Legal's Mate
A queen sacrifice in the opening leads to a beautiful checkmate with minor pieces.
Published 2026-02-01 | Last verified 2026-02-12
Professor Archer says: Legal's Mate is named after Sire de Legal, an 18th-century French chess master who was the teacher of the great Philidor. The story goes that Legal deliberately left his queen hanging to tempt his opponent into capturing it, only to reveal a devastating checkmate with minor pieces. I love this pattern because it embodies the spirit of chess at its most creative: giving up your strongest piece to prove that coordination is more powerful than material.
What Is Legal's Mate?
Legal's Mate is a spectacular opening combination in which one side sacrifices the queen to deliver checkmate with minor pieces (typically two knights and a bishop, or a bishop and knight). It is named after Sire de Legal (1702-1792), a leading French chess player and the mentor of Francois-Andre Danican Philidor.
The classic sequence runs: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bc4 Bg4 4.Nc3 g6 5.Nxe5! At this point, Black's bishop on g4 is pinning the queen to the king. If Black captures the queen with Bxd1, White plays 6.Bxf7+ Ke7 7.Nd5#, and the king on e7 is checkmated by the combined force of the bishop on f7 and the knights.
What makes this pattern so instructive is the concept of the false pin. Black thinks the knight on f3 cannot move because the bishop is pinning it to the queen. But White ignores the pin, moves the knight anyway, and reveals that the queen was not the real target — checkmate was.
I find Legal's Mate to be one of the most elegant teaching tools in chess. It demonstrates several key principles simultaneously: the danger of premature attacks, the power of minor piece coordination, the importance of calculating beyond the obvious, and the beauty of a queen sacrifice. It is a complete chess lesson in just seven moves.
Legal's Mate: The Final Position
In this position, we see the culmination of Legal's Mate. After Black captured White's queen (Bxd1), White played Bxf7+ Ke7, and now Nd5 delivers checkmate. The black king on e7 is surrounded by threats from all directions.
The knight on d5 delivers check. The bishop on f7 covers e8 and e6. The knight on e5 covers d7 and f7 (supporting the bishop). The king cannot go to d8 because the knight on d5 covers it. It cannot go to f8 because the bishop on f7 covers it. It cannot go to e6 because the bishop covers that too. It cannot go to d6, f6, or d7 because the knights control those squares.
The beauty is that Black has an extra queen (captured on d1), but it does not matter. Three minor pieces have woven an inescapable net around the king. Material is irrelevant when the king cannot survive.
This position illustrates why chess is not simply about counting points. Black had a queen advantage, yet lost immediately. The coordinated minor pieces controlled every escape square, leaving the king with no options. It is the ultimate proof that coordination beats material.
Legal's Mate: the knight on d5 delivers checkmate. The bishop on f7 and knight on e5 seal all escape routes. The extra queen on d1 is meaningless.
When to Look for the Legal's Mate Theme
While the exact Legal's Mate sequence is rare in practice (experienced players will not fall for it), the underlying theme — ignoring a pin to create a greater threat — appears frequently in chess at all levels.
Look for Legal's Mate themes whenever your opponent has a bishop pinning one of your pieces to your queen. Before assuming the pin forces you to keep the piece in place, calculate what happens if you move it anyway. Can you sacrifice the queen and create a greater threat? Sometimes the answer is yes.
The Legal's Mate pattern is most common in the opening, particularly in Italian Game and Philidor Defence structures where Black develops the bishop to g4 early. When Black pins the knight on f3 with Bg4, always check whether an Nxe5 sacrifice leads to a mating attack or significant tactical advantage.
Even when the full checkmate does not work, the Legal's Mate idea can win material. For instance, after Nxe5 Bxd1, if the checkmate is not quite available, you might still win back enough material (the bishop on g4 and the pawn on e5, for example) while maintaining a strong attack.
I suggest memorising the core Legal's Mate sequence and then looking for the theme in other openings. The principle of ignoring a pin to create a bigger threat is one that will serve you well throughout your chess career.
Legal's Mate FAQ
Is the queen sacrifice in Legal's Mate voluntary?
Yes. White deliberately moves the knight from f3 (which is pinned to the queen by Black's bishop), offering the queen. If Black captures the queen, the checkmate follows. If Black does not capture, White has simply won a pawn with an improved position.
Can Legal's Mate work for Black too?
Yes, a mirror version can occur with reversed colours. If White pins a Black knight with a bishop and Black ignores the pin to create a mating attack, the same principle applies. The colours do not matter; the pattern does.
What should Black do instead of capturing the queen?
After White plays Nxe5, Black should not capture the queen. Instead, Black should move the bishop to safety (Be6, for example, blocking the dangerous diagonal) or simply recapture the pawn on e5. Accepting the queen sacrifice leads to disaster.
Professor Archer says: Legal's Mate is one of the first combination patterns I teach because it captures the imagination. A queen sacrifice in the opening! Checkmate with just minor pieces! It is the kind of move that makes a student fall in love with chess. And the underlying lesson — that piece activity and coordination can outweigh material advantage — is one of the most important principles in the game.
Quick Quiz
In Legal's Mate, why does White ignore the pin on the knight?
- Because capturing the queen allows a forced checkmate with minor pieces (Correct) - Correct. White sees that if Black captures the queen, the resulting position allows checkmate with the bishop and knights. The queen sacrifice is not a blunder — it is a calculated trap.
- Because the pin is not actually legal - The pin is entirely legal. Black's bishop on g4 does pin the knight to the queen. But White voluntarily breaks the pin because the resulting queen sacrifice leads to checkmate.
- Because White wants to trade the queen for the bishop - White is not interested in an even trade. The queen sacrifice sets up a checkmate with minor pieces. The goal is not to exchange material but to deliver checkmate.
- Because the knight on e5 forks the king and queen - The knight on e5 does not fork the king and queen in Legal's Mate. The point is that after the queen is captured, the minor pieces deliver checkmate together, not that the knight creates a fork.