Damiano's mate: the queen and a pawn on h7

What it looks like

The king stands on g8 after castling kingside. White's pawn has made it to g6, and from there it protects h7 and covers f7. The queen comes in on h7 with check. The king can't take her, because the pawn protects her, and every other square is taken.

So a pawn far up the board in front of the king is not just a pawn. It can be half the mate.

The rook sacrifice on the h-file

Often the queen can't reach the h-file directly. Then a rook is sacrificed on h8 first. The king has to take, the queen arrives on the h-file with check, the king goes back, and the queen mates on h7.

The apothecary in Rome

Pedro Damiano was a Portuguese apothecary who in 1512 published a chess book in Rome, with the long title Questo libro e da imparare giocare a scachi et de li partiti, roughly: a book for learning to play chess, with problems. Among the problems is one where the rooks are sacrificed on h8 in turn before the queen mates on h7, protected by a pawn on g6.

One thing is missing. In the problem, as the chess historian H. J. R. Murray reproduces it, there is no white king on the board. In a real game that would be impossible, but the mate works anyway. That is why the exercise above is our own, with both kings in place.

See it coming, and defend

• An enemy pawn on g6, or g3. It covers f7 and protects h7. Take it if you can, preferably with the f-pawn.
• The open h-file. The queen needs to reach h7. A rook sacrifice can open the file even when it looks closed.
• Defend h7 with a piece. A knight on f8 or a bishop that reaches h7 can be enough.
• Give the king a way out. As long as the rook stays on f8, the king has none. If the rook moves, the king can escape there.

Updated November 14, 2026