Anastasia's mate puzzles
A knight and a rook or queen trap the king between the edge of the board and one of its own pieces.
About Anastasia's mate puzzles
A knight and a rook or queen trap the king between the edge of the board and one of its own pieces. The knight covers the escape squares and the heavy piece gives mate.
How to spot it
- The enemy king is on the h- or a-file, with its own pawn or piece one square in.
- A knight covers the two squares beside the king; a rook or queen checks along the file.
- Often a sacrifice drags the king to the edge first.
A common mistake
Forgetting that the king's own pawn or piece on the file is what makes the pattern work.
A worked example
K
R
N
R
K
QBlack to move. White has just played Qxa8. Find the best move.
Solution: 34... Ne2+ 35. Kh2 Rh5#
Ne2+ checks the king, so your opponent has to answer the check. The last move is checkmate: the king has no safe square and nothing can block or capture. The idea: A knight and a rook or queen trap the king between the edge of the board and one of its own pieces.
The highlighted squares show White's last move. This position is a different puzzle from the ones you start with above (919 rating).
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Questions
Where does the name come from?
It is named after Anastasia and the Game of Chess, an early 19th-century German novel in which the pattern appears.
Where do these puzzles come from?
They are real puzzles from the Lichess puzzle database, which is free to use under the CC0 license. Each one was built from a real game and tested by many players. We picked well-rated ones with good popularity scores.
Are the puzzles free?
Yes. There is no signup, no limit and no ads on the puzzles. Your progress on this page is not saved after you leave.
What do the difficulty levels mean?
Beginner puzzles are rated under 1250, intermediate 1250 to 1749 and advanced 1750 and up, using the rating Lichess players earned on each puzzle.