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Protect Your King

Protecting your king from attack is beneficial as any loss of your king’s material value or giving your opponent the opportunity to checkmate you will necessarily involve a self-forced move. As a general principle, Mordecan Finberg’s Intensive Chess Course recommends stopping the movement of pawns in front of your king whenever possible. This is because the pawns provide your king cover from many attacks because they give less powerful pieces something to target. Then when the pawns do move for an attack, pieces can move diagonal and take out many pieces in a single move. Pawns in front of the king also act as a sort of canary in the mine against aggressive play; they will generally be the first thing terrorized if your opponent is planning an attack so any sudden change in pawn alignment may be a useful indicator.

Keep Your Pieces Active

Keeping your pieces active is one of the key concepts in chess. Your pieces are active when, during the middle game and endgame, they are playing valuable roles such as controlling important squares and actively contributing the attack. If a piece cannot be improved, it is called a bad bishop or is said to be in an inactive position.

To keep your pieces active, you should do the following in the middle and endgames. Move your worst piece. Improve the position of your worst-placed piece. In a corresponding game with rooks, active the rooks. Activate the king. In closed pawn structures, poor bishops may activate better via long diagonal maneuvering. Example:

1. Activate the Kings.

   In the middle game, it is best to move your king from its place to control an important square and bond the rooks. However, in the endgame, activate the king by bringing it into pawn regions.

2. Bad Bishop.

   Diagonal maneuvering will activate bad bishops.

Finding a checkmate will be relatively easier if you keep your pieces active because you will be able to support your attacks more effectively.

Plan Ahead

Plan ahead is a set of guiding strategies, aimed at ensuring that moves are developed one after another so that a final checkmate can eventually be achieved. This means that move-by-move tactics are developed towards reaching a general plan, rather than making individual movements.

Here are the three main strategies for the initial stage of planning ahead, proposed by renowned chess player Professor Aaron Nimzowitsch in his book ‘My System’:

1. Internal order rule: Nimzowitsch advises moving all of your pieces early in the game and not moving them again unless necessary. This is in contrast to moving the same pieces over and over again.
2. Defensive operations: Nimzowitsch suggests this for maintaining control of the middle of the board as well as bolstering your positions.
3. Attack on the King: Nimzowitsch says the final stage to planning ahead in the initial period of gameplay is to launch an attack on the opponent’s King. This can be done by preventing the opponent from doing the same.

According to Graham Burgess, a former FIDE Master who has competed with several grandmasters, when developing a plan, one should break the game into three stages and answer these questions during each stage:

1. What are my tactical chances?
2. What is the nature of the (potential) pawn structure?
3. What pieces do I want to exchange, keep, and activate?

What Are the Most Common Checkmate Patterns?

The most common checkmate patterns in chess documented by noted players such as Samuel Loyd include patterns of the Bishop Pair (where the two bishops work in concert to control the board and driving the enemy king to the back rank), Back Rank (where the pawns in front of one’s own king have not been moved forward, and the enemy pieces are able to check from or occupy the back rank), and the Windmill (a series of checks from a discovered check carried out with a series of fork moves).

Here are some example diagrams showing the time leading to these checkmates:

• Windmill checkmate by Paul Morphy. The steps to this classic victory made possible through the process of ply and the windmill pattern read:
  1. Qxb7+, Kb7
  2. Bc8+, Ka8
  3. Rb8+ and after 10 more moves the checkmate is secured.
• Bishop pair checkmate. The Opera House game played by Paul Morphy shows how the control of the board by the Bishop Pair sets the situation for a checkmate attack. The pattern is repeated in the Indian game of MOTSO where eliminate the opposition on the board.
• Back rank checkmate. As an example of a back rank checkmate, in the Adams attack opening, Joseph Blackburne won against Edward Trelaz in Casual Debut. The development of White’s pieces secured a back-rank pawn lever and a fast checkmate.

