Questions tagged [checkmate]
Questions relating to checkmating.
347
questions
-2
votes
1
answer
172
views
Mate Solving or problem solving software
I have some positions in my games which engine analysis indicates that some lines (not the ones I played) lead to a checkmate in 6 or 7 or 10 moves.
But normal engines are not reliable here so I use ...
- 696
2
votes
2
answers
125
views
Timeout vs Insufficient Material
This is not a new topic but it did happen in my game at chess.com. I was playing white and played the only legal move h7 and was checkmated on the next move.
My question is: What will happen if I just ...
- 8,819
0
votes
0
answers
131
views
Unique checkmates count analysis
How many unique checkmates are there from this starting position?
I can only see 5 lines on lichess from a game I've played and have tried several different moves.
Mate in 4 is the fastest but I've ...
0
votes
1
answer
123
views
A puzzle where you must find the mate in 3 solution but avoid mate in 2 and mate in 1 solutions?
I want to see if a puzzle could exist where you must avoid finding mate in 1 or 2 but just find the mate in 3 solution.
This is not subjective it is a hard math problem to make a move that forces mate ...
- 51
6
votes
0
answers
214
views
How much would chess change if Black always had the last move?
In a hypothetical minor variant, could White's first-move advantage be compensated for by Black's right to last move?
Normally, White wins have White play N+1 plies to Black's N. How would the game ...
0
votes
1
answer
124
views
Why did I lose -> I thought I can swap king and castle to avoid checkmate? [duplicate]
[FEN "6nN/Bp1k2pp/2n5/p7/Q4R1P/5pP1/P3qN2/4K2R w K - 0 1"]
As you can see my king got checkmated through the enemy's queen and pawn.
My question is, why is this a checkmate? I haven't moved ...
anon
13
votes
1
answer
3k
views
Checkmate in ω² moves with finitely many pieces
The post Checkmate in ω
moves? has inspired a lot of discussion and mathematical research into positions on an infinite chessboard where white can mate in a transfinite amount of moves. The current ...
- 473
-2
votes
1
answer
161
views
The king had a place to move, how is this checkmate?
The king had a place to move, how is this checkmate?
- 17
5
votes
1
answer
213
views
Running out of time mid promotion to checkmate. Who wins?
In a casual blitz game I had with my friend, my last move was to promote a pawn, to ladder mate my opponent (there was already a rook on the 7th). I moved the pawn, but while I was reaching for the ...
- 153
3
votes
1
answer
213
views
Mate-in-N problems where N scales indefinitely with board size
Motivation - Long range mating patterns
This question is inspired by my recent interest in infinite chess and the post on MathOverflow Checkmate in ω moves?. Since my chess endgame skills are quite ...
- 473
4
votes
0
answers
82
views
King and short rook checkmate
Suppose White has a king and a range-x rook and black has a bare king on a chessboard with dimensions y times y.
What is the minimum value of x such that for all sufficiently large y, White, moving ...
- 175
8
votes
4
answers
7k
views
Can a pawn move 2 spaces if doing so would cause en passant mate?
You cannot place your King in check, the en passant could be refused and because you are not placing your King in check directly it seems you can move your pawn 2 spaces. However, just like castling, ...
3
votes
2
answers
239
views
Are there any hard mate-in-2 problems?
I'm interested to know if there are any particularly challenging mate-in-2 problems. Since the second move will be essentially forced, the problem essentially comes down to 1 move. Typically, the ...
- 3,057
12
votes
2
answers
3k
views
What is the fastest loss by a GM in a FIDE classical game?
What is the shortest FIDE classical game a grandmaster lost? It can be either resigning or checkmate. The opponent doesn't necessarily need to be GM. Forfeits don't count. Only serious games count, ...
- 2,316
1
vote
1
answer
153
views
Can a castling checkmate be engineered from this position?
I get the following position pretty often in online bullet as White. It's mate in a few (for instance, 9. Bf4+ Kc5 10. Qd5+ Kb6 11.Qb5#). Needless to say, the setup is dubious.
This looks like a prime ...
1
vote
1
answer
159
views
Can a rook and King checkmate a bare King without zugzwang?
Can a rook and a king force a checkmate against a bare king that starts in the center if the opponent was allowed to pass?
- 191
1
vote
0
answers
154
views
How often do super GMs blunder mate in 1?
