Economical mate

Economical mate
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f8 black rook
a7 black king
a6 white knight
b6 black pawn
h5 black pawn
b4 white pawn
e4 black bishop
g4 black pawn
h4 white pawn
e3 white pawn
f3 black rook
a2 white rook
f2 white pawn
g2 white king
h2 white bishop
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A mate in one problem with White to move, given by László Polgár.[1] The answer, 1. Nc5#, is a discovered check which gives an economical mate. Once the move is made, all three of White's remaining pieces[a] apart from the king—the knight, the bishop and the rook—help to prevent the black king from moving to any of its flight squares. White's king and pawns do not contribute to the mating attack.

In chess, an economical mate is a checkmate position such that all of the attacker's remaining knights, bishops, rooks and queens contribute to the mating attack. The attacker's king and pawns may also contribute to the mate, but their assistance is not required, nor does it disqualify the position from being an economical mate. Economical mates are of interest to chess problem composers for their aesthetic value. In real gameplay, their occurrence is incidental. Nevertheless, some notable games have concluded with an economical mate such as the Opera game, won by Paul Morphy.

In chess problem composition, the concept of an economical mate is motivated by the aesthetic notion of economy of force, the idea that a composition is simpler and more beautiful when it uses minimal material to maximal effect.[2][3] When all of the attacker's pieces—apart from the king and pawns—contribute to a checkmate, this also means that none of the more powerful units have been left unused, an economical use of material.

Economical mate is one of a few terms used by composers to describe the properties of checkmate positions; related concepts include pure mate, model mate, and ideal mate. A pure mate is a position such that the mated king is attacked once and prevented from moving to any of the adjacent squares in its field for exactly one reason per square. Model mate and ideal mate are both stronger forms of pure mate. When a checkmate is both "pure and economical", it is said to be a model mate.[4][5] When, in a pure mate, all material on the board of either color plays a direct role in the checkmate, it is said to be an ideal mate.[6]

This article uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves.
  1. ^ Polgár, László (1994). Chess: 5334 Problems, Combinations, and Games. Black Dog and Leventhal. pp. 105, 1043. ISBN 9781579125547. Problem No. 304.
  2. ^ Hooper and Whyld, p. 119.
  3. ^ Horton, p. 56.
  4. ^ Hooper and Whyld, p. 262.
  5. ^ Horton, pp. 133–134.
  6. ^ Hooper and Whyld, p. 179.


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