Back Rank Checkmate

The back rank checkmate in chess is a checkmate achieved when the attacked king is unable to move because there are no pieces or pawns on the attacked king’s rank and the pawns of the same color in the file immediately behind the attacked king.

A situation in which the back rank checkmate pattern occurs is the Legal Mate as seen here where the black pawn prevents the black king from moving and the pawn on f7 blocks all escape paths along the rank.

The back rank checkmate can either result from the mating person’s pieces at the back rank or the fact that the opponent’s pieces are blocking movement. Below is an example of a back rank checkmate scenario.

Smothered Mate

Smothered mate describes a checkmate which occurs because the mated king is unable to move because friendly pieces, usually its own pawns, fill up every available square around it. After the final move, these pieces confine the king within its own forces. The name smothered mate is especially fitting, as the mated king can not breathe and is too confined, like a smothered fire.

This is carried out in the following 6 move pattern which is easy to remember. The move is initiated by bringing the black Queen to square d4 (Qd4). After a series of forced moves the three pawns on the kings file will checkmate the black king. The diagram below shows how it looks after the first move in this pattern, Qd4. The bolded text and arrows indicate the next move for each side in the pattern. Remember that the pawn resulting in checkmate is white’s c4 pawn at the bottom, but it happens on black’s e2 move.

The motivation for executing a smothered mate is to be clever and to be an amusing way to win, as very few players will enter a position that allows a smothered mate. It happens rarely in actual play, and anyone who fancies themselves a chess player will quickly resign before the smothered mate is executed.

Anastasia’s Mate

Anastasia’s Mate is a checkmate pattern that requires a rook and knight together. Start with a knight move that is followed up by moving your opponent’s king and finally finishing with a rook check: On moves 15 Na6, 16 Nc7, and 17 Rb8 in the game shown below. Anastasia’s Mate was named due to a game played by Carl Hamppe and anonymous in London in 1876.

How to Set Up a Checkmate?

Checkmate in chess is achieved by setting up a position where the opponent’s king cannot avoid being threatened in the next move according to the rules. To be threatened means that the opponent’s king is in another position to be captured. In other words, they are in check, and no legal move would save them from being captured in the opponent’s next turn. An image of a checkmate setup with the black king forced to move between two black pieces demonstrates this is not a legal position, and it is checkmated.

Setting up a checkmate involves controlling the board effectively and using the position or power of the chess pieces to manipulate the king such that no square can be moved into which would not require giving up the game in their next move. One of the most effective ways is to use minimum force and minimize the potential erects by organizing one’s strategy around the king’s ability to move. The term checkmate is the english equivalent of the Persian saying Shay mat or Shah mat which mean “The king is helpless” or “The king is dead”.

Use Your Queen and Rook

One way to perform a queen and rook checkmate with a teammate is to place the opposing king in a Back Rank Move. This mate can be performed in three moves if the opposing king is already near the back, but for a king that is higher up the board, it turns into a full endgame maneuver which can still be executed in fewer than 20 moves if all coordinates are navigated perfectly.

Use Your Queen and Bishop

Using your Queen and Bishop produces both some of the most rapid and attractive checkmates. In this position the Queen and Bishop should ideally control the key squares, while 1. Qf7+ also checks and threatens the a8 lost piece. White’s Qxf7 move on the following turn produces a mate. Black cannot prevent 2. Qe8IM+ since White creates a wall with their pawns. This highlights the greatest significance of pawns in mating because Qg6# is a well known back-row mate. White pawns prevent such a counter-mate in this game.

Use Your Queen and Knight

Using your queen and knight for checkmate involves putting your opponent’s king into a position from which he can neither escape nor be defended. Reti’s mate is one of the most famous examples of using a queen and knight together for checkmate, such as in this example. This involves your knight securing an escape square for your opponent while your queen and other pieces surround and pressure the space around the king. The knight and queen work in conjunction as the knight moves in all sorts of places to keep the opponent in its place.

