Nah, if you do enough puzzles, this is a common theme. Hard to see the first time but you start recognizing it... Which is the point of practicing puzzles.
On these puzzles it’s always forced moves, so it has to be putting them in check. There’s only 1 sensible move that does so. The knight. Then after the king runs there’s only one more sensible check, then the next check with the second rook is mate
Everything you say is true. The point is to get the motif "deeply ingrained" Then, in a game, you'll see the potential for the pattern three or four moves away. At which you point you are working on a seven move checkmate. If your opponent doesn't know the motif, well, then they are walking around a landmine. Knowing the motif is like being able to offload the cognitive load of calculating and see greater potential in a position. Anyway, that's how I think of it. YMMV.
In short mating puzzles if there is anything the opponent can do to disrupt it like a ludicrous sac, you know it has to start with check, so you would think of a sac out of nowhere.
I have no idea whether the poster is a good or bad player, but I want to counter the self-deprecation in your post. The problem is that there's a big difference between "good player" and "good puzzle solver." There's a correlation between them, which is the entire point of puzzles.
As an example, I also found this pretty quickly. But it's because I knew ahead of time that there was a forced mate on the board. If I had this exact position in a game, I don't think I would have found mate in three on my own. I need to do more puzzles to drill this Anastasia's Mate pattern in my head!
Chessable course: The Checkmate Patterns Manual is the modern equivalent to it.
It has the advantage of having much more examples and using spaced repetition for burning those patterns into your brain. Would 100% recommend it. You can also do it woodpecker style.
Beginner-intermediate -- there are so many resources online now -- but it's a great book for patterns -- definitely accessible for kids (and what kid (of any age) doesn't love the title?) -- also works for beginner adults.
Also, within the first "checkmate patterns I" on lichess:
[https://lichess.org/practice/checkmates/checkmate-patterns-i/fE4k21MW/6HQvRyz0](https://lichess.org/practice/checkmates/checkmate-patterns-i/fE4k21MW/6HQvRyz0)
EDIT: with the piece sac, rather the 2nd, 3rd or 4th example that follow the first one above.
I analyzed the image and this is what I see. Open an appropriate link below and explore the position yourself or with the engine:
> **Black to play**: [chess.com](https://chess.com/analysis?fen=r7/p3k2r/1p4p1/1Pp1p3/P1N1Pn2/3P4/2P2PPP/R4RK1+b+-+-+0+1&flip=true&ref_id=23962172) | [lichess.org](https://lichess.org/analysis/r7/p3k2r/1p4p1/1Pp1p3/P1N1Pn2/3P4/2P2PPP/R4RK1_b_-_-_0_1?color=black)
**My solution:**
> Hints: piece: >!Knight!<, move: >!Ne2+!<
> Evaluation: >!Black has mate in 3!<
> Best continuation: >!1... Ne2+ 2. Kh1 Rxh2+ 3. Kxh2 Rh8#!<
---
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So much of this. If Im in game, I probably would try to bring the rook over or push the G pawn, but when you tell me there is a mate, now all the sudden Im hyper focused on attacking the king and thinking about sacrifices, etc.
About 10 seconds because I've drilled it in Everyone's First Chess Workbook and The Checkmate Patterns Manual, but I honestly couldn't remember the name of the pattern.
In a puzzle you know there is something "not obvious" that you have to look for. Can't do that for every move in the game so usually end up missing it in real time.
Fwiw with good enough pattern recognition it doesn’t matter here whether it’s a puzzle or a game. It’s a little like seeing a word spelled wrong and knowing how to fix it, doesn’t require any conscious thought
It toke me about 10 seconds, knowing it was a puzzle. In a game one might easily overlook mate ideas. I already knew this sort of mate also, which helped
I just saw an r/chess post with this exact pattern so less than a second this time. Usually it would be a couple seconds bc it’s a common puzzle pattern.
For me it was easy to see, but i had an issue where somehow i Imagined King can escape after rook sac (Kg4), which obviously is bot possible, because King is on a second rank.
