pull down to refresh

Yes yes, chess is barely a sport but I'm working hard in SN circles to get the SportStackers to think of it as such.

Anyway, here's a beautiful checkmate I made today!! Freakin' wonderful!! I screamed out in delight when I saw it

I was wondering if it had a name?I was wondering if it had a name?

Grok says "knight-assisted checkmate," which makes no sense since it's the knight delivering the mate

Asking further, I get: Smothered mate

No exact named variation (e.g., Philidor's mate or Anastasia's mate) perfectly matches this exact piece placement, but the smothered mate is the closest established name.

I'm pretty sure that's called the Philadelphia squeeze.

reply

YEEEES!! and it isn't, from now on let it be forever known as the Philly squeeze

reply

Always come to me for sports facts. And yes, chess is a sport.

reply

Would love to see more chess content here. Nice mate.

reply

I try, my friend. I try!

reply
73 sats \ 1 reply \ @metkram 20 Jul

Smothered mate appears when king is surrounded by other pieces or by edge of the board (no way to escape even through a backdoor) and all what can save him - is teleportation.

In your case I'd call it Don Quixote's mate.

btw, today is International Chess Day. Would you like to connect on chesscom? My nim metkram there too

reply

I know, I know, that's why I hesitated calling it "smothered"

reply

Took me a while to figure out what is going on then I saw it! Amazing

I used to play chess a lot but after losing all the time I stopped playing. Lost confidence and started to feel silly playing it. Especially when I lost to a high schooler hahah

reply
used to play chess a lot but after losing all the time I stopped playing. Lost confidence and started to feel silly playing it

Naaah man, get back on that horse!!

reply

Incidentally, today is World Chess Day, apparently (according to chess.com's daily puzzle).

reply

Wooooaaah what!! Didn't know

reply

That's a gorgeous checkmate, congratulations! That "click" moment when you see a pattern like that fall into place is one of the best feelings in chess.

reply
reply

Nice job. I like chess. I am just not very good at it.

reply

Spent hours in checkmate in some cases and even be back with back button and lose, sometimes you win

reply

That’s a textbook smothered mate—one of the most satisfying finishes in chess! If chess isn’t a sport, then why does it make us scream like we won the World Cup?