How to checkmate: the basic checkmates
Winning material is pointless if you cannot finish. These are the checkmates every player has to know cold: king and queen against king (ten moves at most, and the one beginners stalemate), king and rook against king, two rooks rolling the king up the board, two bishops, and the bishop and knight mate that even strong players practise. Then the short ones that decide beginner games: Scholar's mate and how to refuse it, Fool's mate, the back-rank mate, smothered mate. Each page gives the method as a sequence you can play through, with the squares named and a board to check, and the tests behind this site replay every mating line to make sure it is really mate.
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How to checkmate in chess
Checkmate is a check with no answer.
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King and queen vs king: how to checkmate
Use the queen to shrink the box the enemy king lives in, one knight's-move away from it so it can never attack her, bring your own king up to help, and deliver mate on the edge with the queen protected by your king.
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King and rook vs king: how to checkmate
Cut the lone king off with the rook, then march your own king up until the two kings stand facing each other with one square between them.
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Ladder mate with two rooks
One rook cuts the king off on a rank, the other checks him on the next rank up, and he has to retreat.
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Two bishops checkmate: the method
Put the bishops on adjacent squares so their diagonals form a wall, bring your king up to push, and herd the lone king into any corner you like.
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Bishop and knight checkmate
It works, but only in a corner of the same colour as your bishop, which means driving the king across the board to the right one.
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Why two knights cannot force checkmate
The mating position exists, so a defender can walk into it, but nothing makes him.
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Can you checkmate with a knight alone?
Not against a bare king.
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Can you checkmate with a bishop alone?
Not against a bare king.
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Can you checkmate with a queen alone?
Against a lone king on an open board, no: the queen can check forever, but every mating square leaves the king a flight square or lets him capture her.
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Can you checkmate with a pawn?
Yes.
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Can you checkmate with a king?
The king never gives check, because it can never move next to the enemy king, so it cannot deliver mate by itself and two bare kings is an instant draw.
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Back-rank mate: the first pattern to learn
A rook or queen arrives on the rank the enemy king is sitting on, and the king cannot step forward because its own f-, g- and h-pawns are still in the way.
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Scholar's mate: the four-move checkmate
Scholar's mate is the four-move checkmate 1.
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Fool's mate: the two-move checkmate
Fool's mate is the two-move checkmate 1.
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Smothered mate explained simply
A smothered mate is checkmate by a knight against a king whose own pieces occupy every square around it.
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Checkmate in 2 moves: what it means and the famous one
From the starting position only one two-move checkmate exists, Fool's mate, and only Black can give it: 1.
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Checkmate in 3 moves: is it possible?
Yes, and three moves is the record for White.
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Checkmate in 4 moves
The four-move checkmate is Scholar's mate.
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What is the fastest checkmate in chess?
Two moves, and only Black can give it: 1.
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How to find mate in one
List every check on the board, including the ugly ones and the ones that hang a piece.
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What is the kiss of death checkmate?
It is checkmate with the queen standing directly next to the enemy king, one square away, protected by her own king so she cannot be captured.
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What is the opposition in chess?
The opposition is two kings standing on the same file, rank or diagonal with an odd number of empty squares between them, usually one.
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Légal's mate: the trap explained
Légal's mate is the opening trap where White hands over the queen and mates with knight, knight and bishop: 1.
Practise these mates on real positions. The app serves thousands, matched to your rating.