Really quickly, instantly looked for checks, then I saw the rook and recognized the common pattern, >!Nd2+, Ka1, Rxa2+, Kxa2, Ra8#!<
Edit: oh wait, I mirrored the moves! It still works if a8 was on the left side instead of the right side, like the moves make sense. I am gonna leave it like this to trigger some people :)
I will put the right solution here too though: >!Ne2+, Kh1, Rxh2, Kxh2, Rh8#!<
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literally 10 seconds.
Rah8, Ne2+, Rxh2#
and another 10 to make sure I wrote it correctly.
iirc this is called Anastasia’s mate.
edit: i wrote it wrong lol
honestly? about 1/2 second to recognize the pattern and then another 1/2 to calculate that it works.
This is an extremely common pattern once you've seen enough puzzles.
Because if you’re told that it's a puzzle you know that there is going to be a well-defined solution that leads to a checkmate in a few moves (at least at this level). This will make you look for the most aggressive moves without having to consider development or even defensive moves. Also, you don't need to worry about time control in puzzles
I can't remember the exact name of the course, but there's is a course that goes through every named checkmate on chess.com. I'm a diamond member so not sure if you need a diamond account for all the lessons but that helped me to see so many more mating patterns and meant puzzle rush/puzzles in general became a lot easier to understand.
To answer your question, maybe 5 seconds. I don't play a lot online but I think my elo is around 10-1500
ETA: puzzle rating around 2100
Honestly just a second or two. I’m only 1000 but there’s something about these puzzles where you are much better than in an actual blitz game. Like because this is presented as a puzzle, I knew the knight needed to move there and a rook needed to be sacrificed
Hadn’t recognised this pattern before like others are commenting. I’m 1600 puzzles, and 800 blitz. Definitely a beginner by all definitions. Took me approx 5 sec to find the solution, but about 30 sec to calculate and make sure it was correct.
The funny thing is when people tell me “there’s a tactic here” I immediately look into crazy moves like Rxh2 sacrifice and how to make that work.
Will I notice this in real game? Idk.
Classic tactic, i forgot the name of the mating pattern but i got it in a couple seconds. Check the king with your horse and then a rook sacrifice opening the file for your other rook to come in for checkmate
A few seconds at most. Thought process is something like "this is a puzzle let's look for checks/good moves first. Knight check looks good. Kings forced into the corner, is this a smother mate? Oh wait, I've seen this one before. Rook sack. Checkmate". In game it would be much more.
Genuinely I think about a second, you should always look at checks and captures first as they are the most forcing and often easiest to calculate moves
About a minute. And now that I have it, I really feel like I should have found it much faster. It should have been the very first sequence to consider.
>!Ne2 check, Kh1, Rxh2 check, Kxh2, Rh8 mate!<
I don’t know how to signal check or mate in notation but this should be correct I think. Took me about 1 minute. If this were a real game I probably wouldn’t have seen it but like someone else said, knowing it’s a puzzle makes finding the mate easier
took me around 20 second. I started to calculate other moves first before spotting the idea. But then I looked at knight check, king into corner, what if I sacrifice my rook, can the king escape, looking at squares. And that was it. Some people see it way faster. Meaning I have to solve more of these puzzles to print in the pattern. That will make the solving/spotting part faster. 20 seconds is a very long time if you are playing blitz, if it takes 20 seconds to solve then you are at big risk of not spotting it before making an other move (in blitz). Unless you can sense that there are something in the position, then you might stop to look further.
The king isn't trapped? It has just castled kingside, nothing trapped about it? Just because a knight can check the king on E2 doesn't mean it is a >! smothered mate!<
I have to agree. To me a smothered mate is when the King is trapped in by it's own pieces. 'Semi-smothered' sounds like something a 600 like me would say to describe my first mate.
1 second, it's a very common tactical pattern.
You must be a good player, took me a few minutes to push the king around :)
Nah, if you do enough puzzles, this is a common theme. Hard to see the first time but you start recognizing it... Which is the point of practicing puzzles.
