Anastasia’s mate — Chess Library

A knight check, a queen sacrifice, and a rook delivers one of the most elegant mating patterns in chess — named after an 1803 novel.

Lesson

White to move. Main line: 1. Ne7+ Kh8 2. Qxh7+ Kxh7 3. Rh1#

Ne7 checks and — crucially — takes control of g8 and g6, the two squares the king will want later. The rook on f8 stops Kf8, so the king must go to the corner.

Then comes the point: Qxh7 rips open the h-file, and after the forced recapture, Rh1 mates. The knight’s early work pays off — g8 and g6 are still covered, and the king’s own pawn blocks g7.

Anastasia’s mate is the standard pattern of a knight on e7 and a rook on the h-file. Whenever your knight reaches e7 near a castled king, check whether the h-file can be forced open — the queen is often a fair price.