Basic Checkmates
How to mate a lone king with a queen, a rook, two bishops, and bishop and knight: the method, the stalemate traps, and the fastest way, checked against a tablebase.
Every game that is won has to be finished, and many end with a lone king. These lessons teach the basic checkmates: the method for each, the stalemate traps that turn a win into a draw, and how to mate as fast as possible.
Each lesson gives the method, a checklist of what it needs, each condition shown with the move that keeps the win and one that throws it away, then the mate move by move and positions to solve.
Lessons
- 1King and Queen Against KingThe queen alone cannot mate, but it can build a box around the enemy king and shrink it. Keep the queen a knight's move away, drive the king to the edge, bring your own king, and watch out for stalemate.
- 2King and Rook Against KingThe rook cuts the enemy king off on the edge, your king walks over, and the rook mates when the two kings face each other. Keep the rook out of the king's reach, and never take its last square away without check.
- 3King and Two Bishops Against KingTwo bishops side by side make a wall the enemy king cannot cross. Move the wall towards a corner, bring your king, and mate in the corner, without stalemate and without leaving a bishop hanging.
- 4King, Bishop and Knight Against KingThe hardest basic mate: it can only be forced in a corner of the bishop's colour. If the king runs to the other corner, the knight's W manoeuvre drives it along the edge to the right one.
How these lessons were checked
Every position is checked against the Lichess endgame tablebase, which knows its exact result. A move shown as working keeps the win; a move shown as failing throws it away, usually by stalemate or by losing the mating piece. In these endings the tablebase also counts the moves to mate, so every exercise has one answer: a mate, or the only move that mates at least a full move faster than any other.