Here is a list of 20 types of checkmate you should be familiar with: Checkmate With Two-Rooks You will become a more efficient attacker, as well as a solid defender.

Each pattern requires a specific combination of pieces, either from your own army or taking advantage of the placement of your enemy's pieces.Īs you get familiar with those patterns, your game will improve. Types of checkmate, also known as 'checkmating patterns,' are models that you can use to force a checkmate upon your opponent. Types of Checkmates (Checkmating Patterns) You can also win the game if your opponent resigns or if they run out of time. Because of that, the only way to 'capture' a king and end the game is by trapping it.Ĭheckmating your opponent is one of three ways you can win a chess game. Nowadays, it's illegal to leave a king under attack, and you can't move it to a square that is attacked by your opponent. In olden times, there was no need to alert the opponent if their king was under attack, allowing players to capture each other's king if they were not paying attention to the game. In the position below we can see that White has less material but is able to deliver checkmate. When a checkmate happens, the game ends immediately, and the player who delivered the checkmate wins.Ĭheckmating your opponent should be your top priority since this will ensure your victory even if you have less material or if you have had a worse position throughout the game. A checkmate (also known as 'mate') occurs when a king is placed in check and has no legal moves to escape. When a king is attacked, it is called check. Checkmate With King, Bishop, And Knight.Types of Checkmates (Checkmating Patterns).Learn the general ideas behind this vital aspect of the game and be on your way to chess mastery! p. 509.Checkmating your opponent is the most crucial goal in chess. The On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences. ^ Averbakh, Yuri Lvovich Beilin, Mikhail Abramovich (1972).^ Fischer, Bobby Margulies, Stuart Mosenfelder, Donn (1972).Chess: 5334 Problems, Combinations, and Games. ^ a b Hooper, David Whyld, Kenneth (1992).There are other possible three-move mates for White, such as 1. Further, a similar mate can occur in From's Gambit: 1. Qh5# has been attributed to Masefield and Trinka, although the first player's name has also been reported as Mayfield or Mansfield and the second player's name as Trinks or Trent. Qh5 #.Ī possibly apocryphal variant of the fool's mate has been reported by several sources. This game took three moves!!' One possible sequence leading to the position is 1. The solution in Fischer's book bore the comment 'Black foolishly weakened his King's defenses. A board position illustrating White's version of fool's mate-with White to mate-was given as a problem in Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess, and also as an early example in a compendium of problems by László Polgár. In both cases, the principle is the same: a player advances their f- and g-pawns such that the opponent's queen can mate along the unblocked diagonal. When the roles are reversed, however, White requires an extra third turn or half-move, known in computer chess as a ply. White can achieve a checkmate similar to fool's mate. A player may also suffer an early checkmate if the f- and g-pawns are advanced prematurely and the kingside is not properly defended, as shown in historical miniature games recorded in chess literature.Ī problem with White to mate instead, given by Fischer and Polgár. The mate is an illustration of the kingside weakness shared by both players along the f- and g- files during the opening phase of the game. Even among rank beginners, this checkmate rarely occurs in practice. Black can be mated in an analogous way, although this requires an additional move, with White's queen delivering checkmate on the third move. Fool's mate received its name because it can occur only if White commits an extraordinary blunder. The mate can be achieved in two moves only by Black, giving checkmate on the second move with the queen. It arises from the following moves, or similar:

In chess, fool's mate is the checkmate delivered after the fewest possible moves from the game's starting position. 1620), via Francis Beale (1656)īarnes Opening, Bird Opening, or Grob's Attack

Chess 4 move checkmate