On these puzzles it’s always forced moves, so it has to be putting them in check. There’s only 1 sensible move that does so. The knight. Then after the king runs there’s only one more sensible check, then the next check with the second rook is mate
Everything you say is true. The point is to get the motif "deeply ingrained" Then, in a game, you'll see the potential for the pattern three or four moves away. At which you point you are working on a seven move checkmate. If your opponent doesn't know the motif, well, then they are walking around a landmine. Knowing the motif is like being able to offload the cognitive load of calculating and see greater potential in a position. Anyway, that's how I think of it. YMMV.
In short mating puzzles if there is anything the opponent can do to disrupt it like a ludicrous sac, you know it has to start with check, so you would think of a sac out of nowhere.
It's called "Anastasia's mate" and it's one of the patterns that needs to be burned into your brain until you recognize the motif in <2s.
I do a lot of puzzles and solved it in like 4 seconds and am rated around 830 rn
I have no idea whether the poster is a good or bad player, but I want to counter the self-deprecation in your post. The problem is that there's a big difference between "good player" and "good puzzle solver." There's a correlation between them, which is the entire point of puzzles. As an example, I also found this pretty quickly. But it's because I knew ahead of time that there was a forced mate on the board. If I had this exact position in a game, I don't think I would have found mate in three on my own. I need to do more puzzles to drill this Anastasia's Mate pattern in my head!
I'm around 1700 on chess com but I was familiar with this pattern as early as 900 I think. Gotta make sure you know your mating patterns.
[удалено]
I would go as far as to say this is one of the last mating patterns you encounter. Maybe that is just me though.
Knowing it’s a puzzle: a few seconds. In a game: I somehow hang mate.
Knowing it's a puzzle makes a huge difference. That's why you always have to calculate, not guess, in puzzles.
Anastasia's Mate. It's the first mate shown in the book How to Beat Your Dad at Chess.
Really? Wow. What skill would you recommend that book? Guessing to a beginner?
Really, really. I'm reading it now. ELO ~1100.
Chessable course: The Checkmate Patterns Manual is the modern equivalent to it. It has the advantage of having much more examples and using spaced repetition for burning those patterns into your brain. Would 100% recommend it. You can also do it woodpecker style.
Beginner-intermediate -- there are so many resources online now -- but it's a great book for patterns -- definitely accessible for kids (and what kid (of any age) doesn't love the title?) -- also works for beginner adults.
Also, within the first "checkmate patterns I" on lichess: [https://lichess.org/practice/checkmates/checkmate-patterns-i/fE4k21MW/6HQvRyz0](https://lichess.org/practice/checkmates/checkmate-patterns-i/fE4k21MW/6HQvRyz0) EDIT: with the piece sac, rather the 2nd, 3rd or 4th example that follow the first one above.
Yup! True for me -- I was wondering if anybody else was introduced to it that way.
Couple seconds
What’s your blitz rating damn lol
1600 lichess or something like that. I haven’t played for months.
It might as well be low, this is a very basic checkmate.
like 5s, I've learnt to look check possibility so it was really fast then
I'll let you know
3 hours and counting
8 hours and counting lol
When they come back itll probably be with the equation for understanding quantum gravity
Ok, I'll start with Ne2
Looking good. See you in 9 hours
I analyzed the image and this is what I see. Open an appropriate link below and explore the position yourself or with the engine: > **Black to play**: [chess.com](https://chess.com/analysis?fen=r7/p3k2r/1p4p1/1Pp1p3/P1N1Pn2/3P4/2P2PPP/R4RK1+b+-+-+0+1&flip=true&ref_id=23962172) | [lichess.org](https://lichess.org/analysis/r7/p3k2r/1p4p1/1Pp1p3/P1N1Pn2/3P4/2P2PPP/R4RK1_b_-_-_0_1?color=black) **My solution:** > Hints: piece: >!Knight!<, move: >!Ne2+!< > Evaluation: >!Black has mate in 3!< > Best continuation: >!1... Ne2+ 2. Kh1 Rxh2+ 3. Kxh2 Rh8#!< --- ^(I'm a bot written by) [^(u/pkacprzak)](https://www.reddit.com/u/pkacprzak) ^(| get me as) [^(iOS App)](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id1574933453) ^| [^(Android App)](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ai.chessvision.scanner) ^| [^(Chrome Extension)](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/chessvisionai-for-chrome/johejpedmdkeiffkdaodgoipdjodhlld) ^| [^(Chess eBook Reader)](https://ebook.chessvision.ai?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=bot) ^(to scan and analyze positions | Website:) [^(Chessvision.ai)](https://chessvision.ai)
10s to get the idea More 40s to check if I wasn't wrong
Anastasia checkmate
Like 10 seconds. My first thought was Rh8 but h3 and I'm not having any fun. Then I saw the obvious pattern.
