![]() ![]() An entry on Wikipedia lists many of them. Rooks on the seventh rank are sometimes called pigs, or swine.Īlthough there is not universal agreement on the number and names of common checkmate patterns, many of these names are in common use. I see blind swine as a drawing combination, not a checkmate pattern. I dislike the name blind swine because that term’s origin comes from a grandmaster discussing a situation when two rooks could force a draw, but not force checkmate-hence, they are blind. For example, my “two pigs” checkmate has been called “blind swine checkmate” in other books, including Vladimir Vukovic, The Art of Attack in Chess (1965). Just as there is no certain definite number of possible patterns, there is considerable variety in the naming of patterns. This arrangement is similar to the arrangement that I created for “A Checklist of Checkmates”, reproduced here. Each chapter presents a small number of essential patterns. Tal and Khenkin arrange their book with one chapter for each piece, followed by combinations of pieces: rook, bishop, knight, queen, pawn, two rooks, queen and bishop, and so on. After The Art of the Checkmate, the most useful book that I have found is Mikhail Tal, and Victor Khenkin, Tal’s Winning Chess Combinations (1979)-this book is new to me, having purchased it a few months ago. Since then, it has been republished in algebraic. When I wrote “A Checklist of Checkmates”, the English translation of The Art of the Checkmate was available only in descriptive notation, which few children learn these days. The best one in my view is The Art of the Checkmate (1953) by Georges Renaud and Victor Kahn. Several books have helped me learn and teach these patterns. The booklet contains illustrations of patterns from games, followed by exercises. Portions of this booklet have been distributed to my students for the past fourteen years. My booklet, “A Checklist of Checkmates”, lists 37 patterns. My research is not original, but merely confirms what many chess masters have found through the ages. Most opportunities to force checkmate will fall into a much smaller set, perhaps two dozen. Nonetheless, my study of many thousands of checkmates in my games and in the games of others has convinced me that there are only a few dozen basic checkmate patterns. It is not clear precisely how many ways exist to deliver checkmate. Here is a sample from my workbook in progress. Then, they will move on to where the second tier group begins. On the first day, beginning students will learn three basic checkmates against a lone king: queen and king, rook and king, and queen and rook. ![]() The topics in sequence are checkmates, endings, middlegames, openings, and great games. There will be group activities and individual activities. Each topic will be layered to accommodate students of a wide range of skill levels. In this summer's camp, each day will be focused on one topic.
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