The smothered mate is a beautiful pattern in which the king is hemmed in by its own pieces and pawns, and the mate is delivered by the knight - the only piece able to jump over the surrounding wall. Since every square around the king is occupied by his own men, the knight checks and there is no escape.
Here the black king on h8 is surrounded by his own rook on g8 and pawns on g7 and h7. The knight on f7 gives check: every square beside the king is taken by his own pieces, so it is mate. Classically the position arises after a queen sacrifice: Qg8+ Rxg8 Nf7 mate - the combination known as «Philidor's smothered mate».
The idea of the smothered mate is to drive the king into the corner, make his own pieces block his escape squares, and bring the knight within checking distance. Once you know the pattern it is easy to spot over the board, especially in combination with a queen sacrifice to lure the rook in.
This page is a handy place to go over the set-up on the board and work through it square by square. An overview of all the named mates is collected in a separate article.
Drag a piece onto the board, or click a piece and then click the squares. The cross beside the pieces sweeps every piece of that colour off the board, and a single piece can be dragged off the edge.
The pieces will be arranged into the chosen pattern.
It is the mating side to move. Find mate in one.
Openings, endgame positions and breakthrough studies - the set-up appears on the board.
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