Checkmates After 1963

In “When Did the Naming of Checkmates Start?” from Checkmate Quiz 1, I go through the origins of checkmates. The key books that started naming checkmates after World War 2 are “The Art of the Checkmate” by Renaud/Kahn (1953/1962) and “The Art of Attack in Chess” by Vukovic (1963). Earlier, Max Lange’s “Handbuch der Schachaufgaben” (1862) was one of the first books to deal with the naming of checkmates, if not the first one. All 3 books have inspired the naming in my Checkmate Quiz-series.

This blog page is dedicated to the naming of certain checkmates after 1963 – checkmates with no clear explanation from either of the 3 books as to their origins. The checkmates are:

Swallowtail Mate (Renaud/Kahn calls it Gueridon Mate, where Gueridon is a pedestal table. I am looking for the origin of the English name ‘swallowtail’).

Balestra Mate

Hook Mate

Triangle Mate

Kill Box Mate

Mighty Queen Mate

David & Goliath Mate

Corner Mate

(Bishop) Suffocation Mate

These names appeared in books after 1963, or on the internet after 1993. Either way, I have not been able to trace the names back to the origin, and I would appreciate any help from readers of this blog. Older chess players might have come across names of checkmates in books from the 197o’s and 1980’s, or from the early years of the internet. Clues that lead to an answer will be posted on this blog page, with proper referral.

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