Smothered Mate
by David
Surratt
  
  
Smothered mate is a checkmate delivered by a knight on a
king which is hemmed in by his own pieces. Since his own pieces
surround the king and block his escape routes, the king is said to be
"smothered". The winning idea occurs often enough that you
should be aware of even the threat of it.
Here is a simplified version of probably the most famous
example of smothered mate, Philidor's Legacy:
The king is in check, but his own pieces - the pawns in
front of him and the rook beside him - block all his escape routes.
They "smother" him. How did Black get in this mess? Let's add a few more
pieces on the board, and back up a few moves:
 
 
White is down the exchange and a pawn, and his prospects
don't look too bright, except for this powerful mating resource at his
disposal:
1. Nxf7+
Kg8
2. Nh6+
Black is in double check, both from the knight at h6 and the
queen at b3. If he plays 2...Kg8 White mates with 3.Qf7, so Black
heads back to the corner, resigned to a probable
perpetual
check (3...Kh8 4.Nf7+ Kg8 5.Nh6+ etc.). White has a rude surprise
in store for Black though:
3. .....
Kh8
4. Qg8+!
White sacrifices his queen to force Black's own
pieces to smother him (since the Queen is protected by the knight, Black can
only capture her with his rook) then delivers the coup-de-grace with the lowly
knight:
4. .....
Rxg8
5. Nf7 mate
Traceable back to Lucena in 1496, credit for popularizing this mating
pattern goes to the eighteenth-century chess genius Philidor, and it is
known as Philidor's Legacy.
Unconvinced that you need to know about this mating pattern?
Here is an example from a recent internet game played by Chessville's Forum
Host, Kelly Atkins. After 35 moves of hard work, the following
position was reached in NN vs Kelly Atkins:
 
Black's earlier blunder allowed White to win a piece, and now he has many
paths to consolidate his position and win easily. White, however, must
have been unaware of Philidor's Legacy, and played...
36. Nd6??
White thinks he is winning the exchange here, but Black is
about to educate him...
36. .....
Nc2+
37.Kb1
Na3+
38.Ka1
Qb1+
39.Rxb1
Nc2 mate
A fine swindle indeed! White threw away the fruits of his hard work
not out of negligence, but out of ignorance. If White had known about
Philidor's Legacy he might not have fallen into this trap.
Here is another example of a smothered mate:
1. Qe6+
Kh8
Once again, if 1...Kf8 then 2.Qf7 mates.
2. Nf7+
Kg8
Do you recognize the pattern there? Remember what to do?
3. Nh6+
Kh8
4. Qg8+
Rxg8
5. Nf7 mate
Let's change things around just a little bit for our next example:
The knight on e5 is pinned, so White can not employ the
windmill-like tactics of the previous example. Instead, White goes
straight for the jugular:
1. Qg8+!
Rxg8
Black can not capture with the king because of the bishop on
b3. Now though, the Black king is out of escape squares, and the White
knight is no longer pinned.
2. Nf7 mate
Philidor's Legacy is my favorite form of the smothered mate, but
certainly not the only way it can occur. Another way this mate can come
about is humorously recounted in Boris Vainshtein's entertaining booklet,
Introduction to Chess Openings:
"When I was 12 years old, a certain
literary man, who was said to be a strong chess player, came to visit us.
He agreed to play just one game, and generously gave me White. With a
shaking hand I moved the pieces, thinking for about ten minutes over each move.
My opponent replied instantly, without halting his conversation with my parents,
and without apparently paying any attention to the board.
1. e4
e5
2. Nf3
Nc6
3. Bc4
Nd4
 
What's this? My opponent has blundered away a pawn! I'll take it,
and I'll be attacking a second pawn which apparently can not be defended ...
Great! What a tasty morsel!
4. Nxe5
Qg5
He's attacking a pawn as well as my
knight. But I'll capture his pawn with my knight, and fork his queen and
rook. He'll move his queen, and then I'll grab his rook. Of course,
he can't have seen all this. He can take my pawn, but to [heck] with it.
I'll be a rook up.
5. Nxf7
Qxg2
It turns out that I can't take his rook yet, since he'll take my rook with
check, and then trap my knight and come out a piece up. But that doesn't
matter, his rook has nowhere to go, whereas I can move mine. And so...
6. Rf1
Qxe4+
That's rather unpleasant. I can't block with the queen, and my king has
nowhere to go. I'll have to block with the bishop.
7. Be2
Nf3 mate
I just sat there, went as red as a
beetroot, and was unable to utter a single word. How could this have
happened? Everything had been going so well: a fork ... two pawns ...
check, and suddenly ..."
Ever felt like twelve-year old Boris? I have!
Here are two more examples of smothered mates occurring in
actual games. This first game, from 1935, pits World Champion Alexander
Alekhine against four Allies, who were allowed to discuss the game amongst
themselves before deciding on a move.
1. e4
c6
2. d4
d5
3. Nc3
dxe4
4. Nxe4
Nd7
5. Qe2
White perhaps plans to castle queenside and launch an attack against Black's
kingside. Black shortened the struggle considerably though with his
suicidal next move, which overlooks the discovered pin along the e-file.
5. .....
Nf6??
6. Nd6 mate
One of the earliest examples is this game, published in
England in 1656 in Beale's Royal Game of Chess Playe:
1.e4
e5
2.Nf3
Nc6
3.Bc4
Bc5
4.0-0
Nf6
5.Re1
0-0
6.c3
Re8
7.d4
exd4
8.e5
Ng4
9.cxd4
Nxd4
10.Nxd4
Qh4
11.Nf3
Qxf2+
12.Kh1
Qg1+
13.Rxg1
Nf2 mate
Learn and remember these smothered mate patterns, and maybe you too can
swindle your way to victory!
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