Body: <p>Of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checkmate_pattern" rel="nofollow noreferrer">main <strong>checkmate patterns</strong></a> which are the most frequent (in games that ended with a checkmate)?  Based on chess literature the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checkmate_pattern#Back-rank_mate" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><strong>Back-rank mate</strong></a> is arguably the most common, I would expect the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checkmate_pattern#Queen_mate" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><strong>Queen mate</strong></a> would be up there as well as promoting a pawn to a queen for a defining endgame material advantage is a logical conclusion to most endgames.  After having learnt the main patterns and completed a lot of mate puzzles empirically, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checkmate_pattern#Dovetail_mate_(Cozio%27s_mate)" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><strong>Dovetail (Cozio's) mate</strong></a> and its variants is one of the most frequent if not the second most frequent. I however cannot back this up scientifically.  Are there any <strong>statistics</strong> out there one can access on this topic? Is there a way to analyse e.g. the Lichess database to determine the relative frequency of each type of main checkmate pattern? Has this been done already? In researching  online I have come across some info on statistics <a href="https://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/checkmate-pattern-statistics" rel="nofollow noreferrer">based on the piece that made the last move</a>.  Very interesting, however my interest extends to the actual checkmate patterns and not just the last piece that moved.</p>
  
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2024-01-23T00:51:42.263Z
Comments.Text: The problem is that the most frequent checkmate patterns never actually happen - the player who is about to be checkmated resigned.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Alexander Woo
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2024-01-23T16:20:55.803Z
Comments.Text: The problem two (even if you count an imminent mate followed by a resign) would be: which group? If "all", shepherds mate. A GM sample would be a different thing.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Hauke Reddmann
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2024-01-24T05:33:45.923Z
Comments.Text: For clarity my question is restricted to games that ended in checkmate.
Comments.UserDisplayName: chesshomem
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2024-01-25T11:47:38.217Z
Comments.Text: It's going to take some time but I can run it across a 20m+ database. Estimate it might take a week or two to automate the classifications though
Comments.UserDisplayName: Dheebs
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2024-01-25T14:22:55.443Z
Comments.Text: Thank you. I imagined that it was not a quick nor easy task, hence why this information or these statistics are not already freely available.
Comments.UserDisplayName: chesshomem
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2024-01-26T08:06:08.680Z
Comments.Text: Also THX to Dheebs, would find it interesting too. Please specify the ELO level in the database if you are ready. (Even better, split database by ELO :-)
Comments.UserDisplayName: Hauke Reddmann
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2024-01-27T01:54:28.990Z
Comments.Text: It might be hard to define some patterns exactly. Is a backrank mate only with the king behind pawns, or does an enemy pawn blocking escape count? Stuff like that.
Comments.UserDisplayName: qwr
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2024-01-27T07:52:42.913Z
Comments.Text: yeah there is going to be a bunch work here. it wont be a short task. Step 1, All games finished by checkmate. 2. Develop an AI to classify the checkmate into a bunch of known checkmate patterns. 3. Train the AI.4, Output all games as images. 5. Let the AI classify, 6. Wrap up statistical analysis. Should be interesting. Will keep me busy for a while.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Dheebs
Tags: <checkmate><programming><statistics><database><patterns>
Title: The Most Frequent Checkmate Patterns
ThreadText: # The Most Frequent Checkmate Patterns
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2024-01-22)
  
  Of the [main **checkmate patterns**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checkmate_pattern) which are the most frequent (in games that ended with a checkmate)? Based on chess literature the [**Back-rank mate**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checkmate_pattern#Back-rank_mate) is arguably the most common, I would expect the [**Queen mate**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checkmate_pattern#Queen_mate) would be up there as well as promoting a pawn to a queen for a defining endgame material advantage is a logical conclusion to most endgames. After having learnt the main patterns and completed a lot of mate puzzles empirically, the [**Dovetail (Cozio's) mate**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checkmate_pattern#Dovetail_mate_(Cozio%27s_mate)) and its variants is one of the most frequent if not the second most frequent. I however cannot back this up scientifically. Are there any **statistics** out there one can access on this topic? Is there a way to analyse e.g. the Lichess database to determine the relative frequency of each type of main checkmate pattern? Has this been done already? In researching online I have come across some info on statistics [based on the piece that made the last move](https://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/checkmate-pattern-statistics). Very interesting, however my interest extends to the actual checkmate patterns and not just the last piece that moved.
  
  **Tags:** checkmate, programming, statistics, database, patterns
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_1**: The problem is that the most frequent checkmate patterns never actually happen - the player who is about to be checkmated resigned.  
  > **username_2**: The problem two (even if you count an imminent mate followed by a resign) would be: which group? If "all", shepherds mate. A GM sample would be a different thing.  
  > **username_0**: For clarity my question is restricted to games that ended in checkmate.  
  > **username_3**: It's going to take some time but I can run it across a 20m+ database. Estimate it might take a week or two to automate the classifications though  
  > **username_0**: Thank you. I imagined that it was not a quick nor easy task, hence why this information or these statistics are not already freely available.  
  > **username_2**: Also THX to username_3, would find it interesting too. Please specify the ELO level in the database if you are ready. (Even better, split database by ELO :-)  
  > **username_4**: It might be hard to define some patterns exactly. Is a backrank mate only with the king behind pawns, or does an enemy pawn blocking escape count? Stuff like that.  
  > **username_3**: yeah there is going to be a bunch work here. it wont be a short task. Step 1, All games finished by checkmate. 2. Develop an AI to classify the checkmate into a bunch of known checkmate patterns. 3. Train the AI.4, Output all games as images. 5. Let the AI classify, 6. Wrap up statistical analysis. Should be interesting. Will keep me busy for a while.  
  
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  ## 0 answers
  
  