Mating Pattern
Boden's Mate
Boden's Mate is a striking finish delivered by two bishops firing along criss-crossing diagonals at a king that has castled queenside. One bishop checks the king, the other cuts off its escape, and the king is often smothered by its own rook and pawns. The pattern is named after Samuel Boden, who produced a celebrated example of it in 1853.
1. Ba6#
Crossing diagonals
Boden's Mate is all about two bishops whose diagonals cross at the enemy king. Here the light-squared bishop attacks along the a6-c8 diagonal, while the dark-squared bishop on f4 rakes the c7-b8 diagonal from the opposite wing. Together they blanket the squares surrounding a king that has castled long.
The king's own army does much of the rest. A king on c8 is hemmed in by the rook on d8 and the pawn on d7, so those flight squares are already unavailable. The two bishops need only cover what is left, the squares b7, c7 and b8, and the mating net is complete.
The finish
In the diagram White plays 1.Ba6#. The light-squared bishop steps from c4 to a6, checking the black king on c8 straight down the a6-b7-c8 diagonal. Nothing can block on b7, and the checking bishop cannot be captured.
Every escape is sealed. The square b7 is taken by the checking bishop itself; c7 and b8 are covered by the dark-squared bishop on f4; and d7 and d8 are blocked by Black's own pawn and rook. The king is boxed in by friend and foe alike, and it is checkmate.
The Boden game
The pattern takes its name from Samuel Boden, an English amateur of the nineteenth century, after a game in 1853 that finished with this exact bishop crossfire. The idea proved so memorable that it has appeared in countless games since and now bears his name.
Boden's Mate almost always follows a sacrifice, often a piece given up on c3 or c6, that rips open the diagonal leading to the castled king. Whenever an opponent castles queenside and the b7-square or the c-file looks weak, look for two bishops that can converge on the position.
Key ideas
- Two bishops on crossing diagonals deliver and support the mate.
- 1.Ba6# checks the king along the a6-c8 diagonal.
- The bishop on f4 covers both c7 and b8 from afar.
- Black's own rook on d8 and pawn on d7 block the escapes.
- The mate typically follows a sacrifice that opens the c-file.
- Watch for it against a king castled queenside on weak squares.