Choked Matt

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Smothered Matt ( Stickmatt ) is a term from the game of chess . This describes a situation in which a king cannot evade a knight's check because he is completely surrounded by his own pieces. If that knight cannot be captured, the king is checkmated. He's kind of suffocated in his cramped environment.

The stifled mate appears every now and then as a twist or threat in tournament games. It has also been a popular motif in chess composition since the 15th century . Classically well-known studies from this period come from Lucena and Damiano .

The following typical example of a stifled mate shows the interaction between knight and queen . The latter sacrifices itself at the end to block the path of the black king and to enable the knight to checkmate . It is a dragging victim : the black rook is directed to the g8 square to block the king's last escape square .

Examples

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8th Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess rdt45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess kdt45.svg Chess --t45.svg 8th
7th Chess pdt45.svg Chess pdt45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess pdt45.svg Chess pdt45.svg 7th
6th Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg 6th
5 Chess qdt45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess pdt45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess nlt45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg 5
4th Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess plt45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg 4th
3 Chess --t45.svg Chess plt45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess plt45.svg Chess --t45.svg 3
2 Chess plt45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess plt45.svg 2
1 Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess qlt45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess klt45.svg Chess --t45.svg 1
  a b c d e f G H  
White mates in five moves

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  a b c d e f G H  
8th Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess rdt45.svg Chess kdt45.svg 8th
7th Chess pdt45.svg Chess pdt45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess nlt45.svg Chess pdt45.svg Chess pdt45.svg 7th
6th Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg 6th
5 Chess qdt45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess pdt45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg 5
4th Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess plt45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg 4th
3 Chess --t45.svg Chess plt45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess plt45.svg Chess --t45.svg 3
2 Chess plt45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess plt45.svg 2
1 Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess klt45.svg Chess --t45.svg 1
  a b c d e f G H  
End position

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1. Qd1 – d5 + Kg8 – h8 ( if Kg8 – f8, then Qd5 – f7 #)
2. Ne5 – f7 + ( forces the black king onto an unfavorable square, as White is then allowed to chess . ) Kh8 – g8
3. Nf7 –H6 ++ ( a double check ) Kg8 – h8
4. Qd5 – g8 + ( The queen sacrifices herself to force Black to adjust the last free square for his king. (Motive for steering ) ) Re8xg8 ( the king cannot capture because the Queen is covered by the knight )
5. Nh6 – f7 #

The motif can also appear in the middle of the board, but eight fields would have to be adjusted by stones. The Swiss chess composer Luigi Bühler shows how fields can be adjusted by blocking the pieces.

Another practical example can be found in the Game of the Century D. Byrne - R. Fischer in the note on move 17.