Questions tagged [checkmate]

Questions relating to checkmating.

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What are the commonest and rarest checkmating moves in the Lichess (or similar) database?

I'm curious what checkmating move is the most common in the Lichess database? That is, the properly algebraically specified move, for a given color, like "White plays Re8#". Answers for ...
Steve Bennett's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
112 views

Most delaying moves before checkmate

Consider a position where if was player A's turn, they could make a series of moves ("the mating sequence") with forced mate. However, it is player B's turn, and they can make a series of &...
Steve Bennett's user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
191 views

The Most Frequent Checkmate Patterns

Of the main checkmate patterns which are the most frequent (in games that ended with a checkmate)? Based on chess literature the Back-rank mate is arguably the most common, I would expect the Queen ...
chesshomem's user avatar
7 votes
4 answers
3k views

Most mate options after 6 moves

Found this construction problem from '83 and liked it. I don't know the best solution (yet), and maybe you can top it anyway. Consider the (help) "game" 1.e4 a6 2.Bc4 a5 3.Qh5 a4. Now White ...
Hauke Reddmann's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
1k views

Mate in 4. Difficult. Going crazy

A friend sent me this puzzle. He insists that Black has a mate in 4. I just can't find it. Can someone see a mate in 4 moves here?
MonkeyBusiness's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
135 views

Are Stockfish "Mate in X" counts ever over-optimistic?

When Stockfish gives an evaluation of, say #15, I have seen cases where this is pessimistic, and it subsequently revises its evaluation to say #9. Are there cases where it thinks it can mate in 15, ...
Steve Bennett's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
89 views

Why does Stockfish only gives -28 to a game with only a W pawn and a B rook remaining, while it should be resolved in perfect play?

In this position (W resigned) with only a pawn and a rook remaining Stockfish should have resolved the game and say "Mate in xx" (with perfect play). However Stockfish is said to have ...
Déjà vu's user avatar
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0 votes
1 answer
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Questions about legality of last move

Question for FIDE Arbiters and similar knowledgeable folk... FIDE Law Article 5.1.1 The game is won by the player who has checkmated his/her opponent’s king. This immediately ends the game, provided ...
Laska's user avatar
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0 votes
2 answers
166 views

Mate in 2 from "The soviet Chess Primer" but wrong

I found this exercise on page 51 of the "The soviet chess primer" and I think there is a mistake. Chess.com analysis says there is a mate in 13 moves. I'm correct thinking there is a mistake?...
Ignazio's user avatar
  • 119
-2 votes
1 answer
234 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 ...
Wassim Saeed's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
185 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 ...
Zuriel's user avatar
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135 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 ...
charles2239's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
136 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 ...
Mur's user avatar
  • 51
6 votes
0 answers
230 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 ...
Therac's user avatar
  • 203
0 votes
1 answer
140 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 ...
user avatar
14 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 ...
Andreas Tsevas's user avatar
-2 votes
1 answer
203 views

The king had a place to move, how is this checkmate?

The king had a place to move, how is this checkmate?
THawk's user avatar
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5 votes
1 answer
221 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 ...
Zock77's user avatar
  • 153
3 votes
1 answer
244 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 ...
Andreas Tsevas's user avatar
4 votes
0 answers
89 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 ...
Lucenaposition's user avatar
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, ...
TheNewProcess's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
377 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 ...
Steve Bennett's user avatar
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, ...
cmgchess's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
158 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 ...
SE - stop firing the good guys's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
179 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?
blademan9999's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
166 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/...
Brian Towers's user avatar
  • 96.6k
-2 votes
1 answer
205 views

My opponent won despite his king having no legal moves

My opponent won despite his king having no legal moves. Why?
Igor Levashov's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
242 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 ...
Mur's user avatar
  • 51
5 votes
1 answer
997 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?
Nicolas Formichella's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
461 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 ...
stevec's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
197 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 ...
rpdejonge's user avatar
  • 109
3 votes
1 answer
151 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) (...
Hauke Reddmann's user avatar
-2 votes
2 answers
238 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 ...
Evorlor's user avatar
  • 145
2 votes
1 answer
92 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 ...
eyeballfrog's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
149 views

On a toroidal 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 ...
blademan9999's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
128 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 ...
Alfe's user avatar
  • 123
8 votes
1 answer
493 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. ...
Crystal's user avatar
  • 163
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 ...
SE - stop firing the good guys's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
119 views

How can I mate the black king in 4 moves or less (helpmate)

In this helpmate puzzle, it is White to move.
David Meléndez's user avatar
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 ...
Bob Jansen's user avatar
-1 votes
2 answers
176 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 ...
comic4relief's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
145 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 ...
Steve Bennett's user avatar
-2 votes
1 answer
260 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 ...
Steve Bennett's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
111 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 ...
Braxton Wheeler's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
105 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 ...
Dave's user avatar
  • 327
3 votes
1 answer
332 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?
Maximilian Schwärzler's user avatar
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&...
eyeballfrog's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
219 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 ...
Steve Bennett's user avatar
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 ...
Hauke Reddmann's user avatar
-5 votes
1 answer
179 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?
TSLF's user avatar
  • 325

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