This mating pattern is called Opera Mate because it was famously played by American master Paul Morphy in 1858 in a game that took place at the opera house in Paris against two strong amateurs.
The pattern involves a Bishop and a Rook attacking the opponent's King on the back rank. The Rook, protected by the Bishop, delivers mate from a square adjacent to the King. Opposite to the attacking Rook, the King is obstructed by its own pieces. Unlike in Mayet's Mate, the Bishop controls an important escape square. In the simplified example shown in the diagram above, White uses the pattern and wins with 1.Rd8#.
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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 Opera 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.
If you are in a hurry and just want a quick, precise definition of the Opera Mate Pattern, then this YouTube short by the passionate Chess Knowledge with H1 channel is the place to go.
Have a go at this fast-paced video in which Alessia Santeramo presents many checkmate patterns, some named (like the Opera Mate), some unnamed, but all extremely common and useful.
This video by the excellent channel Historical Chess Videos is a very nice presentation of the famous game that gave the name to this very common mating pattern. Highly recommended.
Don’t skip this wonderful book. Antonio Gude has done MASSIVE work, and this introduction to mating patterns is probably the most complete one out there. Plus, it’s a pleasure to read.
This excellent guide by Vladimir Barsky organizes the mating patterns by piece type and then breaks them down into dozens of mini-diagrams that are perfect for internalizing and recalling the patterns.
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