C&C Chess Club
Arabian mate — the oldest mating pattern
7k/8/5N2/8/8/8/8/6RK w - - 0 1The plan
Rook and knight are an old pair — this pattern already appears in Arabic manuscripts, long before the queen existed in her modern form. The knight has the rare property of guarding two squares around the king in the corner at once while itself staying out of reach. If it also covers the square the rook moves to, the mate is complete — with only two pieces on the whole board. The rook takes up a position right next to the king, and it may not be captured. You can recognise the pattern by the knight standing two squares diagonally in front of the king. Remember: a knight at the right distance turns the rook into a mating piece.
Why this level: Few pieces and a single move, but you have to have seen the knight geometry once.
The solution, move by move
- 1. Rg8# Only two pieces, and the king is finished. The knight covers the rook's square and, at the same time, the only escape square.
Play it yourself
In the free app C&C Chess Club you step through the line move by move, tap the sidelines and play the position out against Stockfish — no account, no ads.
More in Mate with bishop and knight
- Boden's mate — two bishops crossed Mate in 2
- Smothered mate — the king in its own prison Mate in 2