Basic Checkmates
Mating the lone king with queen, rook, or two bishops.
Basic Checkmates
Mating the lone king with queen, rook, or two bishops.
Every player must be able to deliver the elementary checkmates quickly and without risk of stalemate. These are the mates that arise once the opponent has been reduced to a lone king.
King and Queen versus King
The queen drives the defending king to the edge of the board while the attacking king supports. The standard method is to keep the queen a knight's move away from the enemy king, denying flight squares without producing stalemate. Mate is forced within about ten moves from any starting position.
King and Queen versus King — drive the defender to the edge
Board is interactive - move a piece
King and Rook versus King
The rook confines the enemy king to a diminishing area while the two kings take the opposition. With correct play, mate is forced within sixteen moves. The technique is sometimes called the ladder when the rook shuffles to lose a tempo.
King and Rook versus King — the rook cuts off, the king drives
Board is interactive - move a piece
King and Two Bishops versus King
The two bishops together cover adjacent diagonals and drive the enemy king into a corner. Mate is forced within about nineteen moves with correct play. The defender must be pushed to a corner — any corner will do, because the bishops together control both colours.
King, Bishop and Knight versus King
The most difficult of the forced mates. The king must be driven to a corner of the same colour as the bishop — the other two corners are not mating squares. The win is forced in up to thirty-three moves and rarely occurs in practice, but it has been part of the classical mating repertoire since the early chess literature.
King and Two Knights versus King
Two knights cannot force mate against a lone king. The position is a theoretical draw. A forced win is only possible if the defender has a pawn that has not yet reached a specific rank, defined by the so-called Troitsky line — the analytical boundary discovered by Alexey Troitsky. The technique is too difficult to appear in practical play.