Use Your Two Rooks

Using two Rooks together to checkmate is called the Hook Mate. When both Rooks checkmate together in this way, they use the same ranks or files from opposite sides of the opposing King. For example, one Rook might move to Rank 7 while the other moves to Rank 3, cordoning the opposing King as needed until he has no more >available squares, leading to checkmate.

Creating Hook Mate uses is a common strategic goal because it is one of the few ways to gain an extra attacking advantage for controlling the rank or file of the opponent’s King along with the so-called Second-rank Defense, whereby the Rooks are placed on the second row and shielded by Pawns, converting the two Rooks into advanced and powerful Kings along that file.

Use Your Bishop and Knight

How to checkmate using a bishop and knight pair against a lone king? Using a bishop and knight to checkmate a lone king is notoriously difficult, and even the best computer chess engines are known to struggle with it. So while it is not recommended to go for bishop and knight checkmates as the ideal way to finish games with them, these four diagrams give a complete step-by-step guide to how to checkmate with bishop and knight in the lowest possible move counts. Once you have it visually in mind, you’ll notice that it appears infrequently in the vast majority of games. Mastering this unusual checkmate can help improve control and coordination in endgame positions.

Use Your Rook and Knight

Checkmating with a Rook and Knight or a Knight and King is extremely difficult, but there are some anchor squares with a king, knight, or rook that lead to checkmate in a minimum number of moves because of blocking moves that force the losing pieces out of the way. With a rook and king connected, to the side of the enemy king and an unprotected piece, follow these two moves to checkmate.

Here is an example of checkmating with a Rook on a Knight’s File. After the white knight checks the black king at N5, the best move is the white rook at C4 which prepares to checkmate by forcing the black knight to move from B6 to C6 before the white rook delivers checkmate to the black king at E5. With a knight and king, along with a pawn as an extra body defending the other two pieces, to the side of the enemy king, follow these four moves to checkmate (ignoring stalemate).

Here is an example of checkmating with a King and Rook. After the black knight attacks their king at F8 followed by G6, the white rook moves into position at F8 where it can leave the king only squares where they are attacking black’s pieces until the white rook checkmates the black king at G6.

What Are Some Tips for Achieving Checkmate?

• Control the center with pawns and rooks. The player with better control over the center of the board can use that control to restrict the opponent’s movement and then gradually push forward into their side of the board.
• Develop your pieces early. Bringing your pieces out of their starting positions increases the opportunities they have to support one another and restrict your opponent’s movements.
• Exploit piece mobility with detailed planning.

An article published by chessbase.com gives an example by Czech international chess master and chess writer Wlodzimierz Luczak. On how to do so by slowly expanding the reach of your rooks. These are accomplished according to an in-depth plan that suggests optimal moves that are impossible to predict without extensive practice and study as proposed by Luczak.

The finest details such as not allowing your opponent the option of a rook exchange because you have a pawn with some slack in its lateral movement to defend the row just in case, or the option of new pawn uxchanges to keep the opponent’s king in an indefensible position. Once your plan is completed, one can checkmate your opponent as detailed earlier to force your opponent to choose between giving up their queen or your having your opponent’s king completely overrun from the other side.

Typically, each player can use a simplified plan to acquire control over the center and begin development. From there, control the center by using pieces such as the rook while pushing toward the less controlled side. The use of dark and light-square bishops allows players to switch sides as required. Once the control of their side players attain a significant control, proceed to open space on their side, clearing paths, and reducing defensive positions in order to bring the king into the threat zone against a wall or off to the side.

Then, by utilizing all available forces to their maximum advantage, put the opponent’s king under constant threat to restrict it wherever it runs. Finally, once their king is almost out of positions of defense, go for the checkmate, taking care not to let an opportunity slide in case of lost focus.

Control the Center of the Board

To checkmate in chess, control the center of the board to have the greatest possible influence over the other pieces. The center of the board is the most active spot on the board because if you control it with your pawns, it will be easier to develop your knights and bishops to the center. Control the center with as many pieces and pawns as possible. Using six of the sixteen pawns to do so is not efficient if one does not have a reason. Keep all the paths open in the back so it is easier to get options. According to grandmasters, you should plan on doubling the rooks on the file that has less space, which is f or /b” files for white and h or b files for black. The reason for this is that this file determines space. If the enemy’s king-side is exposed, you can move your q or b there to attack the enemy.

