A model mate is a type of pure mate checkmating position in

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

in which not only is the checkmated

king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

and all vacant squares in its field attacked only once, and squares in the king's field occupied by friendly units are not also attacked by the mating side (unless such a unit is necessarily pinned to the king), but all units of the mating side (with the possible exception of the king and pawns) participate actively in forming the mating net. Model mates are extremely rare in practical play, but they add value to

chess problem A chess problem, also called a chess composition, is a puzzle set by the composer using chess pieces on a chess board, which presents the solver with a particular task. For instance, a position may be given with the instruction that White is to ...

s as they are considered artistic. In fact, they form the basis of the so-called

Bohemian school Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a List of Molson Coors brands, brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unco ...

of chess composition, most fruitful in threemovers and moremovers. Model mates are very usual in helpmates and they appear often in

selfmate A selfmate is a chess problem in which White, moving first, must force Black to deliver checkmate within a specified number of moves against their will. Selfmates were once known as sui-mates. Example The problem shown is a relatively simple examp ...

s too.

Examples

This example shows a problem by Miroslav Havel. The 1. Bc5 gives a flight square for the black king and threatens 2.Rxf6+ Ke4 3.Nf2 with a model mate. The main variations end with model mates from white batteries: :1... Kf4 2. Nxf6 (threat 3.Qg4#) 2... e4 3. Nd7#, and :1... Ke4 2. Nf2+ Kd5 3. Rc7#. There are several other variations (after 1...Ne4 and 1...Ke6), which do not end with model mates, and allow for multiple continuations. In the Bohemian school they are irrelevant, as long as they end with a mate in a prescribed number of moves.
This example shows a

helpmate A helpmate is a type of chess problem in which both sides cooperate in order to achieve the goal of checkmating Black. In a helpmate in ''n'' moves, Black moves first, then White, each side moving ''n'' times, to culminate in White's ''nth'' mov ...

, in which both sides cooperate to achieve a mate to the black king. It has two solutions ending in model mates (Black moves first in helpmates): :1. Re3 Ke6 2. Ke4 Rh4#, and :1. Kc5 Kc7 2. Rc4 Nc6#. If all units of both colours are involved in a model mate, then it is an ''

ideal mate In chess, an ideal mate is a checkmate position that is a special form of model mate. While in a model mate, each piece on the mating player's side (possibly excluding the king and pawns depending on context) participates in the mate, an id ...

''. Both mates in the presented helpmate are ideal mates.

References

* Chess checkmates Chess problems {{Chess-stub

Examples

See also

References