Anastasia's Mate in Chess: Pattern, Examples and Puzzles

Anastasia's mate at a glance

Delivered by	A rook or queen (check) and a knight (escape squares)
The king	On the a-file or h-file, with one of its own pieces beside it
Key squares	For a king on h7 with a pawn on g7: knight on e7, rook or queen on the h-file
Often starts with	A sacrifice that opens the edge file
Daily puzzles that use it	#10

How do you recognise Anastasia's mate?

The pieces are a knight and a rook or queen. The king sits on the edge of the board, on the h-file or the a-file.
One of the king's own pieces closes the other side. The classic picture is a king on h7 with its own pawn on g7.
The knight lands two squares away so it covers the squares beside the king. With the king on h7 and a pawn on g7, a knight on e7 covers g8 and g6.
A rook or queen gives the check along the edge file, for example from h5. The edge of the board does the work a second defender would otherwise do.
Look for a sacrifice that opens the file or drags a defender away. The queen or a rook is often given up on the a- or h-file first.

Worked example from the daily puzzles

Each position comes from a real game in the open Lichess puzzle database and is checked before it is published. Set it up, look for the pattern, and only then read the solution.

Daily Chess Puzzle #10: White to play (rated 1019)

Anastasia's mate example: White to play after Qxb2

White to play. Black has just played queen takes on b2. It wins a bishop, or so it seems. Can you see the check that starts it all?

Play it on Lichess before reading on: lichess.org/training/02242. Position (FEN): r4rk1/1p3pp1/8/2p1pNP1/4PnR1/P7/1q5N/3R3K w - - 0 33

Solution

Ne7+ — White: Knight to e7, check.
Kh7 — Black: King to h7.
Rh4+ — White: Rook to h4, check.
Nh5 — Black: Knight to h5.
Rxh5# — White: Rook takes on h5, checkmate.

Knight to e7, check. Black has to move the king. King to h7. And now, rook to h4, check. The rook attacks the king on h7 and the knight on f4 at the same time. So Black has just one move: knight to h5. Rook takes on h5, checkmate.

Anastasia's mate example, final position after Rxh5#

Why this is Anastasia's mate. Black's king ends on h7 with its own pawn on g7 beside it. White's knight on e7 covers g8 and g6, and the rook on h5 gives the check along the h-file, so the king has nowhere to go.

Full puzzle article, with the video: #10: Anastasia's mate, Sacrifice, Attack on f7 and Discovered attack

What are the common mistakes?

Giving the check before the knight is in place. Without the knight covering the squares beside the king, the king slips away.
Overlooking that the friendly piece beside the king is part of the trap. If that pawn moves, the king gains a square.
Forgetting the mirror image. The same pattern works on the a-file, with the knight and the pieces reflected.
Defending: leaving the king on the edge file with a pawn beside it and no defender for the squares a knight can reach.

Where does the name come from?

Wikipedia says the name comes from the novel Anastasia und das Schachspiel, published in 1803 by Wilhelm Heinse.

Anastasia's mate FAQ

What is Anastasia's mate?

A checkmate in which a knight and a rook or queen trap the king between the side of the board and one of its own pieces. The knight takes away the escape squares and the rook or queen gives the check along the edge file.

Why is it called Anastasia's mate?

Wikipedia says the name comes from the novel Anastasia und das Schachspiel, published in 1803 by Wilhelm Heinse, which contains the pattern.

Which file does Anastasia's mate use?

The a-file or the h-file, on the edge of the board. The edge takes the place of a defending piece, so the king needs only one friendly piece beside it to be trapped.

How do you set up Anastasia's mate?

A common route is to sacrifice a queen or a rook on the a-file or h-file to open it and pull the king onto the edge, then bring the knight to cover the escape squares. In the worked puzzle below the knight checks first and the rook follows.

How can I practise Anastasia's mate?

Work through the puzzles on this page, then try the daily puzzles linked below. RankUp Chess, an offline chess academy for kids, has a library of 5,000+ puzzles you can filter by difficulty and theme. It is free to play, with no ads and no subscription.

Related checkmate patterns

Arabian mate: A rook and a knight trap the king in a corner.
Corner mate: A rook or queen confines the king to the corner and a knight gives the mate.

See every checkmate pattern

Every daily puzzle that uses Anastasia's mate

#10: Anastasia's mate, Sacrifice, Attack on f7 and Discovered attack

Train checkmate patterns offline

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Sources. Definitions are written in our own words from Wikipedia: Checkmate pattern and Lichess puzzle themes. Puzzle positions come from the Lichess open puzzle database (CC0).