IM Vladimir Vuković (b. 1898; d. 1975) was both Serbian and Jewish. He showed an essential and particular kind of Knight and Rook checkmate pattern in his book, THE ART OF ATTACK IN CHESS, Chapter 4: Mating Patterns, under "Typical Mates without Enemy Pieces," pages 66-67 (AAV, 66-67).

The mating pattern was not labeled with a name there, but several chess writers honor IM Vuković by naming this pattern after him. Unlike several other named mates in history, it does not appear that IM Vuković used this mate in one of his own games. However, the recorded body of his games is limited.

This kind of checkmate intrigued me, so I chose to start a collection of games for my students to learn about it. Of course, the games are most likely to need continuations to see the Vuković Mate, since the general case is for modern players to resign when their games are clearly lost, rather than proceed until the mate is achieved. A foregone conclusion avoids the conclusion, literally then.

The original demonstrative position (AAV, 66) for both the Arabian Mate and the Vuković Mate is as follows, but note that the processes are different, as detailed in the book:

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I have placed the White King at a random location because IM Vuković omitted it from the starting position.

One series of moves from this root position brings an Arabian Mate: 1. ♘f6+ ♔h8 2. ♖h7# and the other set 1. ♘f6+ ♔f8 2. ♖f7# brings "a mating pattern which is worth remembering (AAV, 67)."

IM Vuković did not illustrate either finale, so here is the example Arabian Mate position:

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This is the 'Vuković Mate' position then:

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This situation is more common than some would think, i.e., one position that could end in more than one way. One often sees a given position that can lead to either a Bishop and Knight Mate or a Knight and Bishop Mate (the distinction being which piece actually completes the mate with its attack, not being a helper, only).

One suggestion for a memorization aid is to notice that the defending King, attacking Rook and supporting Knight form a line. Another chessman must be employed, however, to protect the mating Rook-- the Pawn could be on either diagonal "behind" the Rook. Obviously, a higher ranking unit could be the Rook's protector also, even your own regent, itself.

That mnemonic line is normally a file. The other orientation for the Vuković Mate would be visualized along a rank, then. Examples of such sideways Vuković Mates will be included below as they are encountered.

From one of the games played by two women cited below, T Gueci vs A Balaian, 2013, here is a sideways Vuković Mate:

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Some chess authorities would claim them as different mates altogether, as the move order differs. Do allow me to politely and firmly disagree. I maintain that an important aspect of chess visualization is being able to see a mating pattern in different parts of the board and in different orientations.

The defending King need not be in the corner in order to effect this mate. Most frequently, it is on the edge of the board and the protector for the Rook is a Pawn. Other locations and other protectors may be encountered, as evidenced by some of the games that are listed below.

This kind of Rook and Knight mate is not an Arabian Mate. Further, the name Arabian Mate should not be applied to the Hook Mate, either. I have compiled a game collection on the Hook Mate as well: Game Collection: Hook Mate Examples. For those interested, my game collection for the Arabian Mate is Game Collection: Arabian Mate Examples

The Hook Mate differs dramatically from the Vuković Mate, as the King and Rook have reversed position or one could say that the defending King is "between" the Rook and Knight. See this game: Lenderman vs Samuel Herring, 2015 and its final position with the Hook Mate:

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There should be a formal, technical name for this mating position; something like a Rook and Knight Mate with Helper and some other qualifiers. I had been describing it fancifully for my students as an <In-His-Face Rook Mate> before I saw the <Vuković Mate> designation. My preference, as always, it to keep names short and simple (KISS), so I much prefer 'Vuković Mate' and it is the more colorful and easier to remember moniker.

Similarly, I prefer Pandolfini's use of <Rook Roll> rather than the more mundane and yet proper <Double Rook Mate>. (My younger club members irrepressibly smile when I use a giant chess set with a tablecloth "board" and then watch me literally roll it up as the mating net proceeds!)

The game V Saravanan vs Sasikiran, 1999, 79 moves, 0-1, is the archetype for most Internet citations (without being identified). Continuation in that game gives us this diagram:

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The Vuković Mate may be expressed in several forms, although in every case, the "victimized" King, friendly Rook and friendly Knight are contiguous and in a straight line, with the Rook directly against the opposing King. Further, there may be two protectors for the Rook (i.e., the threat of the final position of Spassky vs Larsen, 1968, would have both the friendly King and a Pawn aiding him). Here is its diagram:

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Some commentators on this game have made the mistake of declaring that it ends with an Arabian Mate threat. You, gentle readers, know better now.

