What it looks like
The king stands on h7, at the edge of the board, and next to it stands one of its own pawns, on g7. The knight on e7 covers g8 and g6. Only the h-file is left, and that is where the rook or the queen comes in with check. The king is stuck.
The same picture can appear at any edge, but most often it is the h-file after castling kingside.
The way there: the queen sacrifice on h7
Often the king is still on g8 or h8 when the combination starts. The knight checks its way into e7, and then the queen is sacrificed on h7. The king has to take, and now it stands exactly where the rook can mate along the open h-file. The page on the decoy has the same idea in a shorter exercise.
The novel behind the name
The name comes from the novel Anastasia und das Schachspiel, Anastasia and the game of chess, by the German writer Wilhelm Heinse. It came out in 1803, with the subtitle Briefe aus Italien, letters from Italy, and it is full of chess: the second volume has a long series of endings and problems.
One of them is usually named as the original Anastasia's mate. Heinse writes that it comes from an officer in Turin. Try it yourself:
Look at the king. It stands almost in the middle of the board, not at the edge. How the name later ended up on the pattern with the knight on e7, nobody knows for sure, and chess books don't even agree on which pattern the name belongs to. It is also sometimes said that Heinse borrowed the problem from the eighteenth-century Italian master Giambattista Lolli. We have found no support for that, and Heinse himself says something else.
See it coming, and defend
- A knight on e7, or e2. From there it covers g8 and g6 at once. That is half the mate.
- The open h-file. A rook or a queen that can reach the h-file does the rest. A queen sacrifice on h7 can open it.
- The pawn on g7. The pawn meant to shelter the king is in its way. Sometimes it is better to move it, or to have another piece that can block on the h-file.
- Take the knight. If you can trade off the knight before it reaches e7, the whole pattern falls apart.
Puzzles
Frequently asked questions
What is Anastasia's mate?
A checkmate where a knight and a rook or queen trap the king between the edge of the board and one of its own pawns. The knight covers two of the king's squares, and the rook or queen gives check along the edge.
Why is it called Anastasia's mate?
After a German novel, Anastasia und das Schachspiel by Wilhelm Heinse, from 1803. The novel contains many chess problems, and one of them is usually named as the origin of the name.
Updated November 14, 2026