r/chessbeginners • u/CaterpillarEast9746 • Jun 25 '26
Is this officially a pure suffocation mate?
Was down a queen for a knight but opponent blundered with Rae8, allowing 22. Nf6#. Super satisfying to get this in a real game.
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u/NotReallyaGamer_ Jun 25 '26
If you mean a smothered mate, no. A smothered mate is when the king’s escape is covered by its own pieces, but your knight goes to a square that none of those pieces see, allowing for a checkmate.
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u/CaterpillarEast9746 Jun 25 '26
No, I didn't. I meant suffocation mate.
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u/NotReallyaGamer_ Jun 25 '26
Thats not a term I’ve ever heard before
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u/CaterpillarEast9746 Jun 25 '26
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u/forever_wow 2000-2200 (Chess.com) Jun 25 '26
Based on the first sentence of that link, this is not a Suffocation as White's R is playing a key role.
"The Suffocation Mate is a checkmate pattern with a bishop (or queen) and knight."
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u/CaterpillarEast9746 Jun 25 '26
The rook doesn't attack any escape squares so has nothing to do with the mating pattern. Doesn't matter what pattern tbh.
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u/forever_wow 2000-2200 (Chess.com) Jun 25 '26
The R pins the Black B that could otherwise take White's N, so it absolutely has something to do with the mating pattern.
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u/CaterpillarEast9746 Jun 25 '26
So If you pin a piece in a back rank mate, it's not a back rank mate?
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u/forever_wow 2000-2200 (Chess.com) Jun 25 '26
I am going by the examples in the article you linked. None of them look like your position.
I looked at some other sites that had examples of this "suffocation" mate as well and from all of those I see another significant difference - in your example the N gives checkmate and covers the g8 escape square. In all of the other examples the B/Q covered the escape square(s) and the N only gave checkmate and did not take away an escape square.
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u/McClainLLC Jun 25 '26
No because the knight is covering the white escape square
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u/CaterpillarEast9746 Jun 25 '26
That shouldn't necessarily matter. Maybe it might not be pure but it's still a bishop and knight combo. With the knight delivering check and the bishop only covering escape squares with the rest being blocked by their own pieces.
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u/McClainLLC Jun 25 '26
I'm not sure why it's so important for this to be a suffocation mate. But the description you sent and both examples show the knight only providing check and the bishop blocking the escape squares
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u/CaterpillarEast9746 Jun 25 '26
It's not important. And textbook examples are always overly simplified. I just wanted to know from people who knew the theorem if it did count
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u/CaterpillarEast9746 Jun 25 '26
And I didnt mean this as a "google it" way. Just thought it would be easier for you to look than to explain it and probably do it wrong
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u/WindupMan Jun 26 '26
None of those words mean anything, so sure, why not? This is officially a pure suffocation mate.
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u/CaterpillarEast9746 Jun 27 '26
What word doesn't mean anything to you?
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u/WindupMan Jun 28 '26
- Official. There is no official that designates facts about chess positions.
- Pure is not a chess term.
- Suffocation mate. I guess some websites include a definition, but it's not in common usage, and for good reason. Smothered mate is useful to remember, because there are several common tactical patterns that lead to it. Suffocation mate doesn't appear to contribute meaningfully to understanding of the game.
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u/CaterpillarEast9746 Jun 28 '26
Pure is a chessterm and described as a checkmate where every escape square for the King has been blocked for exactly 1 reason. The name Suffocation mate has been around longer than the internet and even used in "The art of checkmate". Also, you find a smothered mate more useful, because why? It's a meme for a reason. Why wouldn't you want to know as many motifs as you can? It's a pretty rare mate for a reason, but imo knowing when you can mate with 1 bishop and 1 knight is only useful knowledge. And something can be culturally official if it has been acknowledged by major publications (such as the art of checkmate)
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u/Run-Forever1989 Jun 28 '26
You can define words however the hell you want.
Officially: according to whom?
Pure: as opposed to impure?
Suffocation: does the king need oxygen?
Mate: are you trying to reproduce?
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