Checkmate!

Now that you know how the pieces move and what a check is, it’s time to learn how to WIN at chess by getting a CHECKMATE!

Topic 1

You win the game when one of your pieces says “check,” and the enemy King has no way to escape. He can’t capture, protect, block, run or magically disappear! This is called “checkmate”.

Black has just checkmated the white king! The bishop which just moved to d5 has the white king in check and is also preventing it from running to g2. The c5 bishop is preventing the king from running to g1. Checkmate.

Topic 2

The big difference between checkmate and stalemate is the “check”. If a player has no moves at all, but is not in check, that is a stalemate — a draw. If the player has no moves, but the king is in check, that is a checkmate — a win! Here, if it were Black’s move, the position would be a stalemate. Luckily, it’s White’s move! How do you deliver checkmate?  

Great job! The black king had no moves, so the only thing White had to do was check him. Other moves by this bishop would be stalemate, since Black would not be in check but would have no moves. 

Topic 3

If it were Black’s move, this position would be a stalemate, because he’s not in check. But it’s White’s move and he should checkmate right now! There are several ways to checkmate the king — find one!

Great move! You have checkmated Black. The king is in check, has no place to run and can’t capture the queen because White’s king protects her. Congratulations! 

Topic 4

In chess, even a humble pawn can bring the king to his knees. Can a pawn deliver checkmate? Yes, it is possible for a pawn to deliver checkmate. Find it!

Great job!! The pawn moves forward, placing the black king in check. Black can’t get away because the other pawn on f7 is covering his escape squares e8 and g8. White’s king protects both pawns and also guards g7.  

Topic 5

In order to decide if a position is checkmate or not, you’ll need to remember the three ways to get out of check that we talked about in the previous lesson.  

Is this checkmate? Decide on your answer, and then click “continue” to see if you are right or not!

No, it’s not checkmate! The black king had nowhere to run, and there was no way to block the check. But there is a knight on h6 which could capture the white queen. The checkmate attempt backfired, and White lost a queen!