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.