Chess lessons › Checkmate patterns
Finding mate in one
Test every check with three questions, and you will not miss a mate.
The idea
Test every check: no escape, no capture and no block means mate.
- The king cannot move: its own pieces and the queen take its squares.
- The queen cannot be taken, because the bishop protects her.
- Nothing can block a check from the next square, so it is mate.
In a game: Before every move, list the checks you can give and test each one.
The lesson
To find a mate in one, look at every check you can make, one at a time. A check is mate only when the answer to all three questions is no: can the king move to a safe square? Can the piece that gives check be taken? Can anything block the check?
Here White has three checks. Qxe5+ is answered by Nxe5, and Bxf7+ by Ke7. The third, Qxf7, passes the test.
- 4. Qxf7# The bishop on c4 protects the queen, so the king cannot take her. Its own pieces fill d8, d7 and f8, and the queen covers e7. Nothing can block a check from the next square.
Find the move
White to move. Black has castled and kept the pawns at home. Test the checks and find the mate.
A hint
Two of your checks are protected by the knight. Which one can the rook on f8 not take?
Show the answer
1. Qxh7#
Qxh7 is checkmate. The knight on g5 protects the queen, so the king cannot take her. Its own rook and pawns fill f8, f7 and g7, and the queen covers h8.
A question
Now the knight is missing. Is Qxh7+ checkmate?
Show the answer
No, the king takes the queen.
Right. Nothing protects the queen on h7, so the king takes her. Always ask whether the checking piece is protected.
Find the move
Find the checkmate.
A hint
Test each check with the three questions.
Show the answer
57... Ne3#
Ne3# is mate. The king has no square, nothing can take the piece that gives check and nothing can block it.
Find the move
Find the checkmate.
A hint
Test each check with the three questions.
Show the answer
41... Rh8#
Rh8# is mate. The king has no square, nothing can take the piece that gives check and nothing can block it.
Find the move
Find the checkmate.
A hint
Test each check with the three questions.
Show the answer
42. Qxg7#
Qxg7# is mate. The king has no square, nothing can take the piece that gives check and nothing can block it.
Find the move
Find the checkmate.
A hint
Test each check with the three questions.
Show the answer
53. g3#
g3# is mate. The king has no square, nothing can take the piece that gives check and nothing can block it.
Practise
Now some on your own. They get a little harder as you do well.
In the lesson, 5 rated puzzles on this theme come from the puzzle bank, chosen near your rating.
In numbers
In the puzzle bank
4,445 puzzles in GreyChess’s bank practise it. Half of them are rated between 561 and 1,008.
The piece that makes the first move of the answer: queen 39%, rook 29%, bishop 17%, knight 12%, pawn 3%, in puzzles from the Lichess puzzle database.