Secrets of Trapping Pieces: David and Goliath Mate

The primary purpose of this blog is to allow you to test your skills in applying the David and Goliath Mate, not just trapping the King but putting an end to His Majesty...with a mere Pawn. The puzzles range from very easy to...well, it took a very strong player to calculate an entire sequence over the board. The puzzles are provided after an extremely brief discussion of what constitutes a David and Goliath Mate. You can skip the discussion and go directly to the puzzles by scrolling past the picture further below.

Examples of some typical David and Goliath Mates
We begin with a diagram showing two examples of the David and Goliath Mate...though I prefer to term it the David and Goliath Configuration. My reasoning being that the mere threat of a David and Goliath Configuration. may be sufficient to compel significant concessions from the opponent. Perhaps even concessions sufficient to state that the game is effectively over from a technical perspective. Unfortunately, I did not find an illustrative game that points to the value of realizing a mate threat can be almost as powerful as an actual mate! If/when I do, then I'll update this post to include that game.

The key aspect of a David and Goliath Mate is that a mere bit of a Pawn delivers the fatal blow. It is completely irrelevant how possible escape squares for the King are covered by the side delivering mate or blocked by unintentional traitors who may have been attempting to shelter His Majesty. Accordingly, unlike most of the mating patterns presented to date, I will not be presenting a minimalist diagram that is representative of a large class of mates. Instead, I am reduced to showing two sample concluding positions in support of those who, like me, learn better by seeing examples than by reading text.

The real learning will have to come from solving a number of puzzles. As usual, they are arranged from easiest to hardest.

And so, let the puzzles begin!

Storey, Charles (2241) - Jarmany, John (2073) GBR-ch 101st, 2014.07.20
Black's King was already in a mating net, stuck in the corner with too many open lines for the White pieces. Black, presumably unintentionally, offered a help-mate that ends the game faster with 50...Qf3. Can you find the same pretty finish that White found in the game?

Dueck, Stefan (2112) - Klebanov, Andrej (--) Sachsen-ch U14, 2002.04.07
Black just blundered with 32...Bd7. Sure, it prevents White from playing 33.Bxe6. But it overlooks a different problem. What was White's response?

Lorenz, Sascha (2298) - Orlov, Andrey (2367) Bundesliga 0001, 2001.03.10
White just played 17.Qf3. Instead 17.Re1 would have maintained equality. How did Black respond.

Zacurdajev, Mikhail (2314) - Garakov, Mikhael (2359)
Black was losing but was clearly focused on preventing the White pawn from advancing to d7. But there's a problem with that. Do you see it?

Kosolapov, N. - Nezhmetdinov, Rashid, Kazan, 1936
White just played fxg4 in an attempt to relieve some of the pressure on their Kingside. Instead, it was like applying a flamethrower to an already heated kettle. Time to pop the lid!

Participants Svidler, Peter (2769) - Anand, Viswanathan (2783) Norway Masters blitz, 2013.05.07
See if you can improve on Black's play in this blitz game.

Kaid, Almar (1775) - Giese, Reinhard (2170) Porz op 29th, 1993
You have got to be kidding me! There simply cannot be enough pieces on board to mate Black's King with a pawn.
Well, try anyway.

Mossekel, Manfred - Obreht, Slobodan, Wichern op 4th, 1997
Black just played ...Qe4?? Presumably Black thought the threat of mate on g2 would force White to trade Queens. How did White respond to this vile threat?

Polgar, Judit (2595) - Fernandez Garcia, Jose Luis (2475) Dos Hermanas, 1993
Black was in trouble but decided to seek counterplay by threatening White's Rook on c3 by playing 33...Qb4?? I'm sure you noticed that annotation of a blunder. So, what's up here? I don't see ANY white pawns anywhere near Black's King. What next?

Ponkratov, Pavel (2613) - Shengelia, Davit (2508) EU-ch 19th, 2018.03.24
Black just captured an intruding Knight on b6 in an attempt to relieve the pressure on their position. Should White accept the Rook?

Tolush, Alexander V - Randviir, Juri, Parnu Training Tournament, 1947.07.15
Black chose to fork White's Rook and Knight with 43...Kf6 rather than retreating to the f8 square. Why was that a mistake?

Binham, Timothy F (2335) - Horn, Pascal (2250) EU-Cup 14th Group2, 1998.09.13
Apparently Black wanted to hint that White's Queen wasn't entirely safe. And posted their Knight on h5. White's reaction is straightforward. And then the problem gets more complicated.

Semcesen, Daniel (2097) - Leenhouts, Koen (2118) Hallsberg op U18 37th, 2002
White just played Ke3 instead of racing to the safe harbor of a draw with Kf1 and a perpetual by the Black Queen. How did Black continue? And then continue to receive additional help from White that allowed for a quick finish?

Belinkov, Arkady Moiseevich - Lapienis, Donatas P, URS-chT Cup 06th, 1968.12.11
Black just played 38...Rf6 to support the f-pawn. A seemingly brutal moment with the f-pawn running and Black also threatening to play Rhh6 doubling up on the pin. What to do, what to do.

Now let's look at how Black got themselves in so much trouble. This is not a puzzle, rather it is an illustration of how to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

Related blogs: You can find an entire mini-universe of blogs about trapping various pieces at the links below. Or for the visually inclined you can just use your favorite search engine and ask to see images for "Secrets of Trapping Pieces". You'll either get pictures posted by animal trappers, I suspect mostly people who are not named Kristi Noem, or pictures posted by yours truly.
Knight

SUCCESS!! Publication of my "Secrets of Trapping Pieces: Fundamentals"