Can Black deliver a smothered mate? Black to move.

Let's try one more. In the following position, White's king is completely surrounded by its own pieces. Yes! If White plays Ng6, it is a smothered mate! Smothered mate! Black's king is stuck in the corner, but is there a smothered mate? If so, what is the move? White to move! Now that you have seen a couple of smothered mate examples, let’s see if you can recognize smothered mates on your own! It is White's turn to move in the following position. Please note that Black cannot capture the knight on d6 because theIr e- pawn is pinned by White’s queen. You guessed it! A smothered mate! After White’s knight on the e4-square moves to the d6-square, a smothered mate is delivered. White has a scary and game-ending resource. Black has just played Ngf6, but their king is completely surrounded by their own pieces. In the following example, we see an opening trap in the Caro-Kann Defense. Once the knight hops onto f7, we have a smothered mate! Smothered mate! The black king is trapped in the corner and surrounded by its own pieces. In the example below, the black king is stuck in the corner and is surrounded by its own pieces. There are many different types of smothered mates, but here we look at some of the most common.

However, if too many pieces are around a king, be aware of the dreaded smothered mate!Īs mentioned, a smothered mate is delivered by a knight (the sneakiest piece) so to defend against smothered mates you should always be alert for any knight in the vicinity of your king! Examples of Smothered Mates Almost every chess player brings their own pieces to the aid of their king when it is being attacked. Here is everything you need to know about smothered mates:Ī smothered mate is a checkmate that occurs when a king is mostly (or completely) surrounded by its own pieces. How can you deliver a smothered mate? Find out below! Smothered mate is one of the trickiest checkmates that exists! This checkmate is delivered by the devious knight.

Chess checkmate examples