Checkmate patterns
Most games end with the same handful of mating pictures. Learn to recognise these shapes, and the forced mates that lead to them, and you will finish attacks you used to let slip.
Back-rank mate
A rook or queen mates a king trapped behind its own unmoved pawns.
Read more →Smothered mate
A knight mates a king its own pieces have hemmed in completely.
Read more →Anastasia's mate
A knight and rook trap the king against the edge of the board.
Read more →Arabian mate
A rook and knight corner the king, one of the oldest mates known.
Read more →Boden's mate
Two bishops crisscross to mate a king stuck behind its own pieces.
Read more →Hook mate
Rook, knight and pawn lock the king in a tight box on the edge.
Read more →Vukovic's mate
A rook mates on the edge, supported by a piece that also blocks escapes.
Read more →Kill box mate
A rook beside the king, backed by a queen, traps it in a 3×3 box.
Read more →Dovetail mate
A queen mates an adjacent king whose only escapes are blocked by its own pieces.
Read more →Double bishop mate
Two bishops on adjacent diagonals mate a king blocked by its own pieces.
Read more →Mate in 1
Find the single move that ends the game immediately.
Read more →Mate in 2
A forcing first move, any defence, then mate on the second.
Read more →Mate in 3
A deeper forced sequence: three moves, no escape.
Read more →Mate in 4
A four-move forced mate: real calculation under control.
Read more →Mate in 5
A long forced mating sequence: calculation stamina.
Read more →Put these into practice on thousands of adaptive puzzles.