Blind swine mate Puzzle One: White to move, mate in three1
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The blind swine mate is a devastating mate delivered along the 7th rank. Its name was granted by Polish master Dawid Janowski who is thought to have said "Two rooks in the 7th rank which cannot find checkmate are blind swine."2 The architecture of this named mate is that the opposition's king is positioned on the 8th rank, two squares from either edge of the board, with a friendly rook immediately adjacent and towards the interior of the 8th rank. The attacking side has two rooks along the 7th rank, and has the next move. With that move one rook will put the king in check from the battery along the 7th rank (the other rook in the same rank prevents capture); gobbling up pawn structure as necessary. The king will try to shuffle away, but the pair of rooks working together will quickly close off any hopes of escape.
Without considering any other pieces except for those contributing to the checkmate (or hindering escape), the final checkmate position is diagrammed below. Note that the friendly piece on the 8th rank must be a rook: a queen or bishop would protect the square directly in front of the king, while a knight would protect the square diagonal to the king.
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Having learned about the function and mechanism of the Blind swine mate, try to apply those principles to this more complex position...
Blind swine mate Puzzle Two: White to move, mate in four
Position after Ne5 --> d3, threatening Re1#, NxQ, RxQ (PxR), or BxB
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Further instruction
Chess
Sources
Solutions to puzzles
Solution to Blind Swine Mate Puzzle 1
Move | White | Black | Annotation |
1 | Rg7+ | Kh8 | Trapped by the friendly ♜, the King is forced into the corner |
2 | Rh7+ | Kg8 | The ♖ ♖ battery runs amok |
3 | Rag7# | 1-0 | The ♖ ♖ battery proves lethal |
Solution to Blind Swine Mate Puzzle 2
Move | White | Black | Annotation |
1 | Qf8+! | Rxf8 | Black tries to press its material advantage, thinking it will win material or a back rank mate |
2 | Rxg7+ | Kh8 | Instead of ♗ x ♜, the ♖ ♖ battery moves in |
3 | Rh7+ | Kg8 | ♚ dances, but cannot escape ♖ ♖ |
4 | Rag7# | 1-0 | |
IronNoder 2018: 02/30