Yesterday (5th April 2023) Nakamura blundered a pretty mate in 1 against Caruana in the Chessable Masters:
[Title "Caruana - Nakamura, Chessable Masters 2023"]
[fen "Rb6/5kp1/8/1r1P3P/...
- 94.5k
-2
votes
1
answer
193
views
My opponent won despite his king having no legal moves
My opponent won despite his king having no legal moves. Why?
- 107
4
votes
1
answer
237
views
Longest sequence of unique legal moves for one player, always in check and ending in checkmate
I recently played a bullet game, in which I thought I was in checkmate, but then realized I had one legal move, this then repeated again and again 6 times until ultimately I was in checkmate. I share ...
- 51
5
votes
1
answer
963
views
Has checkmate ever been achieved by castling queenside in a high-level game?
This is to complement the kingside variant of that question
Has checkmate ever been achieved by a castling queen side in a high-level game?
4
votes
1
answer
450
views
Has checkmate ever been achieved by castling kingside in a high-level game?
Has checkmate ever been achieved by castling kingside in a high-level game?
I asked an AI large language model, but it listed games which certainly didn't achieve checkmate with castling kingside. I ...
- 2,087
2
votes
1
answer
193
views
Is there any sequence of premoves that guarantees checkmate in this particular King + Queen vs King endgame?
King + Queen vs. King is perhaps the most basic winning endgame and known to be mate in at most ten moves. However, I am wondering if there is any sequence of premoves that guarantees checkmate? For ...
- 109
3
votes
1
answer
138
views
Most "heavy" model mate in a game
A model mate, to recall, is a mate where
a) any flight (including the standing place) of the enemy king is attacked exactly once;
b) no friendly piece (except king and pawns) idles around.
c) (...
- 15.4k
-2
votes
2
answers
234
views
Why is this the wrong move?
I am new to chess. I am playing puzzles on chess.com. I made a move which I thought was checkmate, but it tells me I made the wrong move.
It looks to me like the King is in check by the bishop. But no ...
- 145
2
votes
1
answer
85
views
Rook and promoted Bishop vs Rook endgame--forced win or draw?
I've recently been trying to learn the queen vs rook and rook and bishop vs rook endgames, and I've found it interesting how close the margin of victory vs draw is. I was thinking about whether the ...
- 946
1
vote
0
answers
67
views
On an Torodial board, which pieces are needed to checkmate?
I saw this question On an infinite board, which pieces are needed to checkmate? and was inspired by it.
Many mating combinations won't suffice on a toroidal board.
For example, queen vs king will be a ...
- 191
2
votes
1
answer
124
views
Minimal forced checkmate
A forced checkmate is a situation in which the player whose turn it is has only legal moves which put the other player in checkmate.
I’m searching for the minimal forced checkmate (the smallest amount ...
- 123
7
votes
1
answer
438
views
How to checkmate with king + two knights vs king + pawn
King + two knights vs a king is a book draw, as the knights cannot get the enemy king into a checkmating position (only a stalemating position), because of the inherent clumsy nature of the knight. ...
- 153
7
votes
2
answers
1k
views
What is the required material to force a king move checkmate?
A fun thing to do is to try to achieve specific "achievements" (like these) in real games.
One such achievement is to checkmate with a king move. As the king itself obviously can't deliver ...
2
votes
1
answer
96
views
How can I mate the black king in 4 moves or less (helpmate)
In this helpmate puzzle, it is White to move.
- 123
11
votes
4
answers
5k
views
Is there a position with the stupidest possible move?
I define a stupid move as a move that
puts the opponent in zugzwang so that all their moves result in mate in one (weaker version: a loss);
is chosen instead of a move that gives mate in one (weaker ...
- 229
-1
votes
2
answers
163
views
Number of checkmate positions
How many different checkmate positions are there? A Super-Computer problem. Not with any conditions or hypothetical situations, just simply the number of checkmates that can be arrived at in a ...
- 111
2
votes
2
answers
137
views
Most different mate-in-N depending on black's move
The puzzle (this may have a known answer) is to construct a position such that:
If Black makes move A, it's mate in 1 for white.
If Black makes move B, it's mate in 2 for white.
...
If Black makes ...
- 3,057
-2
votes
1
answer
252
views
Why does Stockfish miss mate in 5 with only two legal moves?
I'm interested to understand what is going on for Stockfish on Lichess here. There are only two legal moves for Black, and it gives the position mate-in-14 for white.
When asked to play its ...
