Morphy's Mate, named after American master Paul Morphy, uses a bishop and rook together to trap the enemy king. Often, this pattern occurs after sacrifices are used to open up the king's position, although it can also occur (or be threatened) without the sacrifice of material.
In the diagrammed position, Black's king is stuck on h8, pinned down by White's rook and his own pawn on h7. White can force checkmate by playing Bf6++, when there is no way out for Black.
These basic checkmates, along with dozens of similar positions, are second nature to tournament chess players. Solving these and other simple mate-in-one problems is a good way to train your brain to recognize these positions when they occur in real games. If you can get to the point where the answers come to you instantly, you can feel confident that you won't miss these opportunities in actual games.
