Chess tactics
Smothered mate: hemmed in by its own pieces
A knight mates a king that is surrounded by its own pieces and has no square to flee to. The classic finish sacrifices the queen to force the last escape square shut.
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The pattern is famous: queen checks, the king goes to the corner, knight checks, the king returns, queen sacrifices itself on the corner to force the rook to take, and the rook now plugs the king’s last flight square — then the knight delivers mate the king cannot escape.
How to spot it
- An enemy king in the corner, ringed by its own pieces.
- A knight within checking distance of that king.
- A way — often a queen sacrifice — to fill the final flight square.
From the corpus
Three real smothered mates, each verified by Stockfish at depth 22. Click any one to solve it.
More tactics
Forks
A fork is a single piece attacking two or more enemy pieces at the same time. Your opponent can only save one — you take the other.
Pins
A pin freezes an enemy piece against a more valuable one behind it. It can’t move without giving up the piece in the rear — so you pile up on it and win it.
Skewers
A skewer attacks a valuable piece in front; when it steps aside, the piece behind it on the same line falls.
Discovered attacks
A discovered attack moves one piece out of the way to open fire from the piece behind it. Two threats land at once, and your opponent often can’t meet both.
Deflection
A defender is doing important work — guarding a mating square, holding a piece. Deflection gives it something it can’t refuse, and once it moves, what it guarded falls.
Trapped pieces
A trapped piece has no safe square. It’s still on the board, but it can’t get out — so you win it at your leisure.