Art of Checkmate (eBook)

Introduction

Nothing is more annoying for a player, after he has racked his brains over a position and then selected and made what he thought to be the best move, than to hear a voice in the gallery exclaim in an ironic tone:

“Everyone to their own taste … but in your place I would have preferred to announce mate in two moves.”

And he is astonished to discover that there really was a mate in two moves and that his premature exchange of pieces has destroyed the opportunity for ever. He curses himself for not having seen it.

Here is a typical example. In the diagram position it was Black to move in a club tournament. The player of the Black pieces thought for a short moment, then he picked up his Queen, held it for a moment in the air and placed it triumphantly on d3. Indeed, he threatened … ♕c2 mate.

White sacrificed the exchange by ♖xf5 and having two pawns more, exchanged Queens a few moves later and easily won the game.

When it was all over, the loser said:

“There was nothing I could do. I had sacrificed two pawns and the exchange for an attack that didn’t come off.”

Replacing the pieces in the diagram position, we showed him that there was a forced mate in two moves. The player thought for a few minutes and finally exclaimed:

“Well, I never ...”

At last, albeit a little late, he saw the mate:

1 ... ♕c3+! 2 bxc3 ♗a3 mate.

However this is a classic mate which, ever since the distant day in 1857 that Boden played it for the first time, has been reproduced a considerable number of times. Perhaps the same player had seen it in a chess book or magazine. But as no one had drawn his attention to the mechanism of this mate, the position was as new to him.

The first thing the student must do is to learn how to spot the mates. One will never be a good player if one cannot detect these mates and if one does not know how to carry them out.

If an amateur, with some practical experience, is shown a position and told: “There is a mate in five moves, find it!,” he will discover it more or less easily, perhaps after a period of reflection but he will always discover it.

But let this amateur encounter the same position in a game and eighty per cent of the time, if not more, he will be blind to the mate.

Even very great masters have not escaped such misfortunes. Here are two examples that are particularly instructive:

Chigorin, in a match against Schiffers, played in Russia in 1897, reached the following position with Black:

He played ... b6 and the game was drawn, whereas he could have announced mate in five moves.

At the tournament in Hastings in 1937/1938, the winner S. Reshevsky, having the Black pieces against W. Fairhurst, thought a long while in the position shown in the diagram and finally played 1 ... h6? However, he could have carried out a classic mate:

One could multiply examples of this sort. Magazines and chess columns have created a topic: ‘Blunders of the Masters’. Such a title is encouraging for the amateur.

But there is a lesson to be drawn from these blunders. For if great masters such as Chigorin and Reshevsky did not see – accidentally and no doubt pressed for time – such mates in a given number of moves, how many will always be overlooked by amateurs?

Yet mates in a given number of moves are the simplest of all the combinations, since more often than not they consist of a series of checks with forced replies. In addition, the majority of these mates can be reduced to a few standard types whose characteristics are easy to remember.

It is necessary to know these typical mating positions:

1) In order to apply them automatically and without loss of time when coming across them in games;

2) In order to try to obtain them when one has the attack;

3) In order to carefully avoid becoming a victim oneself.

When you are playing, there is no guardian angel to grab your arm as you are about to make a mistaken move and whisper in your ear, when the moment has come:

“Take care, my friend. There is a mate in four moves here, absolutely forced. Find it and do not miss the opportunity.”

And the following lines are designed to accompany you, dear reader, in the role of this good and useful guardian angel.

The majority of manuals reproduce a famous game, at rook odds, which was played move by move, blow by blow, by Walker, Morphy and Steinitz, against amateurs. Let’s examine it too and try to understand the way these three great players were able to deliver mate in the same manner against an inexperienced opponent.

GAME NO. 1

Evans Gambit Accepted

New York, 1857

P. Morphy – Amateur

(Remove White’s Queen’s Rook)

A century ago this opening was played as automatically as the first seven moves of the Orthodox Defence of the Queen’s Gambit are nowadays.

Experience has shown us that the only playable move in this position is 7 ... ♗b6.

There is already no satisfactory move. The only one which allows Black further resistance is 8 ... d6. From now on the game proceeds like clockwork.

Giving back a Pawn to escape the opponent’s clutches.

With this simultaneous attack on White’s Queen and Bishop, Black hopes to get rid of the dangerous Bishop.

Here starts an entertaining combination. White, who is already playing at Rook odds, sacrifices his Queen.

Of course he should not take the Queen. But in the 19th century, amateurs always allowed themselves to be tempted by their opponent’s gifts. Anyway this has hardly changed. It is a common misconception with some players that they imagine they are playing against a novice who has thoughtlessly left his Queen en prise.

White announces mate in six moves:

Can we teach the technique of such a mate? We do not think so. There is no recipe. The King was collected at its initial square and dragged gradually to the other side of the board, right up to a4, where it was mated.

An experienced player feels instinctively that positions, such as the one in the diagram, are rich in possibilities and...