Checkmate

When a king is attacked, it is called check. A checkmate (also known as "mate") occurs when a king is placed in check and has no legal moves to escape. When a checkmate happens, the game ends immediately, and the player who delivered the checkmate wins.
Checkmating 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. In the position below we can see that White has less material but is able to deliver checkmate.
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. 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. Because of that, the only way to "capture" a king and end the game is by trapping it.
Checkmating your opponent is one of three ways you can win a chess game. You can also win the game if your opponent resigns or if they run out of time.
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. 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. Because of that, the only way to "capture" a king and end the game is by trapping it.
Checkmating your opponent is one of three ways you can win a chess game. You can also win the game if your opponent resigns or if they run out of time.
Frequently, pawns are promoted to queens during endgames. For this reason, you should know how to perform this mate. With the help of your king, you can checkmate your opponent's monarch once you force it to one of the edges of the board. The "boxing method" for checkmating with a king and queen vs king is shown below:
Another basic checkmate pattern, the idea behind this mate is to push your opponent's king to the edge of the board, use your king to protect the escape squares of the opponent's king, and then use your rook to deliver the final blow.
Like many other mating patterns, you first have to force your enemy's king to the edge of the board. After the king reaches one of the sides of the board, you can then push him to one of the corners, and after that, use your king and bishops to end the game.
For this mate, you have to coordinate your king, bishop, and knight with precision to create an inescapable "box" that will keep your opponent trapped.
For this mate, you have to take your enemy's king to one of the corners of the board before you start the mating pattern. After that, you will have to force it to the adjacent edge of the chessboard to deliver mate.
The Arabian Mate is reached when a knight and rook work together to checkmate the king. The knight protects the rook and also blocks the escape square of the king.
The Fool's Mate is the fastest checkmate in chess, happening only after two moves! To accomplish this feat, you need to play as Black (White can checkmate in three moves), and your opponent must play very poorly. It involves attacking the weak e1-h4 diagonal against White or the e8-h5 diagonal against Black.
The Fool's Mate is the fastest checkmate in chess, happening only after two moves! To accomplish this feat, you need to play as Black (White can checkmate in three moves), and your opponent must play very poorly. It involves attacking the weak e1-h4 diagonal against White or the e8-h5 diagonal against Black.
The Fool's Mate is the fastest checkmate in chess, happening only after two moves! To accomplish this feat, you need to play as Black (White can checkmate in three moves), and your opponent must play very poorly. It involves attacking the weak e1-h4 diagonal against White or the e8-h5 diagonal against Black.
The Back Rank Mate is very common in chess, so it's a good idea to be able to identify when this pattern appears on the board.
This mate involves taking advantage of a wall created by your opponent's pieces in front of their king, leaving just one rank for it. You can then use a rook or a queen to attack that rank, checkmating your opponent.
The Smothered Mate gets its name from the fact that the king has no "breathing room" and thus cannot escape any threat. That's when a knight can jump in and take advantage of the king's restricted moves to end the game in style!
This mate is more common after the enemy king has already castled. It involves one piece blocking a square right next to the enemy king (usually a pawn). You will also need a knight and a rook to checkmate your opponent.
This mating pattern got its name because the position you get on the board from it resembles the epaulets worn by some members of the armed forces on their shoulders. It involves two enemy pieces blocking the two sides of the king (its "shoulders," just like the armed forces ornaments), all sitting on the edge of the board. A queen then comes in to deliver the final blow.
If the enemy king has pieces on one of its sides blocking its way, you may have a chance to apply this beautiful checkmate using your bishop pair.
This checkmating pattern happens when your enemy's pieces restrict their king's escape squares, and your queen comes in to finish the game. Notice in the image below how the enemy's forces resemble a dovetail. This pattern gets its name because of its shape.
This pattern gets its name because the resulting position resembles the "V-shape" of the tail of a swallow. For this mate, you will need to have your queen supported by any piece attacking the enemy king.
This mating pattern got its name from the world-famous game played by chess genius Paul Morphy while he was at the opera. You can apply this checkmate with a rook and a bishop.
You can deliver a Blackburne's mate to your opponent's castled king using two bishops and a knight
This pattern occurs when the queen is supported by a pawn or a bishop to checkmate the opponent.
This is another checkmate inspired by the great Paul Morphy. It usually happens against the kingside-castled king since the rook and pawns restrict the king's mobility. A rook and bishop swoop in to checkmate the monarch.

Checkmating is the most important aspect of chess. To improve your chess understanding, study types of checkmates and make sure you can spot and use them during your games. Start a free trial of a Premium account and learn more about checkmating patterns you can use to destroy your opponents!