[Event "Setting Up Checkmate Patterns"] [Site "?"] [Date "2022.11.15"] [Round "?"] [White "Introduction"] [Black "The Idea"] [Result "*"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [BlackFideId "-1"] [PlyCount "1"] [GameId "2126319235454647"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [SourceTitle "https://www.chessable.co"] {This course is the 3rd course of the Checkmate Patterns series: - The Checkmate Patterns Manual is Chessable's flagship course on checkmating, with additional videos from IM John Bartholomew. This course contains 30 checkmate pattern learning chapters with short but instructive informational sections to give you an idea how a certain checkmate pattern can be executed, based on similarities that I saw among the many thousands of games I looked at. After the learning part, there is a practice part, in which the puzzles are classified according to difficulty: 1 warm-up chapter, 1 exercises chapter and 1 final test. Online you can find videos in which chess legends such as Magnus Carlsen, Anish Giri and Peter Svidler take on this final test! [ https://www.chessable.com/the-checkmate-patterns-manual/course/17841/ ] - Dazzling Defenses against Checkmate Patterns teaches you how to defend against the very same checkmate patterns as in The Checkmate Patterns Manual. Each motif is rolled back one or more moves and flipped to the defender’s perspective. Your task is to avoid being checkmated. [ https://www.chessable.com/dazzling-defenses-against-checkmate-patterns/course/31221/ ] - Setting up Checkmate Patterns teaches you how to use tactics that can lead to the very same checkmate patterns as in The Checkmate Patterns Manual. Each motif is rolled back one or more moves and is viewed from the attacker's perspective. Your task is to use tactics that can give you an advantage. And if your opponent is not careful enough, the game ends in 1 of the 30 checkmate patterns that are covered in The Checkmate Patterns Manual!} 1. Z0 * [Event "Setting Up Checkmate Patterns"] [Site "?"] [Date "2022.11.15"] [Round "?"] [White "Introduction"] [Black "The Puzzles"] [Result "*"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [BlackFideId "-1"] [PlyCount "1"] [GameId "2126319235462840"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [SourceTitle "https://www.chessable.co"] {In this course, Setting up Checkmate Patterns, I cherry-picked 250 puzzles from The Checkmate Patterns Manual. Each forced checkmate motif is rolled back one or more moves. Your task is to find the tactic that gives you an advantage. For example: The first move of the solution could be to sacrifice a Queen for a Knight. In case the opponent doesn't accept the sacrifice, you will have a better position. And in case the opponent accepts the sacrifice, you will win the game with one of the 30+ Checkmate Patterns! Every solution ends with the name of the checkmate pattern on which that puzzle is based. For more explanation about the origin and details of each of the checkmate patterns, I refer to The Checkmate Patterns Manual, available on Chessable. The title of each puzzle is the game on which it's based. This does not necessarily mean that the original game went exactly the same way!