Chess Basics: Smothered Mate

A smothered mate is a checkmate delivered by a knight when the opposing king is surrounded by pieces, typically his own. In this lesson, we’ll learn what a smothered mate looks like and how it can be achieved when a king has yet to be completely boxed in by material. 

The Classic Smothered Mate

Though a smothered mate can occur in any spot on the board where a king is surrounded by pieces, they most commonly take place in a corner. A typical smothered mate looks like this:

The black king is in check from the white knight on f7 and cannot run away, cannot block, and cannot capture the attacker. It’s checkmate.

Smothered Mate in Two

Smothered mate often requires multiple moves to pull off and frequently involves a piece sacrifice. In the position below, White sees the opportunity to check the black king by moving their knight to f7, but the black rook on f8 will capture it. To create the conditions for a smothered mate, White first needs to force the black rook off of the f-file:

By sacrificing their queen, White leaves Black no choice but to capture the queen with their rook. Once the rook has moved to g8 and entombed the king, White can move their knight to f7 and deliver checkmate.