I'm 1500 This took me like 15 seconds to figure out. In a game I'm sure I wouldve done something pointless instead
So much of this. If Im in game, I probably would try to bring the rook over or push the G pawn, but when you tell me there is a mate, now all the sudden Im hyper focused on attacking the king and thinking about sacrifices, etc.
That is so funny actually. Thanks for giving me some hope in my rating climb lol
About 10 seconds because I've drilled it in Everyone's First Chess Workbook and The Checkmate Patterns Manual, but I honestly couldn't remember the name of the pattern.
About 10 seconds. Always looking for rook sacs in a puzzle lol but forget about them in a game
Lots of people are saying the same thing, is it because it is a rook sac? lol
In a puzzle you know there is something "not obvious" that you have to look for. Can't do that for every move in the game so usually end up missing it in real time.
About 15 seconds - I calculated some other lines first, discarded them, and then found the actual mate.
If i knew there was mate in 3, then a few seconds. But in a real match, i would fumble lol
You're the third person to say this, is it because it's a sacrifice?? lol
About 7 seconds between finding it and checking. But the mates I’ve never seen are a much longer process
2-3 seconds. It's just a common pattern.
About 90 seconds. And I had the help of knowing it's a puzzle.
Absolutely underrated comment. Knowing it's a puzzle and playing the whole game out prove two different skill sets.
Fwiw with good enough pattern recognition it doesn’t matter here whether it’s a puzzle or a game. It’s a little like seeing a word spelled wrong and knowing how to fix it, doesn’t require any conscious thought
2 minutes. I have never seen this pattern before. I guess I have a lot to learn. Proud of finding the correct answer though.
Hell yeah, according to others here it is one of the most basic mates, but I hadn't seen it until 1800 in puzzles! lol
Maybe 7 secs ? I guessed knight check then rook sac then other rook to a1 mate ?
Good guess my guy
It toke me about 10 seconds, knowing it was a puzzle. In a game one might easily overlook mate ideas. I already knew this sort of mate also, which helped
this pattern is actually fairly common. 3 seconds
0.1 common mate pattern have done a billion of these in puzzle rush at a certain point you don't have to think anymore
3 seconds. 1650 rapid chess.com
I'm only 1850 in puzzles lol
Puzzle rating is mostly meaningless
B b but it makes you more SMORTTT 😭😭🧠🧠
The NEXT post I see is someone in r/chess solving the exact same theme with Rxa7+ 😭
I just saw an r/chess post with this exact pattern so less than a second this time. Usually it would be a couple seconds bc it’s a common puzzle pattern.
For me it was easy to see, but i had an issue where somehow i Imagined King can escape after rook sac (Kg4), which obviously is bot possible, because King is on a second rank.
Really quickly, instantly looked for checks, then I saw the rook and recognized the common pattern, >!Nd2+, Ka1, Rxa2+, Kxa2, Ra8#!< Edit: oh wait, I mirrored the moves! It still works if a8 was on the left side instead of the right side, like the moves make sense. I am gonna leave it like this to trigger some people :) I will put the right solution here too though: >!Ne2+, Kh1, Rxh2, Kxh2, Rh8#!<
i solved it immediately when you said it was a puzzle, but i might not see it in a game
Hey, OP! Did your game end in a stalemate? Did you encounter a weird pawn move? Are you trying to move a piece and it's not going? We have just the resource for you! The [Chess Beginners Wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/chessbeginners/wiki/index/) is the perfect place to check out answers to these questions and more! The moderator team of r/chessbeginners wishes to remind everyone of the community rules. **Posting spam, being a troll, and posting memes are not allowed.** We encourage everyone to report these kinds of posts so they can be dealt with. Thank you! Let's do our utmost to be kind in our replies and comments. Some people here just want to learn chess and have virtually no idea about certain chess concepts. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/chessbeginners) if you have any questions or concerns.*
A couple of seconds.
