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Opera mate (1 move)

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In opera mate, a rook checkmates the king. The rook is next to the king, but can't be captured, because it is protected by a bishop (or a queen on the diagonal), which also prevents the escape.

Explanation

This checkmate pattern is named after the classic game Paul Morphy - Duke Karl II of Brunswick and Count Isouard, which was played in the Paris opera in 1858.

The game reached the following position:

In one of the most famous games in chess history, Morphy delivered a spectacular checkmate with:
16.Qb8+!! Nxb8 17.Rd8#.

Examples

Black can deliver opera mate with Rh1#.
The bishop on c6 protects the rook and guards the escape square g2.

Sometimes other pieces can help:

Black can deliver opera mate with Rh4#.
The bishop on f2 protects the rook and guards the escape square g3.
The rook on g5 helps by guarding the escape square g2.

Related patterns

Opera mate
Mayet's mate
Pillsbury's mate

In Mayet's mate, the bishop protects the checkmating rook from the other side, not guarding any escape squares.
In Pillsbury's mate, the bishop guards escape squares, but is not protecting the rook.