Epaulette Mate — the king trapped by its own 'shoulder' pieces
Learn how a king flanked by its own pieces falls to a single queen check.
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How It Works — Step by Step
The Epaulette Pattern
The Black king on e8 is flanked by rooks on d8 and f8 — like epaulettes on a military uniform. White's queen on e6 delivers checkmate.
D-File Epaulette
The same pattern on the d-file: Black's king on d8 is flanked by rooks on c8 and e8. White's queen on d6 delivers the epaulette mate.
Mid-Board Epaulette
The Black king on e5 is flanked by its own pawns on d5 and f5. White's queen on e3 and knights on c4 and g4 deliver mate — the pawns are the 'epaulettes'.
Setting Up the Epaulette
Sacrifices that force pieces to land on the flanking squares are the key technique to engineer this pattern.
Find epaulette mate patterns in my games
Kingsights scans your real games to find positions where the epaulette pattern appeared — or could have been exploited.
✓ Interactive boards ✓ Step-by-step ✓ Free forever