Develop Your Pieces Quickly

Once you have ensured that your king is safe and you have made minimal pawn moves, you should develop your pieces quickly. Starting too many games without a comprehensive kingside development plan will make your checkmate in fewest moves much more difficult. A common checkmate pattern is the Knight’s Fork Discover Checkmate. Below is an example of a knight’s fork checkmate achievable in just 3 moves. As White, move your G2 pawn to G4 which threatens a queen fork discover. As Black, move your F6 knight to H5 challenging White to follow through with the fork. As White, move your F3 knight to G5 giving the knight a discovered checkmate.

G4
Nh5
Ng5#

If the knight is poorly developed, the best move is to move us forward, to chase out, and attack the weak links. While development is important to achieve checkmate, it is often unnecessary to bring all 16 pieces into play to achieve a quick checkmate. The following game demonstrates how white checkmates black in the final move by moving only the black square bishop.

d3
b4
h6
Bg6#

Look for Weaknesses in Your Opponent’s Position

After an attack is definitively established, you must look for flaws in your opponent’s position. These flaws should be advantages in your position which will enable you to deliver a check, double check, or checkmate. If there aren’t immediate weaknesses in your opponent’s position, you can achieve a checkmate by slowly building on a winning material advantage until a checkmate is inevitable. There are many ways to checkmate in chess, and some of them involve exploitatively and quickly taking advantage of your opponent’s unforced mistake, such as incorrectly moving to a position that is then easily checked. The various ways to recognize and seize upon the opportunity of a crucial error are well-taught under the broader rubric of tactical awareness in the middlegame by most intermediate and advanced chess learning resources.

Use Your Pawns to Create Attacking Opportunities

While pawns are usually the most expendable pieces on the chessboard, they can play a significant role in creating attacking opportunities that equate to a checkmate in chess. Here are three techniques for utilizing this endgame.

0
• Use pawns to fill in gaps and corral the enemy King

Properly building a wall with closely coordinated pawns prevents the enemy king from escaping and can leave it in view of a player’s remaining rook or bishop to achieve checkmate. In this scenario, your own king is serving as a piece to increase control of squares in the center.

0
• Use pawns to provide flight squares for the king

Notice how after White moves e6+, Black has no moves for his king or bishop. f7, f8, g8, and h8 are covered by his own pawns. h7 is taken by the white knight. g7 and h6 are taken by white bishops. g6 was nipped in the bud by Ke5. This situation in the game is reminiscent of Murphy vs. Beasley 1943 and Byrne vs. Fischer 1956.

0
• Use pawns to protect bishops during the endgames to ensure your bishops are allowed to remain in the game during the endgame. This keeps up the threat of checkmate.

Pawns are the only pieces that protect other pieces. Using them to protect the bishops allow the bishops to focus on controlling middle and back row squares key for locking the enemy in before initiating checkmate with the primary pieces such as King and Rook. An excellent endgame example of Simuls of Bobby Fisher when he was just 14 years old. He faced 4 mentors. First with Donald Byrne:

[White – Donald Byrne] 40. Bc1 Qa5 41. Bb1 Bc5 42. h4 Bf2 43. Bb2 Qc5 44. Be4 Ba7 45. Bb1 Qc6 46. g4 (The last wrong move for the whole game, but White is already totally lost.) 46… hxg4 47. h5 gxf3+ 48. Kxf3 gxh5 49. Qg5+ Ng6 50. Qxh5 Qc5 51. Bxg6 Qf2+ 52. Kg4 Qe2+ 0-1

Then with Spassky Byrne. He played this notorious exchange on the 11th move:

