Smothered mate exercises

A knight mates a king boxed in entirely by its own pieces. Play the winning move on the board below. Each position is verified: the solution is the strongest move, and the write-up tells you exactly what it wins. Read the full smothered mate guide first if the pattern is new to you.

Solved 0 of 1 · first-try accuracy 0%

1. Exercise 1: White to play: force mate.

   Position (FEN): 5r1k/6pp/7N/8/8/1Q6/8/7K w - - 0 1

   8

   7

   6

   5

   4

   3

   2

   1a

   b

   c

   d

   e

   f

   g

   h

   White to play: force mate.

   easy · forced mate

   Hint 1Show solution
   Written solution

   Qg8+ — Qg8+ is Philidor's legacy: because the h6 knight covers g8 the king cannot take, so Rxg8 is forced and Nf7# smothers the king behind its own pieces.