} 1. Z0 * [Event "Setting Up Checkmate Patterns"] [Site "?"] [Date "2022.11.15"] [Round "?"] [White "Introduction"] [Black "The Solutions"] [Result "*"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [BlackFideId "-1"] [PlyCount "1"] [GameId "2126319235475129"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [SourceTitle "https://www.chessable.co"] {I tried to avoid using games with a dense forest of variations and lots of alternative moves. Each puzzle has one correct solution, and possibly a few alternative moves. The following types of moves are NOT accepted as alternative moves in this course: - The unnecessary repetition of moves, even if it is a mate-in-X according to the engine; - Silent moves that unnecessarily prolong the game. All solutions are checked with Stockfish 13. If you believe that something isn’t correct, please leave a comment. Feel free to use an engine to better understand the solutions of the most difficult puzzles.} 1. Z0 * [Event "Setting Up Checkmate Patterns"] [Site "?"] [Date "2022.11.15"] [Round "?"] [White "Introduction"] [Black "Optimal Course Settings"] [Result "*"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [BlackFideId "-1"] [PlyCount "1"] [GameId "2126319235475130"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [SourceTitle "https://www.chessable.co"] {I use the course options below. Feel free to deviate from these. - Go to [ https://www.chessable.com/course/33908/ ] - Study: Key Moves; - Review: Whole Variation; - Depth: Full Depth; - Soft fail: Retry on alternative good move; - Schedule: Cyclical, with a cycle of 4 weeks; - Time: Infinity; - While in study/review mode: Auto Next Lesson is Off ? That way, you can take a look at all the annotations after studying/reviewing a variation!} 1. Z0 * [Event "Setting Up Checkmate Patterns"] [Site "?"] [Date "2022.11.15"] [Round "?"] [White "Introduction"] [Black "Word of Thanks"] [Result "*"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [BlackFideId "-1"] [PlyCount "1"] [GameId "2126319235475131"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [SourceTitle "https://www.chessable.co"] {Of course, I want to thank each of you for your support and feedback! I really appreciate it if you give this course a star rating, and possibly also a review. Positive feedback gives me the energy to make more courses like this. And thanks to constructive criticism, I can take all my courses to a higher level. Thanks in advance! Thanks to the fantastic testing work of Krakatoa (with over 100 valuable comments!) , Kulak, MichelT and slowjoe, the level of this course in terms of content, usability and linguistics increased a lot. Thank you very much! Thank you to chessable for the opportunity to publish books as an amateur chess player. And last but not least, I would like to thank my girlfriend Tania for all the support. If you would like to be inspired about healthy food, follow her on Instagram: ?tania_health. Enjoy! Raf Mesotten aka CraftyRaf} 1. Z0 * [Event "Setting Up Checkmate Patterns"] [Site "?"] [Date "2022.11.15"] [Round "?"] [White "Easy Escalation"] [Black "'Keep it simple: 1.e4' by Chr, chapter Alekhines a"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B00"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [BlackFideId "-1"] [PlyCount "15"] [GameId "2126319235483324"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [SourceTitle "https://www.chessable.co"] 1. e4 b6 2. d4 Bb7 3. Bd3 f5 $4 {[%CAl Re4f5,Rb7g2] Encouraging White to capture the pawn, in order to open up the diagonal for the Bishop on b7 . This blunder is also discussed in my course 'Common Opening Traps and Blunders 1.e4: Part 3', [ https://www.chessable.com/common-opening-traps-and-blunders1e4-part-3/course/85454/ ].