Morphy's mate
A cornered king has three squares. The bishop's diagonal takes one, its own pawn takes another, and a rook takes the last.
- 11 positions in the course match this pattern
- Lichess rating 980–2258
- Section: Checkmate Patterns
- Every line verified by the app’s rules engine
The pattern
The king is in a corner and the bishop checks it from a distance along the long diagonal. That is the check; the mate is what happens to the other two squares.
One of them is filled by the king's own piece, usually the rook it castled with or a pawn it never pushed. The other is covered by a rook of the mating side, standing on the file or the rank beside the corner. The bishop never comes near the king and never needs defending.
Held next to Pillsbury's mate, this is the same two pieces with the roles exchanged: there the rook checks and the bishop takes a square, here the bishop checks and the rook takes a square. Recognising which one you have is a matter of asking which piece is already giving check.
What is always true
Each line below was tested against all 11 positions in this course that show the pattern, using the same rules engine the trainer runs on. The build stops if any of them is ever false, so the count beside each one is the real count.
- The mated king is in a corner of the board 11/11
- The checking piece is a bishop 11/11
- A rook covers at least one of the king's escape squares 11/11
- At least one square beside the king is blocked by a piece of its own 11/11
How to spot it
- An enemy king in a corner with a piece of its own next to it. Without that blocker there is nothing here.
- A bishop of yours with a clear long diagonal into that corner, or one move from clearing it.
- A rook that can reach the file or rank next to the corner. It does not need to check, only to cover.
- A defender who has just castled and left a rook on f8 or f1. That rook is very often the blocker that makes the pattern work.
4 positions to solve
Real games, easiest first. The amber squares are the move your opponent has just played, not the answer. Work it out before you open the solution; the second diagram inside each answer is the finished mate with the trapped king outlined.
Position 1
Black to move. Force the mate.
Show the answer
23.gxf3 23...Rg6+ 24.Kh1 24...Bxf3#
The white king on h1 is in check from the bishop on f3. It has three squares to try and none of them work: g1 and g2 are covered by the rook on g6; h2 is blocked by its own pawn.
The position comes from an endgame of a real game, rated 980 in the Lichess pool and scored there as mate in two. The amber squares on the first diagram are the move your opponent had just played.
Position 2
White to move. Force the mate.
Show the answer
21...Bxd2 22.Rxg7+ Kh8 23.Rg4#
The black king on h8 is in check from the bishop on f6. It has three squares to try and none of them work: g7 and g8 are covered by the rook on g4; h7 is blocked by its own pawn.
The position comes from the middlegame of a real game, rated 1790 in the Lichess pool and scored there as mate in two. The amber squares on the first diagram are the move your opponent had just played.
Position 3
Black to move. Force the mate.
Show the answer
17.O-O 17...Nf3+ 18.gxf3 18...Rg8+ 19.Kh1 19...Bxf3#
The white king on h1 is in check from the bishop on f3. It has three squares to try and none of them work: g1 and g2 are covered by the rook on g8; h2 is blocked by its own pawn.
The position comes from an endgame of a real game, rated 2001 in the Lichess pool and scored there as mate in three. The amber squares on the first diagram are the move your opponent had just played.
Position 4
White to move. Force the mate.
Show the answer
24...Bc5 25.Qf6 gxf6 26.Rg3+ Kh8 27.Bxf6#
The black king on h8 is in check from the bishop on f6. It has three squares to try and none of them work: g7 and g8 are covered by the rook on g3; h7 is blocked by its own pawn.
The position comes from the middlegame of a real game, rated 2258 in the Lichess pool and scored there as mate in three. The amber squares on the first diagram are the move your opponent had just played.
Where the name comes from
The name is Paul Morphy's, and beyond that the attribution is folklore. This page will not invent a game for it.
Easy to confuse with
These are the patterns Morphy's Mate gets mistaken for. The difference is usually one piece or one square.
- Pillsbury's MateRook down the file, bishop on the long diagonal
- Double Bishop MateTwo bishops on neighbouring diagonals
- Opera MateBack-rank rook with a bishop defending it
Questions people ask
What is Morphy's mate?
A checkmate against a king in the corner in which a bishop gives check along the long diagonal, a rook covers the escape square, and one of the king's own pieces blocks the remaining square.
Is Morphy's mate the same as the double bishop mate?
No. Both check a cornered king with a bishop on the long diagonal. In Morphy's a rook takes the escape square; in the double bishop mate a second bishop does.
All the named mates
One page each, or the whole set as a single motif in the course. The rest of the tactics library is at every motif in the course.
- Anastasia's MateKnight and rook, king on the edge file
- Arabian MateRook and knight against a cornered king
- Boden's MateTwo bishops on crossing diagonals
- Opera MateBack-rank rook with a bishop defending it
- Pillsbury's MateRook down the file, bishop on the long diagonal
- Epaulette MateThe king's own pieces either side of it
- Dovetail MateQueen diagonally adjacent, king boxed by its own
- Swallowtail MateQueen in front, own pieces diagonally behind
- Hook MateRook, knight and pawn in a chain
- Kill Box MateRook adjacent, queen a knight's move away
- Corner MateKnight gives the check, a rook covers the rest
- Double Bishop MateTwo bishops on neighbouring diagonals