Today's Daily Puzzle 10/21/20: A Variation On Smothered Mate

If you've been reading my blog for some time, you know I've made a few posts on the knight + queen smothered mate. It's a classic combination that every strong beginner/intermediate player should be aware of.

If you are aware of it, then you first glance at today's puzzle you are probably thinking "ok there's got to be some way to smother black's king with a queen check. But I don't have a knight on d7 to achieve this classic mate. What should I do?"

Well, this puzzle is a great example of a simple truth in chess: every chess combination you're taught may not so cleanly show up in your games but the the theme may show up with a slight variation.

In this case, usually your "classic" smothered mate puzzle would have a knight on d7 instead of on e7 and your opponent's king would be on g8 instead of h8. And you would play Na6+, Ka8, Qb8+, Rxb8, Nc7#. Unfortunately, that mate isn't so clearly on the board, but the idea is there, you just need to find the right sequence. How about the amazing Qb8+! right away?