A knight and a rook working as a pair. The knight lands on e7 and takes g8 and g6 away from the king, while the rook checks along the h-file. The king has nowhere to go: back along the line of the check is illegal, sideways runs into the knight, and g7 is occupied by his own pawn.
The name comes from the novel «Anastasia und das Schachspiel» by the German writer Wilhelm Heinse, published in 1803. In practice the pattern arises after a sacrifice: a queen or rook is given up to open the h-file and force the king to h7.
How to avoid it: if your opponent's knight has reached e7 or e2 and the h-file is about to open, move the king in advance or place your h-pawn so that the king keeps an escape square on the other side.
The clearest pattern of all: the king stands in the middle of the back rank with his own rooks beside him, like epaulettes on his shoulders. The queen steps right up and delivers mate, because the king simply has nowhere to run - all three squares in front are covered by the queen, and his own pieces block the sides.
The lesson is simple: your own pieces can be more dangerous than the enemy's. The classic situation is a castled king boxed in by his own rook and pawns - and one check of «where would he go if the queen came here?» saves the game.
The most famous mate in chess: the king is completely surrounded by his own pieces and a knight delivers mate by jumping over the whole defence. Hence the name - the king is smothered, with no room to breathe.
It is nearly always delivered the same way, through the famous queen sacrifice known as Philidor's Legacy: Nf7+ Kg8 Nh6+ Kh8 Qg8+! Rxg8 Nf7#. The queen is given up precisely to force the rook onto g8 and take the king's last square away.
How to avoid it: watch any enemy knight near your king, and make sure the king keeps a luft. The move h7-h6 at the right moment makes the whole pattern impossible.
Also known as the guéridon mate. The king is stuck in the centre, the queen steps up next to him protected by another piece, and the two squares behind the king are taken by his own rooks - the silhouette looks like a swallow's tail.
The key detail is the protection of the queen. Without the pawn on d3 the king would simply take her. That is why in this pattern you look not only for the queen's approach but also for the piece that will support her.
The basic two-rook technique every endgame course starts with. The rooks work in turn: one cuts the king off along a rank, the other checks on the next one, and the king is pushed step by step towards the edge of the board.
The main rule: never let the rooks come under attack from the king. If he steps too close, the rook simply slides along its rank to the far side of the board - and the ladder continues. The same technique works with a queen and a rook, only faster.
All the basic lone-king endings are covered in basic checkmates.
They are all built from the same bricks: take squares away, let the defender's own pieces block his escape, bring the mating piece in with protection. The underlying motifs are covered in forks, pins and double attacks.
A mating pattern with a knight and a rook: the knight on e7 takes g8 and g6 away from the king while the rook checks along the h-file. The king on h7 can neither move along the line of the check nor step into the knight, and g7 is usually occupied by his own pawn.
A mate in which the king stands in the middle of a rank with his own rooks beside him, like epaulettes. The queen steps up and delivers mate: the squares in front are covered by the queen, and the king's own pieces block the sides.
Mate by a knight against a king completely surrounded by his own pieces. It is classically reached through a queen sacrifice known as Philidor's Legacy: Nf7+ Kg8 Nh6+ Kh8 Qg8+ Rxg8 Nf7#. The queen is given up to force the rook onto the last free square.
Also called the guéridon mate: the king is in the centre, the queen stands next to him protected by another piece, and the two squares behind the king are occupied by his own rooks. Without protection for the queen the pattern fails - the king simply takes her.
With two rooks in turn: one cuts the king off along a rank, the other checks on the next one, and the king is pushed to the edge of the board. If the king approaches a rook, that rook slides along its rank to the far side - the technique survives intact.
So you see the shape instead of recalculating from scratch. Once you have recognised a pattern, you start noticing it in your own games - both when you are attacking and when your own king is walking into it.
The Vibe Chess app is built for an evening over the board, not for online play: it keeps the sign-up list, the pairings and the table while you deal with people and the venue. All of it free.
score groups, no rematches, no two byes in a row
everyone plays everyone, the app works out the number of rounds
who is free and who is already at a board is shown under Now
The bot is constantly improved based on real tournaments. If you need a feature that isn't there yet, message the developers right inside the bot with the /support command. Many features appeared exactly because organizers asked for them, and useful ideas get added quickly.
Basic endings - basic checkmates. Tactics - forks, pins and double attacks. Rules - rules of chess. A famous trap - Legal's Mate.
At the board since childhood: hazy about his rating, precise about every rook he has blundered. Counts an evening as a good one if the opponent stayed to talk afterwards instead of rushing off to check with an engine. Message →
