Checkmate Patterns

The most important checkmate every player must know. With king and queen against a lone king, you steer the defender to the edge, bring your own king up to support, and deliver mate with the queen one square away. Here White's king on e6 backs up Qe7#.

One of the very first mates every player should learn. With king and rook against a lone king, you herd the defender to the edge of the board, bring your own king up to face it, and let the rook deliver the final check along the edge. Here White's king on e6 already faces the black king, so Ra8 is mate.

Two rooks work as a team to corner a lone king. One walls off a whole rank so the king can never step back, while the other checks along the next rank. They take turns advancing – a "ladder" of barriers – until the king is squeezed to the edge. Here the a7-rook fences the 7th rank, and Rh8# finishes.

With king and two bishops against a lone king, you cannot mate in the centre - you must shepherd the enemy king to a corner first. There the two bishops, working on neighbouring diagonals, seal every flight square while your own king guards the rest, producing a forced checkmate.

A rook (or queen) crashes onto the enemy back rank and checks the king along it. The king, walled in by its own unmoved pawns directly in front, has no flight square. This is one of the most common ways games end, especially when a player castles and never makes a little air for the king.

Fool's mate is the fastest checkmate in chess, finished in just two moves. White self-destructs by pushing the f- and g-pawns, tearing open the diagonal in front of the king. Black's queen lands on h4 with check, and there is no escape, block or capture available - instant mate.

Damiano's mate is a corner finish where a friendly pawn props up the queen as she settles on the square next to the enemy king. Because the pawn defends her, the king cannot take her, and with every flight square covered the game is over.

A protected queen mates a king from a diagonally adjacent square. The king cannot flee because two of its own pieces plug its escape squares, which splay out behind it like the tail of a dove - and the queen covers everything else.

A queen delivers mate directly in front of the enemy king while the king's own rooks, sitting on either side like a pair of shoulder pads (epaulettes), fatally block its only escape squares. The defender is trapped by its own pieces.

A queen-and-bishop team mate on the edge. The bishop, raking the a2-g8 diagonal, locks the door at g8 while the king's own g7-pawn seals the only other flight square. The queen then steps onto the h-file and checks the cornered king with no escape.

The queen mates directly in front of an enemy king whose two escape squares behind it are blocked by its own pieces. A friendly piece guards the queen so the king cannot capture it, and the king's own rooks (or pieces) form the "wings" that give the pattern its swallow's-tail shape.

Lolli's mate is a queen-and-pawn pattern aimed at a fianchettoed king. A white pawn reaches f6, prising open the dark squares around g7, and the queen then crashes in with Qg7#. Because the f6 pawn defends g7 the king cannot take the queen, and its own pawns on f7 and h7 leave it nowhere to run.

Boden's mate is a bishop-pair finish against a king tucked away by castling. The two bishops aim along crossing diagonals that meet on the king's square, while the king's own pieces seal off every flight square. It is most often unlocked by a queen sacrifice that clears the final diagonal.

Two bishops stand on neighbouring parallel diagonals and sweep the squares beside a king pinned to the edge. One bishop blankets the long diagonal into the corner; the other delivers check along the diagonal just next to it. With the attacking king guarding the last escape squares, the defender runs out of room.

A long-range bishop rakes the long dark diagonal towards the castled king's corner, covering the g7 and h8 escapes. A rook then crashes onto the back rank with check, controlling the whole eighth rank. With the king's own f- and h-pawns blocking the front, there is no flight square – checkmate.

Réti's mate is a bishop mate: a bishop lands beside a king boxed in by its own pieces, a rook on the open file guards the bishop, and the bishop's X-ray reaches through the king to cover the last flight. Here Bd8 is mate – the king on c7 is walled by its own men, the rook on d1 holds the bishop, and b6 is covered through the king.

Blackburne's mate is a dazzling diagonal crossfire: two bishops on parallel diagonals and a supporting knight trap a castled king. One bishop seals the long dark diagonal while the other slices in to deliver check, with the knight guarding the checking square so the king cannot take.

A knight and rook trap the king against the edge of the board. The knight covers the two escape squares just off the side (here g8 and g6), and the rook swoops onto the h-file to deliver mate, leaving the king with nowhere to run.

The Arabian mate is one of the oldest mating patterns known, dating from medieval chess. A knight and rook trap a king in the corner: the rook gives check from right beside the king while the knight covers the only flight square and defends the rook so it cannot be captured.

A rook, a knight and a supporting pawn interlock like a hook to trap the king on the edge. The rook checks from right beside the king, the knight both defends the rook and covers the escape square, a pawn defends the knight, and the king's own pawn blocks the last flight.

The smothered mate is chess's most elegant knight finish: a lone knight checkmates a king that is hemmed in on every side by its own pieces. A queen is usually given up to force a friendly rook into the corner, sealing the king's last escape so the knight can deliver the final blow.

Scholar's mate is the classic four-move knockout. The queen and bishop combine to attack the f7 pawn - the weakest square in Black's camp - and if the defender does not react, the queen captures on f7 with checkmate, shielded by the bishop on c4.

The Opera mate is a back-rank finish where a rook gives mate on the eighth rank while a bishop, posted on the c1-h6 diagonal, both covers the king's flight square and protects the rook. Made famous by Morphy's queen sacrifice in the 1858 Opera Box game, it often follows a deflection that opens the file for the rook.

Légal's mate is the most celebrated queen sacrifice in chess. White lets the queen be captured, then weaves a mating net with a bishop and two knights. It punishes the early ...Bg4 pin on the king's knight when the defender forgets that the pin is only relative and that f7 is desperately weak.

A rook and a long-diagonal bishop gang up on a fianchettoed king. The rook checks along the back rank while the bishop quietly covers the two diagonal escape squares, g7 and h8. Boxed in by its own f- and h-pawns, the king cannot move, and the lone rook check is checkmate.

A rook and knight team up against an edge-bound king. The rook checks from right beside the king while a friendly pawn (or the king) guards it from capture, and the knight blocks the remaining escape squares. Named after the attacking-chess writer Vladimir Vukovic.