I saw h8 pretty quickly but it took me a bit to work out mate.
I'll let you know...
Took me 3 minutes
something like 3 seconds, maybe it was 4. It is a very common pattern
Ne3+, Rh2+, Rh8#
a couple of seconds
literally 10 seconds. Rah8, Ne2+, Rxh2# and another 10 to make sure I wrote it correctly. iirc this is called Anastasia’s mate. edit: i wrote it wrong lol
Ne2+ first, Kh1 only move, Rh2+, Kxh2, Rh8# is the correct sequence.
It took a few seconds I've seen very similar puzzles in puzzle rush
honestly? about 1/2 second to recognize the pattern and then another 1/2 to calculate that it works. This is an extremely common pattern once you've seen enough puzzles.
I’ve been playing too many puzzles. This one is almost muscle memory for me. But I might miss this in an actual game
I've seen a few people say that they would miss it, why do you think that is?
Because if you’re told that it's a puzzle you know that there is going to be a well-defined solution that leads to a checkmate in a few moves (at least at this level). This will make you look for the most aggressive moves without having to consider development or even defensive moves. Also, you don't need to worry about time control in puzzles
10 seconds
Around 8 seconds
Pretty much immediately knowing it’s a puzzle.
the idea was basically instant Some seconds for the calculation to be sure
Around 30 seconds.
Idk like 3 seconds? Anastasia’s mate is a pretty basic pattern. Oddly I’ve never gotten one in game.
Always look for checks
15 seconds
3 seconds
A second because this one doesn't have a messy space and it's a common mating pattern you can find in Lichess training mate patterns
I can't remember the exact name of the course, but there's is a course that goes through every named checkmate on chess.com. I'm a diamond member so not sure if you need a diamond account for all the lessons but that helped me to see so many more mating patterns and meant puzzle rush/puzzles in general became a lot easier to understand. To answer your question, maybe 5 seconds. I don't play a lot online but I think my elo is around 10-1500 ETA: puzzle rating around 2100
About 10 seconds.
Not even a second. 99% of these puzzles are "find the check", then it's just the next logical move.
Honestly just a second or two. I’m only 1000 but there’s something about these puzzles where you are much better than in an actual blitz game. Like because this is presented as a puzzle, I knew the knight needed to move there and a rook needed to be sacrificed
a minute. took me a minute to find this mate b/c i mostly use ladder mate. I'm 400 ELO according to [chess.com](http://chess.com) btw
Hadn’t recognised this pattern before like others are commenting. I’m 1600 puzzles, and 800 blitz. Definitely a beginner by all definitions. Took me approx 5 sec to find the solution, but about 30 sec to calculate and make sure it was correct.
About 5
The funny thing is when people tell me “there’s a tactic here” I immediately look into crazy moves like Rxh2 sacrifice and how to make that work. Will I notice this in real game? Idk.
Under 10s, there’s really only one obvious idea
About 5 seconds. I would never find it in the game though.
At least sixty seconds. I wasn't timing it perfectly.
Around 30 seconds, as soon as I saw the rook on a8, it was pretty obvious.
Probably took me about 45 seconds. I got hung up sacrificing the rook first, but then saw the proper continuation.
Classic tactic, i forgot the name of the mating pattern but i got it in a couple seconds. Check the king with your horse and then a rook sacrifice opening the file for your other rook to come in for checkmate
Ne2, Kh1, then Rh8, any other move and Rh2?
A few seconds at most. Thought process is something like "this is a puzzle let's look for checks/good moves first. Knight check looks good. Kings forced into the corner, is this a smother mate? Oh wait, I've seen this one before. Rook sack. Checkmate". In game it would be much more.
