Mates

Back-rank mate

Ra8#White plays it

The king is trapped behind its own pawns and a rook (or the queen) lands on the last rank. This is why you make luft: one pawn move in time prevents it.

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Ladder mate

Ra8#White plays it

Two rooks push the king up rank by rank like steps: one checks, the other takes away the rank behind. The simplest way to mate with two rooks.

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Smothered mate

Nf7#White plays it

The king is boxed in by its own pieces and the knight, which jumps over everything, gives a check nobody can block or escape. The prettiest mate in chess.

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Arabian mate

Rh7#White plays it

Rook and knight together: the knight defends the rook and covers the king's escape square. It is called Arabian because it appears in the oldest chess manuals.

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Anastasia's mate

Rh1#White plays it

The knight covers both side exits and the rook comes down the next file. Named after a German novel from 1803.

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Opera mate

Rd8#White plays it

Rook supported by a bishop against a king still stuck in the centre. Morphy played it in a box at the Paris opera, while watching the show.

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Boden's mate

Ba6#White plays it

Two bishops on crossing diagonals catch the queenside-castled king. It almost always comes after sacrificing the queen to open the king's square.

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Scholar's mate

Qxf7#White plays it

Queen and bishop aiming at f7, the weakest square early on. Easy to stop, but every beginner falls for it: develop your pieces instead of just moving the queen.

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Fool's mate

Qh4#Black plays it

The shortest mate there is: two moves. It only happens if white opens the diagonal to its own king with f3 and g4. A lesson in not weakening your king.

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Légal's mate

Nd5#White plays it

You give up the queen and finish with two minor pieces. Légal played it against Saint-Brie in Paris around 1750, and it still catches people out.

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Damiano's mate

Qh7#White plays it

A pawn on g6 holds the queen on h7 and the king has nowhere to go. Damiano published it in 1512, in one of the first chess books.

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Lolli's mate

Qg7#White plays it

Like Damiano's but with the pawn on f6: the queen lands on g7 protected by it. Named after the Italian Giambattista Lolli, of the 18th century.

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Anderssen's mate

Rh8#White plays it

Rook or queen in the corner, held by a pawn that reached the seventh rank. After Adolf Anderssen, the world's best player in the mid-1800s.

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Epaulette mate

Qe6#White plays it

The king is hemmed in by its own two rooks, like shoulder pads, and the queen finishes it head-on with nobody able to help.

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Kill box mate

Rb8#White plays it

Two rooks and the king build a three-by-three box the enemy king cannot leave. The second rook only has to close the lid.

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King and queen mate

Qh7#White plays it

The basic mate everyone must know: the queen walks the king to the edge and your own king defends her for the final blow.

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King and rook mate

Ra8#White plays it

The kings face each other (opposition) and the rook checks along the back rank. A rook always wins — if you know how.

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Two bishops mate

Be5#White plays it

The bishops cover neighbouring diagonals while the king helps push the enemy into a corner. It can take thirty moves, but it always works.

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Bishop and knight mate

Bb2#White plays it

The hardest mate of all: it only works in the corner matching the bishop's colour, and you must drive the king there with all three pieces at once.

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Promotion mate

g8=Q#White plays it

The pawn reaches the end, becomes a queen and mates in the same move. The humblest piece finishes the game.

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