Explanation

In this level, you can achieve a smothered mate in two moves. In many cases the king will initially not completely blocked in by its own pieces, but you can force your opponent to block the last escape square.

Examples

The knight could give check on f7, but this wouldn't be checkmate, because the king can still escape to g8.
White can force Black to block the last escape square with Qg8+!
Black cannot capture with the King, because the knight on h6 is protecting the queen.
Therefore, Black is forced to play Rxg8, blocking the king's last escape square on g8.
Now the king is completely blocked in, and White can win with the smothered mate Nf7#.

This even works when the rook is on f8 and is guarding f7, as in the following example:

White can win with the deflection Qg8+.
Black cannot capture with the King, because the knight on h6 is protecting the queen.
Therefore, Black is forced to play Rxg8, blocking the king's last escape square on g8.
The rook is now deflected from guarding f7, and White can win with smothered mate Nf7#.

Pattern matching

This combination works well against a king castled short, if the f-pawn moves or was captured.

Related combinations

Smothered mate in two moves often makes use of the block escape square and deflection into checkmate combinations.