Tactics
11 famous checkmate patterns
Most checkmates are repeats of a few classic patterns. Learn to spot these and you will find mates in your own games, and in our puzzles. Each diagram shows the final position (Black is checkmated).
1.f3 e5 2.g4 Qh4#
The fastest possible checkmate: Black mates on move 2 after White weakens the e1-h4 diagonal with f3 and g4.
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1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nc6 3.Qh5 Nf6 4.Qxf7#
The queen and bishop team up on f7, the square only the king defends. Defend f7 early (for example with ...g6 or ...Qe7) and it fails.
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A rook or queen checks on the back rank while the king is boxed in by its own pawns. Giving the king an escape square ("luft") prevents it.
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A knight mates a king that is completely surrounded by its own pieces. It often follows a queen sacrifice.
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A knight takes away escape squares while a rook (or queen) mates along the edge file. Named after the 1803 novel Anastasia und das Schachspiel.
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Rook and knight trap the king in a corner, with the knight protecting the rook. One of the oldest recorded mating patterns.
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Two bishops on criss-crossing diagonals mate a castled-queenside king blocked by its own pieces. Named after Samuel Boden (1853).
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bc4 Bg4 4.Nc3 g6 5.Nxe5 Bxd1 6.Bxf7+ Ke7 7.Nd5#
White "blunders" the queen on purpose; if Black grabs it, three minor pieces deliver mate. Named after the 18th-century player Kermur de Légal.
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The king is trapped between its own rooks, which sit on either side like shoulder epaulettes, and the queen mates from the front.
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A queen supported by a pawn mates on h7 (or h2). Described by Pedro Damiano in 1512.
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Two heavy pieces take turns cutting off ranks, "walking" the king to the edge. The easiest mate for beginners to learn.
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