Cozio's Mate

The 1766 study by a player named Cozio of a special mating pattern gave 'Cozio's Mate' it's existant present day name.

"Cozio's Mate"  is explained as under:

Look at the following diagram:           

    White to play and mate in two moves

In the diagrammed position white though even a pawn down wins the game in a rather surprising manner. White plays 1.Qh6+.Black King has no other square except g3-square to move to. So Black plays the forced move 1...Kg3.

White plays 2.Qh2 + and lo, it is a mate. The misplaced Black queen leads to Black's downfall. After 2.Qh2 checkmate the position is as under.

         White delivers 2.Qh2 checkmate !!

This is the famous "Cozio's Mate". The Cozio 's mate is no stranger to battles at the chessboard. In the 1954 Soviet Championship, Simagin blundered into it against Batuyev and lost.

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