Mating attack
A mating attack is a sustained assault on the enemy king, usually built from several pieces and often with sacrifices, whose aim is checkmate rather than winning material.
Where a mating net describes a king already surrounded, a mating attack describes the campaign that gets there. It usually begins when the defender's king is short of protectors, for example after castling with pieces far away, and the attacker brings queen, minor pieces and sometimes rooks into the area.
The attacker is allowed to spend material to keep up momentum, as long as the resulting threats are concrete. Typical ingredients are open lines near the king, a piece that can land on a key square with support, and a defender that has been removed or distracted. Before launching one, count attackers against defenders. If you have more pieces able to join than they have able to guard, the attack tends to succeed.
Defenders should trade off the most dangerous attacking piece, return a piece to cover the king, or counter with a stronger threat of their own. Many attacks fail because they start too soon, with only a queen taking part. Another common mistake is sacrificing without a calculated finish. A sacrifice is justified when you can see mate, or a clear win of more material, and not just a feeling that the king looks weak.
Compare it with Damiano's mate. Damiano's mate is a checkmate in which a queen gives check on h7 next to a king on g8, guarded by a pawn on g6, while the king's own pieces block its remaining flight squares.
Also worth reading is Hook mate. A hook mate is a checkmate in which a rook gives check next to the king, a knight guards the rook, a pawn guards the knight, and one of the defender's own pawns blocks the last flight square.
A neighboring idea is Morphy's mate. Morphy's mate is a checkmate against a king in the corner in which a bishop gives check along the long diagonal while a rook controls the neighboring file, and the king's own pawn blocks the last flight square.
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Related terms
A mating net is a setup in which the enemy king is surrounded by attackers and its own pieces so tightly that checkmate cannot be avoided, even if the final blow is a move or two away.
A back rank mate is a checkmate on a player's first or eighth rank, typically by a rook or queen, delivered when the king's own pawns leave it no square to step to.
The Greek gift sacrifice is a bishop sacrifice on h7, or h2 for Black, played as Bxh7+ Kxh7, followed by a knight check on g5 and the queen coming to the h-file to attack the exposed king.
A queen sacrifice gives up the strongest piece on the board, usually with a check or a capture, to win through a forced checkmate or to gain enough other material to be clearly ahead.
A counterattack is a reply to a threat that answers it with a threat of your own instead of defending, usually a larger one, so the opponent has to deal with yours first.
A combination is a forcing sequence of moves, usually built from sacrifices and checks, in which every move leaves the opponent few or no choices and the sequence ends in a concrete gain such as mate or material.
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