White to move. How should white proceed?
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Quickie tactic
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White to move. How should white proceed?
Nh6 + Kh8
Qg8 + RxQ
Nf7 mate
A simpler case of Philidor’s mate would be hard to find.
Nh6+ Kh8,
Qg8+ Rxg8,
Nf7#
Nh6+..kh8
Qg8+..r:g8
Nf7+#
1. ♘h6++ ♚h8
2. ♕g8+ ♜xg8
3. ♘f7#
Ha ha, this one is an all time classic 🙂
1. Nh6++! Kh8 (only move)
2. Qg8+!! Rxg8 (only move)
3. Nf7+ checkmate
1Nh6 double ch & smothered mate
1.Nh6+, 2.Qg8+, and 3. Nf7 mates.
Philidor’s legacy….one of the special things I learnt decades ago from my lone, old, disintegrating, and worn-out book as a young child growing up in a rural African village. I had lots of enthusiasm about chess but had only one book as learning material (it had lots of missing pages too), few practice opponents, and no chessboard to call my own.
When you grow up like that, you’ll never forget the mating pattern above 🙂
I get to enforce this mate about once every 6 months in online chess, and I still take pleasure in it after 10 years. Of course, trying to set up this mate by making bad moves has cost me, too, alas.
Smothered Mate!
1.Nh6+ Kh8
2.Qg8+ Rxg8
3.Nf7#