Mate in two

Intermediate · 8 min · Pro

Start with the checks, and ask what the other side can do.

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The idea

Start with checks: they leave the other side the fewest replies.

Start with a check: the king has no square and nothing can block.
So Black’s only move is to take the rook.
The other rook takes back with check, and it is mate.

In a game: Before you move, list your checks and count the replies each one leaves.

How the lesson begins

In a mate in two you move, the other side replies, and then you give mate. The reply is where a plan can fail, so start with moves that leave the other side as few replies as possible. Checks are the best of these.

Here White doubles on the e-file. Re8+ is check, and Black has only one reply.

Mate in two, step 1: White to move — White to move

1. Re8+ Check. The king has no square: the rook covers f8 and h8, and its own pawns fill f7, g7 and h7. Nothing can block on f8.
1... Rxe8 Black has to take the rook. It is the only move.
2. Rxe8# The second rook takes back with check, and the king is shut in by its own pawns.

Mate in two: the position after 2. Rxe8# — After 2. Rxe8#

A question

White has just played Re8+. How many moves does Black have?

Mate in two, step 2: Black to move — Black to move

One: Rxe8
Several, so the plan is risky
None: it is already mate

Show the answer

One: Rxe8.

Right. The king has no square and nothing can block, so the check can only be met by taking the rook. A forcing move like this makes your calculation easy.

In numbers

In the puzzle bank

6,986 puzzles in GreyChess’s bank practise it. Half of them are rated between 974 and 1,667.

The piece that makes the first move of the answer: rook 35%, queen 35%, knight 15%, bishop 9%, pawn 5%, in puzzles from the Lichess puzzle database.