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Checkmate pattern · Improver

Smothered Mate in chess

A smothered mate is a checkmate by a knight against a king that is completely surrounded by its own pieces.

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touch_appTry it: Philidor's Legacy: checks, a queen sacrifice, and a knight mate against a king trapped by its own pieces.

What is a smothered mate in chess?

A smothered mate is a checkmate by a knight against a king that is completely surrounded by its own pieces. The king has no square to go to, and a knight check can't be blocked. The classic version sacrifices the queen to force a rook onto the king's last free square.

  • An enemy king in the corner, hemmed in by its own rook and pawns: count its free squares.
  • If a knight check would leave the king with nowhere to go, look for a queen check that forces a piece to block the last square.

A worked example

Smothered Mate: White to move. Philidor's Legacy: checks, a queen sacrifice, and a knight mate against a king trapped by its own pieces.

Solution: 1.Nf7+ Kg8 2.Nh6+ Kh8 3.Qg8+ Rxg8 4.Nf7#. 1.Nf7+ Kg8 2.Nh6+ (double check: knight and queen) Kh8 3.Qg8+!! Rxg8 4.Nf7#. The queen sacrifice forces the rook onto g8, so the king is boxed in by its own pieces and the knight mates.

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 "Smothered 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 g1, queen c4, knight g5, pawn g2, pawn h2.
Black: king h8, rook e8, pawn g7, pawn h7.
Material: White 14, Black 7 (White up 7).
Loose/under-defended pieces: none.
Defenders and attackers (verified):
Black rook e8: defended by nothing; attacked by nothing.
White knight g5: defended by nothing; attacked by nothing.
White queen c4: defended by nothing; attacked by nothing.
Line-ups (verified geometry): Black rook e8 and Black king h8 are on the 8th rank (nothing between them).
White's legal moves (38): knight g5: Ne6, Nf7+, Nxh7, Nh3, Nf3, Ne4; queen c4: Qb5, Qa6, Qc5, Qc6, Qc7, Qc8, Qd5, Qe6, Qf7, Qg8+, Qd4, Qe4, Qf4, Qg4, Qh4, Qd3, Qe2, Qf1, Qc3, Qc2, Qc1, Qb3, Qa2, Qb4, Qa4; pawn g2: g3, g4; pawn h2: h3, h4; king g1: Kf2, Kh1, Kf1.
Engine best line: 1.Nf7+ Kg8 2.Nh6+ Kh8 3.Qg8+ Rxg8 — forced mate in 4 for White.
Best move theme: check.
After Nf7+, the opponent's reply is forced (only one legal move).

3 · What the coach said

The key idea is to play Nf7+. The knight checks the black king, and because the king’s only safe square is g8, Black must move there. Then Nh6+ forces the king back to h8, and the queen can jump to g8 delivering a check that the rook must capture; after that the knight on h6 gives the final smothered mate because the king is surrounded by its own pawns and cannot move. A good way to spot this pattern is to look for a king that is blocked by its own pieces and see if a knight can give a check that drives the king onto a square where a queen (or another piece) can force a forced capture, leaving the king with no escape.
Engine line: Nf7+ Kg8 Nh6+ Kh8 Qg8+ Rxg8. In the app you can ask Wingo about any position, and about your own wrong moves.

Solve smothered mate puzzles at your level

extension12 smothered 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 smothered mates in your own games?

Our mistake finder checks your recent games with Stockfish and lists the 3 mistakes you repeat most. Missed smothered 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 smothered 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: Smothered Matearrow_forwardPhilidor's Legacy: checks, a queen sacrifice, and a knight mate against a king trapped by its own pieces. 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..Anastasia's Matearrow_forwardAnastasia'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..Back-Rank Matearrow_forwardA back-rank mate is a rook or queen giving check along the last rank while the king is boxed in by its own pawns.Opening: Caro-Kann Defensearrow_forwardAs Black, support ...d5 with ...c6 and keep the light-squared bishop free.