King & Queen Mate!

There is a simple pattern for white to win this game every time. You can use the pattern shown here to win with queen and king against the lone king!

You can’t checkmate the king in the middle of the board, so the first step is to push the king to the edge. White does this by building a ‘force-field’ around the king. With Qc3 this force-field extends to the c-file, and also along the third rank.

Too bad for Black that he can’t skip a move. He has to back up, which will give White a chance to shrink the force-field slowly until the black king is stuck on the side of the board…

The king backed up, so the queen can now safely move the force-field one step closer. Don’t rush! As long as you force the king closer to the edge, you’re in good shape.  

Black can always go over, or back, but it doesn’t matter. Whichever way he goes, he is moving closer to the edge of the board.

Even by backing up, the queen moves a “knight’s jump” away. No matter where the black king goes, he will get pushed to the edge no matter what!

The queen stays a knight’s jump away from the king. In this case, the black king is slowly being forced to the right edge of the board.  

The king starts moving back. He could have gone to g3, but then White would play Qf1, building a force-field on the f-file and pushing it closer to the edge.

Notice the pattern? The queen moves a knight’s move away again! Black can’t cross the imaginary walls she creates.

By now you should see the pattern. Our queen only needs to move up one square, staying a knight’s move away, slowly squeezing the black king to the edge of the board! 

The king could have moved back, to f7, but then the queen would advance to e5, making the box smaller.

Now the king is stuck on the last two ‘files’ on the right. Our plan is working!

The king tries to avoid going to the side of the board. If he went to h4, then Qg2 would build a force-field on the g-file, keeping the king stuck on the side forever.

The king refused to go to the h-file, so White pushes him back further.

After this move, the black king has no choice but to go to the the very edge of the board: to g8, h8, or h6. White didn’t need to check the king even once in order to force him that way!

Since Black has to go to the side anyway, he sets a little trap.
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You’re winning this game, but be careful. You don’t want to stalemate Black! How do you keep the Black king at the edge of the board without stalemating?

Excellent! You found the best way to make sure the black king stays on the edge of the board, and you didn’t stalemate him. White will now bring the king in and finish the job. Note that Qg6 or Qf7 were both the terrible moves White COULD have played that would have been stalemate.

Only move for Black.
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White has finished with step one of the plan. The black king is stuck on the edge of the board. It’s time for White’s king to help finish the job!

The king moves closer to the black king until he is standing across from him on g6. 

The poor black king can only move back and forth, waiting for the white king’s arrival!

The king keeps coming up. Of course Kf3 was just as good.

The king continues on its journey…

The king should approach from the front, while the queen stays to the side. This will help us avoid stalemate and make checkmate easier.

The king now faces the black king. The black king can wiggle one way or the other, but it won’t be able to stop the checkmate!

Moving the other way would not make any difference.
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White is now in position to checkmate the black king. The only thing left is to deliver the final check with the queen.

The king guards the queen. Another way to checkmate was Qd8.

Your Move

(You play white)

If you’ve been paying attention, then you know the pattern we use to chase the king to the side of the board. Think like a knight!

Very good! The queen has built a box around the black king. She has ‘force-field’ walls on the d-file and the third rank that prevent the king from escaping that box

The king, as usual, has to back up.

The queen steps one square closer, making the imaginary box a little bit smaller.

The black king could step back – or to the right – but either way he would be moving toward one of the edges of the board.
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Now it’s your turn again. Try to continue with the “knight’s check” pattern of squeezing the king toward the edge.

Very good! The queen takes only one small step. No hurry. The important thing is to make the box smaller without letting the black king out.

The king is trying its best to stay away from the edge of the board. 

White keeps moving his queen in the knight’s move pattern. Slowly we are squeezing him over to the side of the board.

The king is trying to stay away from the right edge of the board. 
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How can you continue with the “knight’s move” method?

Good job! Last move the black king refused to move toward the right side of the board. Let’s push him to the top edge!

The black king is still trying to avoid the side of the board, where he knows he can be checkmated! But it won’t last long…
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Your turn again.

Great! White is keeping the queen a “knight’s move” away, out of reach of capture.

The king didn’t want to go to h5, which would leave him stuck on the h-file forever after Qg3.

I bet you could have guessed it by now. The queen inches closer….

Now any move by the black king would put him on the side of the board.

Just as good would be Qd7. But let’s just keep going with our “knight’s move” away method just to make sure we get it down.

Your Move

(You play white)

Correct!

Great job! The black king is now just where we want him – stuck on the edge of the board. The first part of our plan is complete.

The black king is stuck moving back and forth. Just make sure you don’t stalemate!