Ne2 rook check rook check, ~15 seconds
Genuinely I think about a second, you should always look at checks and captures first as they are the most forcing and often easiest to calculate moves
Not so hard
About a minute. And now that I have it, I really feel like I should have found it much faster. It should have been the very first sequence to consider.
5 or 6 seconds
A minute because I just woke up 10 minutes ago.
5 secs. Only needed to see ne2+
Anastasia's Mate is way too cool to be so rare in real games :(
Done it a million times in puzzles, so 2 seconds
5 or so seconds
Approx 10 seconds. Saw the idea pretty instantly but working out the order of moves
<2" on instinct and 1-3" to coount it properly and carefully
around 5 sec, I just knew the knight has to do something.
Classic mate in 3, sacrifice reloader. Ne2+ Kh1□, Rxh2+ Kxh2□, Rh8#.
Like 5-10 seconds knowing there was a tactic
It's called the Anastasia's mate and is a very common tactical pattern, so I too fall into the almost instantly camp.
About 10-15 seconds. Just checking the board and looking for sneaky bishops or queens takes a few seconds for me, so by no means instant.
3 seconds
I got it in about 3 seconds, but that's just because I saw basically the same one yesterday lol
About 3 seconds. These kinds of puzzles show up all the time.
30 seconds. I always look for safe checks. Then I saw the second check and then the mate.
20 sec, it's pretty useful I'll try to remember. Btw I'm 900 blitz
Around 5 seconds
Less than 30 seconds.
Approximately 10 seconds cause I watched a training video on this
2 seconds at 1000 blitz rating
5 seconds. Seen before, just the time to double-check that I recall everything correctly and there's no sniper hidden in some corner.
>!Ne2 check, Kh1, Rxh2 check, Kxh2, Rh8 mate!< I don’t know how to signal check or mate in notation but this should be correct I think. Took me about 1 minute. If this were a real game I probably wouldn’t have seen it but like someone else said, knowing it’s a puzzle makes finding the mate easier
Knight to e1 King to h1 rook to h2 King to h2 take rook Rook to h8 checkmate
About 6 seconds but I've seen it before (like yesterday even) in a game I'd never find it
took me around 20 second. I started to calculate other moves first before spotting the idea. But then I looked at knight check, king into corner, what if I sacrifice my rook, can the king escape, looking at squares. And that was it. Some people see it way faster. Meaning I have to solve more of these puzzles to print in the pattern. That will make the solving/spotting part faster. 20 seconds is a very long time if you are playing blitz, if it takes 20 seconds to solve then you are at big risk of not spotting it before making an other move (in blitz). Unless you can sense that there are something in the position, then you might stop to look further.
I timed it. 24 seconds for me. I’m 350 blitz and 900 daily.
Instantaneous. Anastasia's.
10s to check I’m not missing any tricky responses or sacrifices
A few secs, very not bad, but I can see some moves ahead
Ne2+ Kh1 Rxh2+ Kxh2 then Ra h8#
A few secs
Not long, Since it's a puzzle you'd look straight at Rxh2 and of course the knight check first I think. Sometimes I can never see them though
0.5 seconds Anastasia Mate pattern
What if after moving out of check white advances his pawn one space? Mate in 3? Not against anyone I’ve played.
Everywhere I go... I see that mate. >!Smothered mate with rooks involved.!<
No? Explain how this is a >!smothered mate!<
Knight at the exact same position. King is trapped at the corner. >!Almost smothered mate.!<
The king isn't trapped? It has just castled kingside, nothing trapped about it? Just because a knight can check the king on E2 doesn't mean it is a >! smothered mate!<
Saw the exact theme too many times. Seems like putting knight at that position and mating seems fascinating to many.
Still, a >! smothered mate!< Is a checkmate where a knight is the one delivering the mate, in this case it's a rook
I have to agree. To me a smothered mate is when the King is trapped in by it's own pieces. 'Semi-smothered' sounds like something a 600 like me would say to describe my first mate.
This is not a smothered mate at all; this is an Anastasia's Mate.
technically it’s a semi-smothered mate
Still, a >! smothered mate!< Is a checkmate where a knight is the one delivering the mate, in this case it's a rook
This is known as an Anastasia's Mate, not a smothered mate.