e2, knight e7, pawn h3, pawn f2, pawn g2.
Black: king h7, queen b1, rook a8, rook f8, bishop e6, pawn c7, pawn f7, pawn g7, pawn a2.
Material: White 20, Black 26 (Black up 6).
King in check (verified):
After 25.Qh5#: Black king on h7 is in check from the White queen on h5. Squares next to the king: g6: covered by White knight e7, White queen h5; g7: blocked by its own pawn; g8: covered by White knight e7; h6: covered by White queen h5; h8: covered by White queen h5; the other squares are off the board (edge). King moves: none. Capture the checking piece with another piece: impossible. Block the check: impossible. This is checkmate.
Loose/under-defended pieces: none.
Defenders and attackers (verified):
Black rook a8: defended by rook f8; attacked by queen f3.
Black rook f8: defended by rook a8; attacked by nothing.
White knight e7: defended by nothing; attacked by nothing.
Black bishop e6: defended by pawn f7; attacked by rook e2.
White queen f3: defended by pawn g2; attacked by nothing.
White rook e2: defended by queen f3; attacked by nothing.
Black queen b1: defended by pawn a2; attacked by nothing.
Line-ups (verified geometry): Black rook a8 and White queen f3 are on a diagonal (nothing between them); Black rook f8 and White queen f3 are on the f-file (with the pawn f7 between them); Black king h7 and White king h2 are on the h-file (with the pawn h3 between them); Black king h7 and Black queen b1 are on a diagonal (nothing between them); Black bishop e6 and White rook e2 are on the e-file (nothing between them).
White's legal moves (36): knight e7: Nc8, Ng8, Ng6, Nf5, Nd5, Nc6; queen f3: Qe4+, Qd5, Qc6, Qb7, Qxa8, Qf4, Qf5+, Qf6, Qxf7, Qg4, Qh5#, Qg3, Qe3, Qd3+, Qc3, Qb3, Qa3; pawn h3: h4; rook e2: Re3, Re4, Re5, Rxe6, Re1, Rd2, Rc2, Rb2, Rxa2; pawn g2: g3, g4; king h2: Kg3.
Engine best line: 25.Qh5# — forced mate in 1 for White.
Best move theme: checkmate.

3 · What the coach said

The queen moves to the square h5 and gives check; the black king cannot run to any neighboring square because the knight on e7 already controls g6 and g8, and the queen herself covers h6 and h8, while the pawn on g7 blocks g7. No black piece can capture the queen or block the line, so the king is trapped and the game ends. Qh5# works because the queen and the knight together seal every escape route. A good way to spot this pattern is to look for a queen (or rook) that can attack the king on the edge of the board while a knight is already covering the squares the king might run to.
Engine line: Qh5#. In the app you can ask Wingo about any position, and about your own wrong moves.

Solve Anastasia's mate puzzles at your level

extension12 Anastasia's mate puzzles from real games, in three levels. Find the move; a wrong try is explained. No account needed.

Beginner · under 1200

Improver · 1200–1599

Intermediate · 1600+

Puzzles from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0), each checked by Stockfish.

Do you miss Anastasia's mates in your own games?

Our mistake finder checks your recent games with Stockfish and lists the 3 mistakes you repeat most. Missed Anastasia's mates are counted under "Missing checkmates". Every mistake it finds becomes a puzzle from your own game, so you practise exactly the positions you got wrong.

Check my Chess.com gamesarrow_forwardEnter your username. Free, about a minute.Check my Lichess gamesarrow_forwardEnter your username. Free, about a minute.Check my Wings Chess gamesarrow_forwardUses the games you play here, after 5 games.

Use it in a real game

Puzzles tell you a Anastasia's mate is there. In a game nobody does. Play Blaze, one of our bots that think at a human pace and make human mistakes, and look for the pattern yourself. The coach can point it out afterwards if you miss it.

Play Blaze (1300)arrow_forwardAll-out attacker. Sacrifices first, asks questions later.About Blazearrow_forwardHow this bot plays, and tips to beat it.

Train this in the app

Lesson: Anastasia's matearrow_forwardA knight seals the king's escape squares; a queen or rook mates on the edge. With hints, stars and your progress saved.

Keep going

Arabian Matearrow_forwardThe Arabian mate is one of the oldest checkmates: a rook gives check next to a king in the corner, and a knight both protects the rook and covers the king's last escape square..Hook Matearrow_forwardThe hook mate is a chain: a rook checks right next to the king, a knight protects the rook, and a pawn protects the knight.Smothered Matearrow_forwardA smothered mate is a checkmate by a knight against a king that is completely surrounded by its own pieces.Opening: Sicilian Defensearrow_forwardAs Black, fight 1.e4 with ...c5. It's an unbalanced game where Black plays for a win.