Arabian Mate

The Arabian mate is one of the oldest checkmates recorded in chess history, so it's time for you to learn how to do it!

Here's everything you need to know about the Arabian mate.

• What Is The Arabian Mate
• Why Is The Arabian Mate Important?
• How To Deliver The Arabian Mate
• Conclusion

What Is The Arabian Mate

The Arabian mate is a checkmate pattern that involves a rook and a knight. In this type of checkmate, the knight defends the rook, and the rook attacks the king. This checkmate usually happens on one of the board's edges because the king's movement has to be restricted.

The Arabian checkmate is said to be the "oldest checkmate" in chess, since there are records of this checkmate in an Arabian manuscript (hence the name) from the 1200s. The manuscript featured a puzzle of a game that preceded chess, in which the bishops (elephants) and queen (vizir) moved differently. The solution to that puzzle ended with an Arabian checkmate:

Why Is The Arabian Mate Important?

The Arabian mate, like other checkmate patterns, is important because it can help you win more games. The more used you are to this pattern, the easier it is to spot and apply it to your games.

How To Deliver The Arabian Mate

As mentioned, the Arabian mate happens when a knight and a rook coordinate to checkmate the enemy king. The rook attacks the king from an adjacent square, also preventing it from moving diagonally to escape. The knight defends the rook and attacks the king's remaining escape square:

The attacked king must have limited movement for this checkmate to happen since the rook can only move on straight lines. Because of this, it's much more common for the Arabian mate to occur in one of the board's corners:

However, the key aspect of this checkmate is that the enemy king must have restricted movement. Even when the king is not in one of the corners, its own army can act as a barrier to its escape:

Conclusion

You now know what the Arabian mate is, why it's important, how to win games using it, and more. Check out this other article to learn more about other types of checkmates!