King and queen against a lone king is always a win unless the queen can be taken at once or the position is already stalemate. The method is to use the queen to shrink the king's box from a knight's move away, push it to the edge, then bring your own king up to help the queen mate. The danger is stalemate: when the lone king is not in check and has no legal move, the game is a draw.
How often real players win it
GreyChess's own solver followed 2,509,936 rated Lichess games from June 2024 to September 2026 and found 13,807 that reached a won position of king and queen against king. The side with the win drew 1,957 of them and even lost 3. By the players' average rating, the share of won positions that were not won:
- under 800: 68 of 153 games, 44.4%
- 800 to 1,199: 476 of 1,929 games, 24.7%
- 1,200 to 1,599: 522 of 4,244 games, 12.3%
- 1,600 to 1,999: 420 of 4,097 games, 10.3%
- 2,000 to 2,199: 146 of 1,161 games, 12.6%
- 2,200 to 2,399: 105 of 645 games, 16.3%
- 2,400 to 2,599: 196 of 1,006 games, 19.5%
- 2,600 and above: 27 of 572 games, 4.7%
A draw can come from stalemate, from the fifty-move rule, from repetition, or from a clock running out against a lone king, which is a draw because a lone king cannot mate.
A stalemate from a real game
In this game between players whose ratings average 1,200 to 1,599, White had a won position and played 67.Qg3: the queen goes to g3, and it is stalemate. The other king is not in check and has no legal move, so the game is drawn on the spot. Before every move in an ending like this, count the lone king's squares.
Three positions with perfect play
The results below are from an endgame tablebase, which has every position with this material solved: what each side gets with perfect play, and which moves keep it.
Position 1: White to move, White wins
Every one of White's 26 legal moves keeps the win. The tablebase's first choice is 1.Qe1: the queen goes to e1. With best play on both sides, White mates in 8 moves. Open this position to analyse it or share it.
Position 2: White to move, White wins
23 of White's 28 legal moves keep the win; the other 5 let the win go. The tablebase's first choice is 1.Qf5: the queen goes to f5. With best play on both sides, White mates in 6 moves. Others that also work include Qc4, Kb4, Qc1+. Open this position to analyse it or share it.
Position 3: White to move, White wins
23 of White's 25 legal moves keep the win; the other 2 let the win go. The tablebase's first choice is 1.Kc6: the king goes to c6. With best play on both sides, White mates in 2 moves. Others that also work include Kb6, Qa1, Qa2. Open this position to analyse it or share it.
Practise it
The lessons Mate with the queen and Winning without giving stalemate teach the method step by step. In the endgame trainer you play the key endings out against the Lichess tablebase, which defends perfectly and tells you the moment a move throws the result away.