- 3,057
2
votes
0
answers
109
views
I don't understand why this scenario is checkmate. The black rook cannot move, as it's protecting black king. Can someone explain? See photo [duplicate]
So in this scenario the White Queen put the black king in check, which was then blocked by the black rook. So, how is it that the black queen moving to the position of F1 is considered checkmate? The ...
0
votes
0
answers
47
views
Was taking the King ever legal and when did it become illegal? [duplicate]
My sense from a Benjamin Franklin chess anecdote (he takes his opponent's king and says, In America, we take kings!) is that in the 1700s, taking a king if your opponent allowed it, was not illegal or ...
- 753
2
votes
1
answer
103
views
Testing Mate Possibility Without Use of King
I would like to be able to convince myself of the possibility (or lack thereof) of mate using various piece combinations in which the attacker doesn't use their own king.
I'd like to approach this by ...
- 317
3
votes
1
answer
319
views
Why is this a Checkmate? Pawn can capture queen?
I am just learning Chess. Why is this a checkmate? It's Black's turn, and White's queen threatens Black's king, so check. But if I play gxf8, the check is gone. Why doesn't the game let me do it?
2
votes
1
answer
225
views
Find a forced checkmate on dark squares only
In a recent Youtube video, the black player reaches the following position
[White "NN"]
[Black "Chess Simp"]
[FEN "r2r4/ppp2p1k/2n4P/4p3/P3n3/B1P1P2P/P1qPK2P/R6R b - - 0 1&...
- 946
2
votes
2
answers
213
views
Shortest game to "elegant" mate
Define an "elegant" checkmate as one in which
the king is not on the edge of the board
the king and each of the 8 squares surrounding it are each attacked by exactly one, different opponent ...
- 3,057
2
votes
2
answers
163
views
Puzzle: Forced game end in at most two halfmoves
Compose a position where
It's White to move
White can deliver checkmate or stalemate in 1 move
Or if they make a different move, then Black can deliver checkmate or stalemate in one 1 move
I needed ...
- 15.4k
-5
votes
1
answer
162
views
How many moves to checkmate in the initial position with all Black pieces captured?
From the above position, black player lost (by mistakes) all of its pieces after his 15th move. How many more moves shall the black king have before it is checkmated by white if it is black' move?
- 325
22
votes
8
answers
11k
views
Can a player in check win, by checkmating the opponent, while not getting themselves out of check?
Consider a player who is in check. Suppose they can make a move that would checkmate the opponent, but would not stop themselves from being in check. Would that be a legal move?
For example, in the ...
- 245
0
votes
1
answer
184
views
What is the name of this mating motif?
Anyone know the name of this motif? I have seen it several times, but never knew the name. Source Polgar 5334 problems.
Can one classify this as a Legal's trap motif due to the famous Queen sacrifice(...
- 551
0
votes
2
answers
176
views
How do you remember mates with names?
I am working on the Yusupov series. In the first book he introduces Anastasia and Arabian among others. What I am a little uncertain about is the following issues.
How do you remember them?
How do ...
- 551
1
vote
2
answers
114
views
Rules of Checkmate [duplicate]
I’ve attached a picture of the board configuration of an end game. Black wins this game by checkmate, however, I’m wondering how this is valid checkmate?
To my understanding, checkmate occurs when a ...
- 29
0
votes
2
answers
186
views
What is the DTM for White is this 7 piece position?
I know that is winning for White because of the Syzygy tablebases. But Stockfish 14.1 NNUE, without tablebases, returns an evaluation of only +3.23 at depth =72(!). What is White's DTM?
[FEN "8/...
- 379
12
votes
2
answers
449
views
Need Techniques for Bishop and Knight Checkmate
I understand the process for how to checkmate once in this position:
[fen "7k/8/5K2/5B2/5N2/8/8/8 w - - 0 1"]
But I need a technique for reliably getting into that kind of position from, ...
- 139
2
votes
1
answer
516
views
What is the largest n such that discrete forced mate in one through mate in "n" exist?
This is admittedly a bit of an obscure question, so I apologize for the awkward wording of the question. To begin, assume you are playing as White, and that a "forcing move" is any move that ...
- 477
1
vote
1
answer
242
views
Average number of moves until checkmate for two players of unequal strenth
Suppose a game is played, until checkmate, between players of unequal strength, say 1800 vs 2800. What would be the average number of moves be for, say, 1000 games? I also ponder 2000 vs 2800 and 2200 ...