Another point of interest may be the similarity between the Vuković Mate and the <Seventh Rank Mate>, which Nimzowitsch called the <Blind Swine Mate>.

This connection is most evident when the protector is a distant Queen or Rook on the same rank as the Rook adjacent to the rival King. Now the Knight is acting as a 'stopper' in the drain of the sink-- the targeted King has no outlet for safety.

Both the end of this game J Aagaard vs A Ismagambetov, 2012 and its continuation to mate for two relevant cases showing the Black Knight as a stopper, keeping the White King in a tight box.

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is the EOG position.

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is the position with mate.

Another case is from S Nikolov vs M Petrov, 2001 with two curiosities. One is the mate in the corner and the other the Blind Swine Mate family resemblance. An outdated analysis engine still finds a continuation for a Vuković Mate in this game, however, as an M3 line: 32. ... ♕xe1+ 33. ♖xe1 ♘b4 34. ♖e7 g5 35. ♖xh7#. It brings us to this position, then:

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This position is a typical Blind Swine Mate

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which is from this game: W Hartston vs A Whiteley, 1974. For other examples, see my game collection Game Collection: Seventh Rank Mate Examples.

Currently, Stockfish 17 (d33) finds much better play. A Vuković Mate as the top option takes much longer, i.e., an M8 line: 32... ♕xe1+ 33. ♖xe1 ♖ab8 34. ♕c7 ♖f6 35. ♖e7 ♖f1+ 36. ♔h2 ♖h1+ 37. ♔xh1 ♖b1+ 38. ♔h2 ♖h1+ 39. ♔xh1 ♘b4 40. ♖xh7#. The illustration of that solution is as follows:

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At one point, I thought that the earliest Vuković Mate was J Moller vs H Jonsson, 1901, 38 moves, 1-0. However, Staunton vs E Williams, 1851, 78 moves, 0-1, far precedes it. G Ferenczy vs Charousek, 1897, 37 moves, 0-1, is another prior game.

Of course, there could still be another predecessor out there. The first point to recognize from this is that the Vuković Mate is not a new checkmate pattern, merely newly named. The second point is that the mate predates its namesake, since IM Vuković was born in 1898.

Games where the Queen gets positioned in the place of the Rook will be included here because a beginner and some intermediates need to be reminded to be ready to use that variation of the usual pattern. Also, it visually fits, but the Knight is redundant in most cases. In a very technical sense, it is a different mate though, so you may choose to omit these games. They are readily identified with =QV= (for Queen Variation) to make such an abridgement simpler.

To accommodate the brevity of the headers (63 characters) for each game, only the color and type of the protector for the Rook will be given. Also, =C= is used when the targeted King is mated in a corner, =M= when a game was played to the mate, =W= is used for games where both players are women, =G= indicates both players are girls and =ftb= for credit to fredthebear for insightful comments he made. Further, =Un= is given for players 14 years old or younger, so =U8= applies to a game where both players were eight years old.

The notation <Qn> is for identifying quadrants of the chessboard, clockwise from upper right and governed by the position of the defending King. So, <Q2> is the second quadrant, which includes the h1 corner. The sideways mate position shown earlier, then, is in <Q2> mainly because the White King has remained in that quadrant after the partial King Hunt even though other dynamic participants are in both <Q1> and <Q2> there.

ChessCoachClark (CCC) originated this game collection prior to 2015 and he updates it on occasion. CCC has mixed feelings about ChessGames.com members who have cloned my tedious work without citing anyone as its originator. The cloning feature is provided by ChessGames.com for these game collections altogether, but such imitation-- without the credit that is due-- does not evoke flattery. Further, it is worse when another chess player removes all references to ChessCoachClark and lets himself/herself be indicated as the author of the given collection, which is obviously false!

This project is a work in progress, culling games from various sources, including several chess training books and personal research. The games are ordered by date (oldest first), not by importance.

Be well.
Be safe.