FM Bill Jordan - Checkmate Made Easy: Essential Mating Patterns (Chess Concepts Made Easy Book 3)

While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

CHECKMATE MADE EASY
First edition. 2018.
Copyright 2018 FM Bill Jordan.
Written by FM Bill Jordan.

There is only one real way to win a game of chess. That is to the checkmate the King. Players often resign (give up), but only because they think they will be checkmated (mated for short) eventually anyway.

A mate may come as a single move, like a bolt from the blue. These are mates in one. More often there is a mating attack consisting of a sequence of alternating checks and check evasions. The final check is mate.

A check is the most powerful move in Chess. The most powerful way to attack is to connect a series of checks.

There are over 1000 diagrams which include mates in one, mates in two, mates in three and mates in four or more moves by each player.

There are many mating pattern which happen again and again in games. Strong players are familiar with many mating patterns and themes, through both play and study. This familiarity allows players to spot mates much quicker than they would otherwise. There is a strong correlation between playing strength and how quickly a player can find forced mates.

This book includes many positions that have been collected for coaching purposes over many years. The book is designed to help the reader to quickly become familiar with many mating patterns. It may also help refresh familiarity with mates that have been previously seen, but partly forgotten.

Looking Ahead An important chess skill is the ability to look ahead. Studying these positions will help you develop this skill. Studying these positions will train you to see at least four moves ahead. This is a similar aim to the book Bobby Fischer teaches Chess.

The positions have been invented. However they are are very similar to positions from actual play and are quite unlike composed positions. In many cases they have been simplified and have few units on the board which are not involved in the mating attack. There are different ways you can read this book.

• You can treat the positions as puzzles. You can choose the move you would play and move to the next diagram to check whether you are correct or not.
• You can simply enjoy playing through through the positions, becoming familiar with a wide range of mating patterns as you do so. If you are using the Ebook version, you can quickly flip forwards (or backwards) through the sequence of moves in each position.
• You can combine both approaches. For example, during a first reading you could play through the positions. On a second reading you could see how many you can solve from the starting position.

There are over 1000 large clear chess diagrams. In all positions White moves first and White is playing up the board. Moves are numbered from the current position, not from the start of the game.

The book uses standard chess notation, which is short Algebraic notation. It is desirable to know this. If you are familiar with Algebraic notation, you can skip the next section.

Understanding chess notation is needed for reading chess literature and playing in tournaments. All 64 squares on the board have a name. The 8 files(vertical columns) of a chessboard are named a-h. Files are named from from White's left to right. The first file is a, the second is b etc.

The 8 ranks(horizontal rows) are named 1-8. Ranks are always numbered from White's end of the board. A square is referred to by its file then its rank. The White King is on d4, while the White King is on e6. It is absolutely essential you are familiar with algebraic notation.

• K = King
• Q = Queen
• R = Rook
• B = Bishop
• N = Knight (N is used instead of K to distinguish it from King.)
• No letter is used for a Pawn. Only the square it moves to is recorded.

All chess moves can be represented by the letter representing the moving piece and the square the piece moves to. Rd1 means the Rook moves to the d1 square (d1 for short).

Sometimes it possible for 2 pieces for the same type to move to the same square. Normally this only applies to Rooks or knights. If 2 Rooks can move to the same square they can be distinguished by:

• If they are on the same rank the file they are on is indicated. For example, if both Rooks can move to d1, you could say Rad1 or Rhd1.
• If they are on the same file the rank they are on is indicated. For example, if both Rooks can move to a4, you could say R1a4 or R8a4.

If 2 knights can move to the same square they can be distinguished by either the rank or the file. However, you would not use the file if they are both on the same file or the rank if they are both on the same rank. For example, if both knights could move to d4 you could say Ncd4 (provided the other Knight wasn't on the c-file) or N2d4 (provided the other Knight wasn't on the second rank).

In the case of other pieces (due to promotion) you could uses a similar method.

• X = Capture. For example, Rxd4 means a Rook captures whatever is on d4. When a Pawn captures, the letter representing the file is used. For example, exd5 means whatever is on d5 is captured by a Pawn on the e-file.
• + = Check
• # = Mate
• O-O Castles Kingside
• O-O-O Castles Queenside
• Q = Promotes to a Queen. For example, e8Q means a Pawn moves to e8 and promotes to a Queen. To promote to a different piece, use the initial letter of the piece. For example e8N means the Pawn promoted to a Rook.

Note that no special notation is used for an en passant capture, which is recorded in the same way as a standard Pawn capture. For example, exd6 means a White Pawn on e5 or c5 captures a White Pawn on d5 and ends up on d6.

These symbols would not usually be used while a game was being recorded, but may be added afterwards if the game was annotated. They include:

• ! = Good move
• !! = Excellent move
• ? = Mistake
• ?? = Blunder

• One piece against a lone King on an empty board cannot create mate.
• 2 pawns can neither mate nor stalemate against a King on an open board.
• A Bishop and Pawn can neither mate nor stalemate against a King on an open board.
• 2 bishops can neither mate nor stalemate against a King on an open board.
• 2 knights cannot mate against a King on an open board, though there are a number of stalemates possible.

White to play?

There are 2 King + Rook versus K mating patterns.