Mating patterns
Balestra mate
By Antoine TamanoUpdated
A queen and a bishop: the queen mates at a knight's distance, the bishop cuts the diagonal escape.
The balestra mate is served as a rated puzzle at every level, and the scan finds the ones you missed and names the motif when it is sure of it. Its journey, a lesson, a drill and a test, is being written.
Play it
Real puzzles from real games, rated 1235 to 1464. No account needed.
Every motif page is free, and so are sections I and II of the path. See what the lifetime unlock adds.
How many balestra mates did you miss last month?
Add your Lichess or Chess.com username and the scan reads your games: every one you walked past that won material or mated, with a single clean answer, becomes a puzzle from your own game, named, until you fix it.
More mating patterns
Counting moves instead of naming the pattern? Play mate in 1 puzzles and mate in 2 puzzles, from real games, easiest first.