TacticsPlay as white

Pillsbury's Mate

A rook gives mate on an open file or rank beside the king while a bishop on the long diagonal takes away the escape squares — rook and bishop working as a pair.

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Introduction

Pillsbury's mate is a two-piece pattern: a bishop on the long diagonal covers the squares next to the king, and a rook checks along an open file or rank — with the diagonal squares gone, the check is mate. The bishop is usually in place long before the rook arrives, so the skill is to see the net that is already set and find the rook's road in, even when a piece has to be given up to open it.

Lesson Content

Try this position

Black is a piece up and the pawn on c2 is one square from becoming a queen — but none of that matters if White mates first. Look at the king on f8: the bishop on f6 covers e7 and g7, the two squares in front of it, so the king cannot step forward. That is the Pillsbury net. All White needs is a rook check on the back rank, and the rook on b7 reaches it in one move: Rb8+ leaves the king no square at all.

Mating NetKing Attack

Try this position

1. ..Rb8+

Rb8+ checks along the back rank, and the king has nowhere to go: e7 and g7 belong to the bishop on f6, e8 and g8 to the rook. Black's single legal move is to block with 1. ..Bd8 — and then Rxd8 is checkmate, because the bishop on f6 protects the rook on d8 and the king cannot take it.

Mating NetKing Attack

Alternative Moves

Rxb6 — Rxb6 wins the bishop but gives up the back rank: after 1...axb6 the net is gone, and the pawn on c2 is one square from becoming a queen with nothing to stop it — White ends a queen down instead of delivering mate.

Try this position

2. Rxd8#

Checkmate — Pillsbury's mate. The rook on d8 checks along the back rank and is protected by the bishop on f6, so the king cannot take it; the same bishop covers e7 and g7, the rook covers e8 and g8, and f7 is Black's own pawn. Rook on the rank, bishop on the diagonal: every square is taken.

Mating NetKing Attack

Try this position

Often the net is set and only the king's own pawn is in the way. Here the bishop on c4 covers g8, the pawn on f5 covers g6, and the rook on f3 is one move from the h-file. The pawn on h7 is all that shields the king on h8 — so White buys it with the queen: Qxh7+ forces 1. ..Kxh7, and the rook follows with Rh3, checkmate on the open h-file.

Mating NetKing AttackSacrifice

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3. Qxh7+

Qxh7+ gives up the queen to drag the king onto the open h-file: 1. ..Kxh7 is forced, because the bishop on c4 covers g8 and the king has no other square. Now Rh3 is checkmate — the rook checks down the h-file, the bishop holds g8, the pawn on f5 holds g6, and g7 is Black's own pawn. A queen for a king is the best trade in chess.

Mating NetKing AttackSacrifice

Alternative Moves

Rh3 — Rh3 brings the rook to the h-file first, but Black gets a move: 1...h6 closes the file, the queen has no way in, and with the king safe Black keeps the extra activity — the mate is gone and White stands slightly worse.

Try this position

3. ..Rh3#

Checkmate. The rook on h3 checks along the h-file and also covers h6 and h8; g8 belongs to the bishop on c4, g6 to the pawn on f5, and g7 is blocked by the black pawn. The queen is gone, and the game is over.

Mating NetKing Attack

Try this position

The bishop on b3 already covers g8, and the king on h8 has its own pawn on g7 in front of it. The rook on e5 is one move from mate. Which move is it?

Mating NetKing Attack

Try this position

In Pillsbury's mate, what is the bishop's job?

Mating Net

Key Takeaways

Rook and bishop pair up: the rook checks on the file or rank, the bishop takes the diagonal escape squares.
Look for the net before the check — if the bishop already covers the squares next to the king, one rook move may be mate.
A pawn shielding the king can be bought: a queen sacrifice that opens the file is cheap when the rook's check is mate.

Now play it through

Step through every move on a real board, try the wrong ones, and ask Knighty why they fail.

Practice Interactively

Related Lessons

Opera Mate

Sacrifice and King Attack

Double Bishop Mate

Summary

Pillsbury's mate: a bishop on the long diagonal covers the squares beside the king, and a rook checks along an open file or rank — with the diagonal squares gone, the check is mate. The bishop is usually already in place; find the rook's way in, and be ready to give up material to open the file.

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Next in this course

Boden's Mate

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