This page is an extension to 36 Checkmate Patterns That All Chess Players Should Know.
Morphy’s Mate is a checkmate pattern that features a bishop and rook. It’s named after the legendary American chess player, Paul Morphy.
Morphy’s Mate Example 1
Diagram above: This is a theoretical position that illustrates the concept of Morphy’s Mate. The black king is trapped in the corner behind its own pawn. The king is also cut off by the white rook. White’s bishop delivers the checkmate.
Morphy’s Mate Example 2
Here’s and example of the Morphy Mate executed in an actual game:
Diagram above: White played 1.Rg3+ (a discovered check by the bishop on a1) and there is nothing black can do to prevent checkmate. 1… Qe5 2.Bxe5+ Rf6 3.Bxf6# The game is from Reshevsky – Shainswit, New York 1951.
Important Notes on Morphy’s Mate
There is a fair amount of confusion about Morphy’s Mate. There are mainly 2 reasons for this confusion:
- The checkmate never actually happened in Morphy’s game it was named after and
- Paul Morphy was better known for other checkmate patterns, such as the Opera Mate (which coincidentally is also a rook and bishop checkmate pattern).