} 4. exf5 {[%mdl 32768] Capturing the pawn anyway! White has a trick up his sleeve.} Bxg2 {[%CAl Bg2h1] Black happily captures the pawn on g2 .} 5. Qh5+ {Check! Black is in trouble.} g6 6. fxg6 {[%CAl Bg6g7,Bg6h7,Gh5e8]} Nf6 {[%CAl Bf6h5]} (6... hxg6 {will end in a quick checkmate after} 7. Qxg6# {or 7.Bxg6 .}) ({A blunder that will result in checkmate soon. Black's best move in this position is} 6... Bg7 {, creating a flight square for the King. After} 7. gxh7+ Kf8 8. Nh3 $1 {, the position gets too complicated for the sake of this course. An engine can help you to better understand the position. A possible continuation:} Bxh1 9. Ng5 {, threatening checkmate on f7 , 9...Bd5 10.hxg8=Q+ Bxg8 11.Qf3+ Bf6 12.Qxa8 (+5.0).}) 7. gxh7+ {[%CAl Bd3g6] A very important move! In similar situations, White's best move was to advance the pawn in order to make a Queen on h8 . But in this case, White has something even better.} Nxh5 {Capturing the Queen, the only available move.} 8. Bg6# {Similar to Fool's Mate. I would like to thank Mr. Sielecki for the permission to use this line.} 1-0 [Event "Setting Up Checkmate Patterns"] [Site "?"] [Date "2022.11.15"] [Round "?"] [White "Easy Escalation"] [Black "'Keep it simple: 1.e4' by Chr, chapter Scandinavia"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B01"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [BlackFideId "-1"] [PlyCount "23"] [GameId "2126319235483325"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [SourceTitle "https://www.chessable.co"] 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. d4 c6 5. Nf3 Bf5 6. Ne5 Nd7 7. Nc4 Qd8 8. d5 Ngf6 9. dxc6 bxc6 10. Qf3 Bxc2 $4 11. Qe2 {[%CAl Be2c2,Bc4d6][%mdl 32768] This is an exception to 'don't bring out your Queen too early in the opening' and 'never move a piece twice in a row in the opening'. With this move, White attacks the Bishop on c2 and threatens a nifty checkmate!} Bg6 12. Nd6# {Smothered Mate in the opening. I would like to thank Mr. Sielecki for the permission to use this line.} 1-0 [Event "Setting Up Checkmate Patterns"] [Site "?"] [Date "2022.11.15"] [Round "?"] [White "Easy Escalation"] [Black "Martin Olesen vs. Walter M. B"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A47"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [BlackFideId "-1"] [PlyCount "49"] [GameId "2126319235483326"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [SourceTitle "https://www.chessable.co"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 b6 3. e3 Bb7 4. Bd3 e6 5. O-O Be7 6. Nbd2 d5 7. b3 O-O 8. Bb2 c5 9. c4 Nc6 10. Rc1 cxd4 11. exd4 Rc8 12. Qe2 Nb4 13. Bb1 dxc4 14. bxc4 Ba6 15. Ne5 Nc6 16. Rfd1 Nxd4 17. Qd3 Nf5 18. Qh3 g6 19. Ndf3 Qc7 20. Ng5 Rcd8 21. Rxd8 Bxd8 22. Ng4 Nh5 23. Qxh5 {[%CAl Bh5h7][%mdl 32768]} (23. Nh6+ Nxh6 24. Qxh5 {is a good alternative (+6.0).}) 23... gxh5 (23... f6 24. Qh3 {keeps Black in the game for a few more moves (+7.5).}) 24. Nh6+ {[%CAl Gb2h8,Bh6g8]} Nxh6 25. Bxh7# {Blackburne's Mate.} 1-0 [Event "Setting Up Checkmate Patterns"] [Site "?"] [Date "2022.11.15"] [Round "?"] [White "Easy Escalation"] [Black "Kingscrusher's Tactic Snacks"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A00"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [BlackFideId "-1"] [PlyCount "39"] [GameId "2126319235483327"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [SourceTitle "https://www.chessable.co"] 1. Nc3 g6 2. e4 Nf6 3. f4 d6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. d4 c5 6. e5 cxd4 7. exf6 Bxf6 8. Ne4 Bg7 9. Qe2 Nc6 10. Bd2 O-O 11. h4 e5 12. fxe5 dxe5 13. h5 f5 14. Neg5 e4 15. Qc4+ Kh8 16. Nf7+ Rxf7 17. Qxf7 exf3 18. hxg6 {[%CAl Gh1h8][%mdl 32768] Opening up the h-file for the Rook.