selfmate
Etymology
From self- + mate.
selfmate means A chess problem in which the white player, moving first, must force the black player to deliver checkmate within a specified number of moves. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 94 out of 100.
Why this word is great
SELFMATE — [Noun] A chess problem in which White, moving first, must force Black to deliver checkmate within a specified number of moves. Formed within English from the prefix self- (denoting one's own action upon oneself) and the verb mate (meaning to checkmate in chess). Unlike a "helpmate," a cooperative ballet of feigned blunders, or a "stalemate," a deadlock of impotent silence, the selfmate is a choreography of pure coercion. It is the king herded into the only square where the enemy knight can strike, the queen sacrificed to open a fatal line for a lowly pawn, the final move delivered with the resigned hand of the opponent—a ritual of perfect control that ends in one's own annihilation, the art of constructing a trap so perfect the captor willingly becomes the prey.
noun
- A chess problem in which the white player, moving first, must force the black player to deliver checkmate within a specified number of moves.