How to Smother Mate?

I've seen it done in example games, but I was wondering what to look for position wise for an opportunity to smother mate your opponent. Also any tips or strategies. I've never done it and it's one of my goals.

I'm pretty slow with chess notation so any PGN examples would be appreciated.

Imagine White's going to get smothered.

For a start you're probably looking at White having castled kingside having already moved or lost the f2 pawn. So the g1-a7 diagonal is open.

Second, the White queen probably isn't going to be at home on d1. If it were when you check on f2 it will fork monarchs with the king on h1. White will probably give up his rook on f2 for Black's knight to avoid losing his queen even if he didn't notice the mate pattern.

Other than that...

well Black's queen's has to have access to the diagonal. Particularly likely seems to be b6. Also Black's going to have to get a knight to f2. That will probably come from e4 or less likely g4.

Oh - White's g and h pawns will still be on the second rank.


Never managed to pull it off in a real game myself. :-(

White to move - mate in 3

Originally posted by Exuma
White to move - mate in 3

[fen]5rk1/1b3Npp/2q5/8/8/1Q6/5PPP/5RK1[/fen]

Yes, Nh6++, then Qg8+ forcing the rook to interspose, and Nf7#

But as the previous poster points out, the hard bit is getting to this position! Never done it either, but dying to!

Nh6 Kh6

Qg8 Rxg8

Nf7 mate

Generally, if you want to set one up you are usually looking to attack a castled king on either the f or c file - often if the castler has made an aggressive pawn push he is going to be more vulnerable to this tactic.

Most people who have seen it once will remember it so will not fall easily, you usually have to double up the threat along with a secondary attack to make it useful. The only time I have had one in a competitive game involved my putting a rook en prise in order to deflect a defending piece off the mate threat - that was quite a nice win.

Originally posted by USArmyParatrooper
I've seen it done in example games, but I was wondering what to look for position wise for an opportunity to smother mate your opponent. Also any tips or strategies. I've never done it and it's one of my goals.

I'm pretty slow with chess notation so any PGN examples would be appreciated.

You cannot aim for smothered mate,the possibility arises or it doesn't.As with all tactics you can recognise a possible smothering pattern and try to steer the game towards it but that's about it.
Here's a few opening traps featuring a smothered mate.

Caro-Kann


Budapest gambit


Scandinavian defense


King's gambit accepted,Quade gambit


And this position arose in Atkinson - x,1929
White to play and win


Examples taken from "The art of the checkmate" - Renaud and Kahn

Btw,which is the correct spelling "Quaade" or "Quade"?

Actually, this reminds me of a true story. One of the guys I know was playing a fairly aggressive junior who had sacrificed a piece for an attack, put a knight and queen attacking f7 and then said something like "oh, you are going to love this" and played Qg8+
Anyway, this guy immediately resigned, thinking he had to play Rxg8, Nf7# but, in actual fact, he could have played Kxg8 because the knight was not supporting the queen and it was simply en prise.

Needless to say, there was a bit of a dispute after the game....

Here's one by the top board of the team I play for:

I cant believe you guys havent seen any smothered mates. Seriously, I see it often. It seems sort of easy if you ask me. It happens to me all the time. 😉😏

what do you look for for a smothered mate? Smothered king by his own pieces and a knight(or a couple) wandering towards the king.

Originally posted by Tyrannosauruschex
Actually, this reminds me of a true story. One of the guys I know was playing a fairly aggressive junior who had sacrificed a piece for an attack, put a knight and queen attacking f7 and then said something like "oh, you are going to love this" and played Qg8+
Anyway, this guy immediately resigned, thinking he had to play Rxg8, Nf7# but, in actua ...[text shortened]... d it was simply en prise.

Needless to say, there was a bit of a dispute after the game....

I was on the receiving end of that against an army buddy. In my unit I'm notorious as "the one to beat", even though to real chess players I'm a novice.

I had a position where his king was in the corner behind his pawns, and I thought I could bring my Queen up the diagonal - forcing him to recapture with his rook and "bam!" smothered mate with my knight. I stupidly missed that my queen wasn't backed up and he simply captured it with his king instead.

I never heard the end of that one. "You suck! I destroyed you."

Originally posted by USArmyParatrooper
How to Smother Mate?

Just choke your opponent.

Originally posted by Winston Smith
King's gambit accepted,Quade gambit

I'm surprised this actually sound. Can you give what happens if black doesn't follow the line?

Originally posted by Uries
I'm surprised this actually sound. Can you give what happens if black doesn't follow the line?

Hold on there,I didn't say the quaade is sound.I just wanted to show a trap featuring the thread topic,I have no idea of this gambit's true merit.

Looking at the line it seems to me it relies entirely on enticing black to overshoot by going for the h1 rook.
Instead I would play for development with 4....,d6 as in the Fischer defense,that looks fine to me.also 4....,Nc6 and 4.....,Bg7 look good.
Later in the line 7...,Qxg4 8.Nxg4,d5 looks ok for black as well.