} h6 ({Black would lose this game anyway:} 18... Qe7+ 19. Qxe7 Nxe7 20. Rxh7+ Kg8 21. Bc4+ Kf8 22. Bb4 a5 23. Bxe7+ Kxe7 24. Rxg7+ {(+10.5).}) 19. Rxh6+ Bxh6 20. Qh7# {Lolli's Mate. Tryfon Gavriel (Kingscrusher) used this beautiful sequence to checkmate his online opponent. I would like to thank Mr. Gavriel for the permission to use this game.} 1-0 [Event "Setting Up Checkmate Patterns"] [Site "?"] [Date "2022.11.15"] [Round "?"] [White "Easy Escalation"] [Black "A. Haas vs. K. Lee (1980)"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C77"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [BlackFideId "-1"] [PlyCount "17"] [GameId "2126319235491520"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [SourceTitle "https://www.chessable.co"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. d4 b5 6. Bb3 Be7 $4 7. dxe5 {[%CAl Be5f6][%mdl 32768] Grabbing a free pawn, attacking the Knight on f6 .} Nxe4 $2 (7... Ng4 8. h3 Ngxe5 9. Nxe5 Nxe5 10. Qd5 {attacking two of Black's pieces (+4.5). Black can't save them both with} Nc6 {because of} 11. Qxf7# {(Damiano's Bishop Mate).}) 8. Qd5 {[%CAl Bd5f7,Bd5e4] Threatening checkmate on f7 while attacking the Knight in the center.} Nc5 $4 {Saving the Knight but losing the game.} (8... O-O 9. Qxe4 {(+5.5).}) 9. Qxf7# {Similar to Scholar's Mate / Damiano's Bishop Mate.} 1-0 [Event "Setting Up Checkmate Patterns"] [Site "?"] [Date "2022.11.15"] [Round "?"] [White "Easy Escalation"] [Black "Charles Ambrose Scott Damant"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B12"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [BlackFideId "-1"] [PlyCount "15"] [GameId "2126319235495617"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [SourceTitle "https://www.chessable.co"] 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Bd3 Nf6 $2 4. e5 {[%CAl Be5f6][%mdl 32768] Forcing Black to move a piece twice in the opening.} Nfd7 5. e6 {[%CAl Be6d7,Be6f7] Forking the Knight and pawn on f7 .} fxe6 $4 {[%CAl Gh5e8] An incredible blunder!} (5... Nf6 6. exf7+ Kxf7 {was a safer option for Black (+2.5).}) 6. Qh5+ g6 7. Qxg6+ (7. Bxg6+ hxg6 8. Qxg6# {.}) 7... hxg6 8. Bxg6# {Similar to Fool's Mate.} 1-0 [Event "Setting Up Checkmate Patterns"] [Site "?"] [Date "2022.11.15"] [Round "?"] [White "Easy Escalation"] [Black "François Antoine de Kermur Si"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C41"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [BlackFideId "-1"] [PlyCount "13"] [GameId "2126319235495618"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [SourceTitle "https://www.chessable.co"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bc4 Bg4 4. Nc3 g6 $2 {A poor move.} 5. Nxe5 {[%CAl Rg4d1,Rc4f7][%mdl 32768] A marvelous Knight and Queen sacrifice!} Bxd1 $4 {Grabbing the Queen, but losing the game to a stunning checkmate with three minor pieces!} (5... dxe5 6. Qxg4 {would have been a better choice (+2.5).}) 6. Bxf7+ Ke7 7. Nd5# {Legal's Mate. This variation and similar ones are discussed in my course 'Common Opening Traps and Blunders 1. e4 : Part 2', [ https://www.chessable.com/common-opening-traps-and-blunders1e4-part-2/course/85453/ ].