Luke McShane

The back-rank mate

issue 12 June 2021

Compared with Anastasia’s mate, or an epaulette mate, the humble back-rank mate is named without imagination or whimsy. It is the Ronseal of mating patterns, administered by a rook or queen to a hapless king stuck on the rank behind its own pawns. But there is a rich variety of tactical motifs which culminate in this simple pattern, as shown by two of Magnus Carlsen’s recent games.

Dubov–Carlsen

FTX Crypto Cup Prelims, May 2021 (see left diagram)

Carlsen has just grabbed a pawn on e4, so the knight on d5 lacks support. The simple 21 Nc3 looks roughly equal, but Dubov launched a volley of tactics with 21 Qxe5. His idea was revealed after 21…Rf5 22 Qxd4 Bxd4 23 Rxc8, because after 23…Qxc8 24 Ne7+ White emerges a knight up. So Carlsen chose 23…Rxd5 24 Rxd8+ Rxd8 which at first sight looks like a quiescent equality.

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