epaulette mate

noun

A checkmate pattern in which the losing side's king is unable to escape because its two surrounding parallel flight squares are occupied by pieces of its own color. Most commonly occurs with two rooks on the back rank.

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Meanings

nounepaulette mate (plural epaulette mates)

plural epaulette mates · alternative epaulet mate

  1. board gamesA checkmate pattern in which the losing side's king is unable to escape because its two surrounding parallel flight squares are occupied by pieces of its own color. Most commonly occurs with two rooks on the back rank.

Origin

Due to perceived visual similarity between rooks and epaulettes.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Finnish olkainmatti
  • olkainmattiTranslations
German Epaulettenmatt
  • EpaulettenmattTranslations
Cite this entry
APA

epaulette mate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/epaulette%20mate

MLA

“epaulette mate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/epaulette%20mate. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “epaulette mate,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/epaulette%20mate.

Source: epaulette mate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.