Morphy's mate is a checkmate where a bishop gives check to a king in the corner and a rook, controlling the file next to it, takes away the king's escape. The king's own pawn usually blocks the last square. Every puzzle on this page ends in Morphy's mate, comes from a real game and is close to your puzzle rating. Solving them moves the same rating as Puzzle Training.
Black's king is on h8 with a pawn on h7. White has a rook on the open g-file and a bishop on the long diagonal from a1 to h8. When the bishop checks, the king has three squares to think about. g8 is covered by the rook. g7 is on the bishop's diagonal and on the rook's file. h7 is filled by Black's own pawn. So the bishop's check is mate.
A one-move version: Black has a king on h8, a rook on f8, pawns on f7 and h7 and a knight on f6; White has a rook on g1 and a bishop on b2. 1.Bxf6 is checkmate. The bishop captures the knight with check along the diagonal through g7, and the rook on g1 holds the whole g-file.
Black has castled, with the king on g8, a rook on f8, a queen on f6 and pawns on f7, g7 and h7. White has a queen on f3, a rook on e1, a bishop on b2 and a king on h1, with no White pawn on the g-file. White plays 1.Qxf6, taking the queen. The natural recapture 1...gxf6 opens the g-file, and White continues 2.Rg1+. Now Black's only legal move is 2...Kh8, and 3.Bxf6 is checkmate.
Notice the order. After the recapture the black pawn on f6 blocks the bishop, which is why the king can still reach h8. The rook check drives it there, and the bishop then removes the pawn with check. g8 is on the rook's file, g7 is on both lines, and h7 holds Black's own pawn.
Morphy's mate uses the same two pieces as Pillsbury's mate with the jobs swapped: here the bishop gives check and the rook confines the king, while in Pillsbury's mate the rook checks and the bishop covers the escape. It also differs from the Arabian mate, where a knight rather than a bishop controls the corner.
Three signs point to Morphy's mate. The enemy king has gone to the corner, or can be driven there. The file next to it is open or about to open, often because a g-pawn has captured something. And one of your bishops is aimed down the long diagonal, even if a piece or pawn is currently in the way. A capture that removes the blocker with check, as in both examples, is a common final move.
It is one of the rarer named patterns in the puzzles, so give each position time and make sure you see why every square is covered before you move.
Be careful about recaptures that open the file next to your king, like the g-pawn capture in the example. If you must open it, make sure you can contest it with a rook. Keep the long diagonal blocked, ideally with a pawn on g7 or a piece that cannot be removed with check, and consider keeping the king out of the corner when an enemy rook and bishop are both active on that side.
If you are stuck in a puzzle, the hint shows which piece to move first, then the move. After you solve, the full line appears beside the board. Morphy's mate often ends a mate in 2 or a mate in 3, and for another pattern built on the corner, see back rank mate puzzles.
For mixed tactics at your level, use Puzzle Training. For speed, try Puzzle Storm, and to repeat a fixed set until it is automatic, the Woodpecker Method. Elo Maxing rates you on every tactical motif and serves the weakest next, and Pattern Drill builds practice from the patterns your own games show you miss. To stop repeating the same oversights, read how to learn from your chess mistakes.
A checkmate where a bishop checks a king in the corner while a rook controls the file next to it, with the king's own pawn usually blocking the last square.
Yes. Both names describe the same bishop and rook corner mate.
In Morphy's mate the bishop gives check and the rook covers the flight square. In Pillsbury's mate the rook gives check and the bishop covers the flight square.
Avoid opening the file next to a cornered king without a rook to contest it, and keep the long diagonal towards your king blocked.