} 1-0 [Event "Setting Up Checkmate Patterns"] [Site "?"] [Date "2022.11.15"] [Round "?"] [White "Easy Escalation"] [Black "Christian Gabriel vs. Nikolao"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E32"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [BlackFideId "-1"] [PlyCount "81"] [GameId "2126319235495619"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [SourceTitle "https://www.chessable.co"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 O-O 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Qxc3 Ne4 7. Qc2 f5 8. Nh3 d5 9. f3 Nf6 10. e3 c6 11. Bd2 a5 12. Bd3 Nbd7 13. O-O Re8 14. Nf2 Nf8 15. Rae1 b6 16. e4 Ba6 17. exf5 exf5 18. Rxe8 Nxe8 19. Bxf5 Nd6 20. Bh3 Nxc4 21. Bc1 Qe8 22. Qc3 Bb7 23. b3 Nd6 24. a4 Qg6 25. Nd3 Qf6 26. Ne5 Nf5 27. g4 Ne7 28. f4 Qd6 29. f5 c5 30. g5 cxd4 31. Qxd4 Qc5 32. Be3 Qxd4 33. Bxd4 Nc6 34. Nxc6 Bxc6 35. Rc1 Be8 36. Rc7 Bf7 37. Bf1 g6 38. Bg2 gxf5 39. Bxd5 {[%CAl Gd5g8,Bd5f7,Bc7f7][%mdl 32768] By far the best move for White: Grabbing a pawn while attacking the Bishop on f7 with a second piece. If Black decides to capture the Bishop, checkmate will be the consequence.} Bxd5 $4 (39... Ne6 {is the only move that saves the Bishop on f7 . But after 40.Bxe6 Bxe6 41.Rg7+ Kf8 42.Rxh7 , Black is in serious trouble (+5.0).}) 40. Rg7+ Kh8 41. Rg6# {Morphy's Mate.} 1-0 [Event "Setting Up Checkmate Patterns"] [Site "?"] [Date "2022.11.15"] [Round "?"] [White "Easy Escalation"] [Black "Georges Koltanowski vs. Mary"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [BlackFideId "-1"] [PlyCount "31"] [GameId "2126319235495620"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [SourceTitle "https://www.chessable.co"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bd6 4. O-O Nf6 5. Nc3 O-O 6. d3 Na5 7. Bg5 Nxc4 8. dxc4 Re8 9. a3 b6 10. Nd5 Be7 11. Nxe5 Nxd5 12. Qxd5 Bxg5 $4 13. Nxf7 {[%CAl Bf7d8,Gd5g8,Bf7g5][%mdl 32768]} (13. Qxf7+ {would be a mistake in view of} Kh8 14. Qd5 Rxe5 15. Qxe5 {(-3.0).}) 13... Bb7 {[%CAl Bb7d5] Allowing a mate-in-3.} ({The game would be over anyway, e.g.:} 13... Qe7 14. Nxg5+ Kh8 15. Nf7+ {(+8.0).}) 14. Nh6+ {[%CAl Gd5g8,Gh6g8] Double-check.} Kh8 (14... Kf8 15. Qf7# {.}) 15. Qg8+ {A typical 'Smothered Mate Queen sacrifice'.} Rxg8 16. Nf7# {Smothered Mate.} 1-0 [Event "Setting Up Checkmate Patterns"] [Site "?"] [Date "2022.11.15"] [Round "?"] [White "Easy Escalation"] [Black "Dusan Bojovic vs. Mila Zarkov"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B40"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [BlackFideId "-1"] [PlyCount "51"] [GameId "2126319235495621"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [SourceTitle "https://www.chessable.co"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 d6 5. Nc3 Nf6 6. g4 Be7 7. g5 Nfd7 8. h4 Nc6 9. Be3 a6 10. Bh3 Nc5 11. Qe2 Qc7 12. O-O-O b5 13. a3 Bd7 14. h5 Nxd4 15. Rxd4 g6 16. f4 Bf8 17. h6 O-O-O 18. f5 gxf5 19. exf5 d5 20. fxe6 fxe6 21. Rf4 e5 22. Nxd5 Qd6 23. Bg2 exf4 24. Bxf4 {[%CAl Gf4b8,Bf4d6][%mdl 32768] Attacking Black's Queen while restricting the movement of Black's King in case the Queen steps aside.} Qe6 ({A counter-attack with} 24... Re8 {is relatively best. But after} 25. Qf3 {, Black is about to collapse under an immense amount of pressure (+5.5).}) 25. Qxe6 {[%CAl Rd7e6,Rd5b6]} Bxe6 {What else?} ({If Black tries} 25... Re8 {in order to create an escape square for the King on d8 , White has the winning move} 26. Qb6 {, threatening both Qb8# and Qc7# .}) 26. Nb6# {Similar to Blackburne's Mate.} 1-0