In
chess parlance, the term
economical mate refers to a
checkmate where every one of the winning side's remaining pieces, with the exception of the
king and
pawns, contributes to the checkmate. Here is an example of an economical mate, derived from a 1929 problem by
Joseph Cumpe:
+---+---+---+---+
| | | |WK |
+---+---+---+---+
|BK |BB | |WR |
+---+---+---+---+
| |BP | |WB |
+---+---+---+---+
| | | | |
+---+---+---+---+
|WR | | | |
+---+---+---+---+
Note how no white piece can be removed without lifting the checkmate: the leftmost rook and the
bishop contribute by attacking the king's possible flight squares, while the other
rook completes the
mate by preventing the black bishop from blocking the check. Below is one more economical example, derived from a 1902 problem by
Godfrey Heathcote:
+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+
|WB |WP |BK | |WQ |
+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+
| |WK | | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+
Both positions above are also pure, hence illustrating model mates.