Chess Patterns ❯ Checkmate Patterns | Mates by the Touch of a Rook ❯ Blind Swine Mate
Blind Swine Mate
Blind Swine Mate
This mating pattern is called the Blind Swine Mate, a term coined by Polish chess player David Janowski (1868-1927). The name likely references how Aaron Nimzowitsch allegedly called "blind pigs" a pair of Rooks on the seventh rank, because they indiscriminately devour everything in their path.
The pattern involves two Rooks attacking a King blocked on the back rank. One of the two Rooks, protected by the other, delivers mate from a square adjacent to the opponent's King. It is a great demonstration of the power of Rooks on the seventh rank. In the simplified example shown in the diagram above, White uses the pattern and wins with 1.Rbg7#.
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Master the Blind Swine Mate
When we started adding a playful touch to chess learning, we looked through thousands of videos and hundreds of books to find the best resources out there. Here's our curated selection of the best content we encountered on the Blind Swine Mate. We also included some smaller creators who are growing fast and we believe deserve your attention. Check out these resources if you want to master this checkmate pattern.
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Checkmate Pattern #11 - Blind Swine Mate
Another excellent YouTube short by Chess Vibes. Here NM Nelson Lopez introduces very clearly the Blind Swine Mate.
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Blind Swine Mate - Chess Checkmate Patterns
Check out this nice explanation of the Blind Swine pattern by The Chess Viking. Calm, slow-paced, and rich in details.
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The Most Famous Checkmate Patterns: Part 1
Watch this incredibly efficient video by Chess School (the first of two videos) where we are presented with all the top mating patterns in a very fast-paced manner, Blind Swine mate included.
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This book by Georges Renaud is an old classic (1947) but has been recently retranslated because it remains one of the best introductions to checkmates. Check it out.
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1001 Deadly Checkmates (Chess for Beginners)*
Tired of random online exercises? Go for this awesome, CAREFULLY CURATED selection of checkmates by beloved chess writer John Nunn.