[White – Spassky Byrne] 11. e4 dxe4 12. Nxe4 Nxe4 13. Qxe4 Bb4+ 14. Ke2 O-O 15. Rhd1 Rfd8 16. Kf1 Be7 17. Kg1 a6 18. a3 Rd7 19. b4 Qd5 20. Qe3 Bf6 21. Re1 Rdd8 22. h4 Ne7 23. Bg5 Qf5 24. Bxf6 Qxf6 25. Qe4 (diagram) Qf1 26. Nxc2 Rxc2 27. a4 Rc3 28. b5 g5 29. a5 d4 30. h5 Nf5 31. Be5 Nh4 32. a6 Rd7 33. Qxb7 Qxg2 34. Qxg2 Nxg2 35. Kf1 Nf4 36. Rd1 e5 37. Ke4 h5 38. Be2 Rb76 39. Be2 Kh6 40. Rd4 g4 41. Bxg4 h3 0-1

The last game was with Cevik. He had a significant pawn advantage. Towards the endgame, he created a pawn to Bishop path to distract the Rook to a side the King was advancing, while he used his Bishop to pin Catip VM at a lesser-used side diagonally since the main focus is on the pawns that are moving straightly:

[White – Cevik] 29. Bc6 Rf5 30. Bc8 Bb7 31. Bd7 Re5 32. f4 Rd5 33. Rf1 Kf8 34. Rxh7 f5 35. Bc8 Bxc8 36. Rc1 (calculation) Rc5 37. Rxc5 Nxc5 38. Rxa7 Nb3 39. Kf2 Bxd7 40. Rxd7 Ra4 41. Rb7 Rxa6 42. Rb3 Nd1+ 43. Kf3 Ra4 0-1

mas

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• Use pawns to protect bishops

Be Patient and Calculated in Your Moves

Being patient and calculated in your chess gameplay is important for a checkmate. The best way to achieve checkmate in chess is to form a strategy and stick to it until you win. Decide upon a general game plan and modify it as the game evolves. But not just any plan – try to have a guided missile that lets you visualize at the end of that path when you calculate your tactics. Proper endgame play is essential for checkmating scenarios, so try to form plans that bring you towards those endgame situations.

Don’t be too quick to make moves to check your opponents. Losing a piece while gaining little positional advantage is highly undesirable because it gives an advantage that the person you are attacking almost certainly will be able to employ to checkmate you. It is also key to play calmly and steadily even when facing a losing scenario. The safest move is not always the best move but the recommended way to become better at chess and decide which moves to make is to play calmly and trust your own intuition and logic. Speed in decision-making may lead to mistakes that can have negative consequences for the situation at hand and put an abrupt end to your chances of winning.

Here is an instructional short lecture by US chess player John Bartholomew on how to practice being patient and thinking on others’ time when playing chess.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a checkmate in chess?

A checkmate in chess is when a player’s king is in a position where it is under attack and cannot escape capture. This results in the game being over and the player losing.

How do I know when I have checkmated my opponent?

You will know you have checkmated your opponent when they have no legal moves left to escape the threat of capture on their king. This is also known as “checkmate” or “mate.”

What are the basic elements of a checkmate in chess?

The basic elements of a checkmate in chess are a king that is in check, no legal moves available to escape the check, and no piece that can block the threat. Additionally, the checking piece cannot be captured and the checking move cannot be undone.

Can a checkmate occur without the use of the queen?

Yes, a checkmate can occur without the use of the queen. A checkmate can be achieved with various combinations of pieces, such as a rook and bishop or two bishops, as long as they work together to trap the opponent’s king.

What happens if a player is in checkmate but their opponent does not realize it?

If a player is in checkmate but their opponent does not realize it, the game still ends in the same way. The player who is checkmated must declare that they are in checkmate and the game is over, even if their opponent does not realize it.

Is there a certain number of moves required to achieve a checkmate in chess?

No, there is no set number of moves required to achieve a checkmate in chess. It all depends on the players’ strategies and the board position. Some checkmates can occur in just a few moves, while others may take longer to set up.