Self-matte

The selfmate is a form of chess problem , forcing in the White that black him checkmate . Black tries to avoid this at all costs. There is a separate section in the FIDE album for Selbstmatts .

history

The earliest surviving self-mats date from the late 13th century. However, they were not handed down in Arab mansion collections, but were shown for the first time in the collection of exercises in Bonus Socius . The first known Selbstmatt had the number 57a and contained a heel , the forerunner of the lady . This problem was later found to be incorrect. The self-matting became very popular in the middle of the 19th century. Characteristic were difficult and often feared tasks with a long number of trains.

Typical tasks

In addition to many orthodox topics, those that can not be represented in orthodox matte tasks can also be represented in self- matte . In contrast to these tasks, multiple mating options are not regarded as defects in self-mating. Self-mates with a single “mate” - meaning a position in which Black, if it were his turn, could mate - are referred to as a “ mirage ”. If the checkmate piece in the set game was defeated during the solution, one speaks of the "Weber type" (after Wolfgang Weber).

example

An example of a self-matte:

Noam D. Elkies
Harvard 2002

	a	b	c	d	e	f	G	H
8th									8th
7th									7th
6th									6th
5									5
4th									4th
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	G	H

Self-mate in 2 moves

Set games : 1.… a1D or a1T mate; 1.… a1L 2. Qg6 or Qf7 Bb2 mate; 1.… a1S 2. Qg6 Nb3 mate. The set games cannot be forced as long as the black king can move. There are two ways to take all moves from the black king.

Seduction: 1. Qg6? a1S! and White is forced to move : 2. Qf7 Nb3 + 3. Qxb3

Solution:
1. Qf5 – f7! a2 – a1L or a2 – a1S (converting to queen or rook would
checkmate immediately) 2. Qf7 – g6 Ba1 – b2 mate or Sa1 – b3 mate

Further self-mating tasks are dealt with in the articles on Udo Degener , Albert Heinrich Kniest , Miodrag Mladenović , Jeremy Morse and Wolfgang Weber .

Reflective matt

The reflex mat is a variant of the self-mat. Here, too, white forces its own mate against the resistance of black. However, the additional rule applies: If one of the two sides has the opportunity to checkmate the other side in one move, then it must also make use of this possibility.

So it is enough that White provides Black with a mate move, because the additional rule forces Black to also make this move. On the other hand, there are new possibilities of defense, because Black can offer the white mating moves, which he must also execute according to the additional rule.

Example of a reflective mat:

Gerald Frank Anderson
The Problemist 1970

	a	b	c	d	e	f	G	H
8th									8th
7th									7th
6th									6th
5									5
4th									4th
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	G	H

Reflective matt in 3 moves

If it weren't for White's queen and white knight, Black could checkmate with 1.… h1D and would have to do so according to the reflexmate rule.

Seduction: 1. Qd5 + Kh7 2. Ne4 h1D mate. But this fails on 1.… Kf8 !, because now White has to checkmate with 2. Rxb8 according to the reflexmate rule.

Solution:
1. Bf6 – e7! preventing 1. ... Kf8
At first ... Kf7 follows the second Dd5 + K ~ 3. Ne4 H1D matt
on the first ... Kg7 / Kh8 follows the second Da1 + K ~ 3. Sd1 H1D matt
on the first ... Kh7 follows the second Db1 + K ~ 3. Sd1 H1D matt
on the first ... f3 follows the second Lh4 K ~ 3. Dg1 matt hxg1S

Further use of the term

If a player makes surprisingly bad moves in party chess (or makes a gross mistake that first gives the opponent the opportunity to checkmate), one says, "He is playing on self-checkmate". However, it should be noted that this use of the term is based on a widespread misunderstanding. Because the most important thing about self-mating is that the opponent is forced to mate . Granting an opportunity to checkmate is a long way from this. The latter is not the idea of ​​self-matting, but that of auxiliary matting .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Georg Böller: Problemists in the Chess Federation , in: KARL. The cultural chess magazine , online article
2. ^ Manfred von Fondern, Lexicon for Chess Friends, Lucerne and Frankfurt / M. 1980, article "Reflexmatt"
3. ↑ Fairy Tale Chess Encyclopedia of the problem chess magazine " Die Schwalbe ", article "Reflexmatt"
4. ↑ Kurt Richter : The first steps. Chess guide for beginners , Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 1941, p. 49

swell

• http://www.theproblemist.org/what-are-chess-problems/29-selfmates
• http://www.problemschach.de/harmonie/artikel/along/along06.htm

Web links

• Selbstmatts in the problem database
• Reflexmatts in the problem database