Arabian mate

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An archetypical Arabian mate

Etymology

Possibly named such because the pattern was also possible in shatranj, the Middle Eastern predecessor to chess which included rooks and knights but had many other differences.

According to various sources, the mate is described in an eighth century Arabic manuscript,[1] but this claim could not be substantiated. The pattern, however, does appear as a solution to a position presented in an anonymous Arabic-language manuscript that was copied in 1257 (original source of material unknown).[2][3]

Noun

Arabian mate (plural Arabian mates)

  1. (chess) A checkmate pattern in which a rook provides the checkmate to the cornered king while being protected by a knight that also covers the only would-be escape square.

Translations
Translations

References
  1. David MacEnulty (2014) “15. Rook and Knight Checkmates”, in My First Book of Checkmate
  2. David Hooper & Kenneth Whyld (1984) “Arabian mate”, in The Oxford Companion to Chess, first edition, page 15
  3. كتاب في الشطرنج ومنصوباته وملحه [Kitāb fī al-shaṭranj wa-manṣūbātihi wa-mulaḥih (Add MS 7515)], Qatar Digital Library, 1257, page 68r
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