Checkmate

A Checkmate (often just Matt ) is a position in chess in which a king is in check and there is no rule conformity train to pick up this Chess bid. With a checkmate ends the game and the player whose king has been checkmated lost.

Term

The term originally comes from the Persian language: شاه مات Shah MAT means " the king ( shah ) is attacked / beaten / helpless ". The translation " the king is dead" are inaccurate. The Iranian sociologist Valentine Moghadam has tracked the origin of the word. He comes from the Persian word mandan, meaning " remain " in terms of " left " signifies. The king is so dull when he is helpless to its fate. This also fitting that the King did not hit the last train ( killed ) is and remains at its incapacitated.

Derived from the game of chess, the term checkmate also used figuratively, if an opponent has been implicated in a hopeless situation.

Matt position

There are three ways to save a threatened king out of check bid:

The king is checkmated So, if there is none of these possibilities for a chess bid.

If the mat given by Springer and may the king threatened the only reason not to be missed, because it adjusted the own characters every way, it is called a stifled Matt.

In chess notation, so the recording of the chess moves, a ground situation with "#" or rarely with " " is featured.

Matt Image

Matt is a common motif in tactical combinations. Under a matte screen or mat motif is defined as a recurrent pattern of Figure statements or moves that lead to checkmate. Elementals Matt guides can hardly be systematically implemented without knowledge of some pictures Matt. Known Matt motifs found (along with tactical motifs) in the category: Matte screen.

In the chess composition particularly so-called pattern or model Matts Matts are in demand because this is a special aesthetic value is attributed. Such Matte paintings are at the same time economically and pure, that is to say: All the characters present on the board contribute to Matt at ( economics ) and the black king can escape any field only one reason not to enter ( Matt purity). A further increase is the ideal mate. While the pattern Matt standing on the sidelines of a farmer and the white king is tolerated, act in the ideal mat with all present on the board figures on Matt picture. In the figure, the traits of the white lady found on the 8 series an ideal mate because the escape field g8 are covered only by the lady who g7 and h7 fields only by the white king. In contrast Dg7 would be no pattern Matt, because the escape field h7 in this case by queen and king, that covered two times would be ( impure Matt ).

Shortest Matt lot

When fools Matt Black places the white king in two moves matt. Shorter Matt games are not possible.

Longest Follow Matt

Mandatory courses through to Matt may already be in the game quite long; Matta Share with about ten trains are not rare in the history of chess. In such Matta Tell principle must also appearing foolish moves are considered, such as an interposing an uncovered stone, which will be created next train, but Matt moves around a train back.

Composers have been interested early for how long a compelling Matt result can ever be. 1889 published the Hungarian Ottó Titusz Bláthy a mate in 257 moves. It is a full-fledged chess problem with dual -free main line ( with the exception of Matt train ), ie generally has the best white on black train only one optimal continuation. It is assumed that the 50 - move rule does not apply. White has to complete a long sequence of moves to win a free pace, and then repeat this procedure many times. Bláthy incidentally also published a similar mate in 292 moves, albeit with illegal position, that is, by a still so bizarre sequence of moves from the initial position is not reachable. Such initial positions are usually not allowed in the chess problem.

Nenad Petrović published in 1969 using a method developed by Joseph Babson matrix a mate in 270 trains, which has a repeated sequence of moves with the goal of a white tempo loss for content. Of course, this problem requires in the initial position two white -squared white bishop (it must be so, a white farmer who converted to a runner ) - such conversion figures are generally regarded as depreciating. Later, a discussion relaxing whether this Matt in truth a train was no longer, as the solution having an error.

Quite different roots have other " record attempts ." This is about the longest playoff Matt guides without regard to dual freedom and aesthetics - a question that was crucial for the introduction of the 50 - move rule a long time ago. So it's been quite some time secure knowledge that the final two jumpers in many positions won mandatory for a pawn, but even before the first ( patt canceling ) pawn of the Black can take over seventy trains in claim (such as the study composer Alexei Troitsky has shown ) or that gained positions in the endgame rook bishop can require significantly more than 50 trains to Matt vs rook.

With the complete collection of six stony playoffs in endgame databases it was possible to show that the farmer loose endgame rook knight is absolutely won against two knights in many cases (if the 50-move rule does not apply ). Due to a generated by Ken Thompson database that builds on the work of Lewis Stiller, a KTS / KSS -position could be established that leads to no fewer than 262 trains to Matt; Matt the variant to have been isolated by Peter Karrer from the material. This is not in the same sense, a chess problem as the above tasks of Bláthy and Petrovic, since the solution by logical thinking can not be found and is also raised no claim of aesthetics and Dual freedom. Tim Krabbé commented:

"Playing over moves thesis is an eerie experience. They are not human; a grandmaster does not understand them any better than someone who Has learned chess yesterday. The knights jump, the kings orbit, the sun goes down, and every move is the truth. It's like being revealed the Meaning of Life, but it's in Estonian. "

" These trains is an eerie experience replay. They are not human; a grandmaster she does not understand better than one who has learned to play chess yesterday. The jump Springer, the kings circle, the sun is setting, and each train is the truth. It is as if one would reveal the meaning of life - just in Estonian ".

Meanwhile, even a mate with more than 500 trains was found in the endgame databases in the final KDS / KTLS. There are 517 trains alone until the first captures are required.

On several of the claim is made, nor to be able to show longer headways to Matt by more trains will be placed in front of a known position from the database. Both the accuracy and the sense of such experiments, however, are controversial because they offer neither knowledge nor aesthetic gain.