Questions tagged [checkmate]
Questions relating to checkmating.
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How fast can checkmate occur by just moving the king?
How short can a game be in which (after the first move) one player moves only their king, and yet checkmates their opponent?
This is assuming that the players cooperate, i.e. this is a kind of "...
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How is this position possible in a normal game of chess?
A friend of mine gave me this problem. It goes like this.
In a normal game of chess, the white player checks the black's king with a rook and a bishop as in the following image.
8/8/8/8/8/7k/8/...
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Is it possible to force checkmate with King, Knight, and Bishop vs. King?
If a King, Knight, and Bishop are pitted against the opposing King, is it possible to force checkmate? I find it very hard to do, enough so that I'm not sure whether there's a clean method.
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A mysterious mate in one
Here's a question that's a little off the usual format, but problem questions like this have been done before and are on topic, so here we go!
Question: Can you find the mysterious mate in one? The ...
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What are some checkmates with very few moves from the starting position?
I would like to learn about a few checkmates using very few moves. I know one where you develop the knight and march it directly towards the King. Does anyone know the name of this mate and suggest ...
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What is the highest number of different mates in 1 you can have in one (legal) position?
A friend and I yesterday asked ourselves what the highest number of possible mates in a (legal) position is. We were able to come up with the following position which has a total of 76 unique mates in ...
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Is it possible to checkmate with knight and king against king?
I would like to clarify two things:
Is it possible to checkmate with only a knight and a king against a lone king?
What will happen when one side has a king and knight and the other has just a king, ...
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When you check someone, do you have to say "check"?
Yesterday I was playing with a friend, I was almost out of time, he checked me, didn't say anything, I didn't see the check as i was in a hurry to make my move. And I was mated.
Computers don't let ...
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Why is it not a checkmate?
I am new to chess. I have tried to learn checkmate from the video lesson in chess24 website. There, in one question, it marked my answer wrong and said that it was not checkmate. Can anyone please ...
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On an infinite board, which pieces are needed to checkmate?
Most of the winnable endgames require cornering the opposing king to checkmate, often using zugzwang. However, if you have an infinite board (infinite in every direction), you won't be able to corner ...
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How can I prevent checkmate in this position?
It is White's turn to move. How can White avoid a checkmate?
[FEN "8/1kpP2q1/1p2P1p1/1P3pP1/5p1K/5P2/6P1/R7 w - - 0 1"]
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KBN vs K checkmate on nonstandard boards
I know how to win the endgame with bishop and knight, but it is a slippery process and seems to be just barely a win, with the enemy king very nearly escaping. For this reason, I am curious about ...
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Why is this a checkmate?
I'm new to chess and I'm confused about a puzzle I was practicing.
As you can see my black queen has put the white king in check, but I'm confused how this is possible if a rook is right next to my ...
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How do you checkmate with the pair of bishops?
How do you checkmate with the pair of Bishops and King versus King?
Are there any stalemates to look out for?
What are the key ideas / positions / tricks to make it work?
Thanks!
user2001
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Is it ethical to tell your opponent how you are going to checkmate them?
I play online chess at 3 days per move. I like to tell my opponents how I'm going to checkmate them if they will never win. That way, that I won't waste time continuing the game. I also like to be ...
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What is sufficient mating material?
The FIDE chess rules describe that "The game is draw when a position is reached from which a checkmate cannot occur by any possible series of legal moves" (FIDE rule 9.6). This rules is sometimes ...
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Is three knights versus knight really winning?
Take a look at the following position, reached in the #40974 Tactics Problem on chess.com
[fen "4N1K1/5P2/6k1/8/6n1/8/N7/8 w - - 0 1"]
The engine gives +6.22 for white in this position. I already ...
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Is it a draw by insufficient material if the board is K vs K, N & N?
It isn't possible to force checkmate with King vs. King, Knight & Knight. A checkmate position, however, is still possible to achieve, so does that mean the 50 move rule applies, or does ...
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Another Unusual Mate in One
Here is another mate-in-one of my own i.e. a not quite usual one...
[title "Mate in one"]
[FEN "3b4/R3P3/2kPR1n1/P1p1n3/4K1p1/2Nr4/5p2/1b6 w KQkq - 0 1"]
Imagine, you ...
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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 ...
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Why is it illegal to move into check?
In chess, it is against the rules to move into check, or to not move out of check. But why? Obviously, if you went against this rule, you'd immediately lose. But it seems strange to make it illegal to ...
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A position with the only legal move resulting in checkmate
Theoretically, is it possible that for some position, the only legal move for a side leads to a checkmate (that is, the opposite king gets checkmated)? If so, has this ever occurred in a real game?
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How often do grandmasters miss checkmate?
Although top players are extremely good at finding checkmate, the number of permutations of moves in just 3 moves can be hundreds of thousands, and the farther out the possible mate (e.g. mate in 4, ...
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Is the position in this trick question reachable?
I found this trick question on r/Anarchy chess: White to move, mate in two.
[FEN "2R2RK/6PP/5P/3PN/P/1pQ3p/n1p1qbp/5brk w - - 0 1"]
[StartFlipped "1"]
The trick is that
But is ...
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Is there a double-forced mate position?
A usual forced mate position is where the winning player can play in a way that ensures checkmate, no matter what (legal) moves the opponent makes (unless the game ends due to a non-play reason, i.e. ...
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Fastest possible checkmate by en passant
En passant is somewhat of a rare move in chess. Checkmating by en passant, however, is an even rarer occurrence. But suppose both sides had the same goal to help cause a checkmate to their opponent ...
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How do you checkmate with a rook?
How do you checkmate with a Rook and King versus King? Is there a good and fast method? Can you explain it in a good way? Thanks!
user2001
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What is the shortest known GM level OTB game to end with checkmate?
What is the shortest known on the board game played between GM rated players that ended with a checkmate? "Shortest" does not mean the game has to be very short.
Note: Edited this question twice ...
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How many such positions are there? (chess/math checkmate puzzle)
I'm interested in this kind of position:
There are only 4 pieces on the board. If Whites goes first, they can checkmate in one move. If Blacks goes first, they can checkmate in one move. For example:
...
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What's the etiquette for giving checkmate on board?
I wonder what is considered to be a polite way of giving mate on board. Should one announce the checkmate? If so, should one press the clock after making the move, or stop it, or simply do nothing?
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With only a king left, how many moves remaining until a draw?
I am a beginner in chess. If I have only a king left, how many moves does my opponent have to mate me?
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How is this checkmate?
So I'm somewhat of a new player to chess and I'm currently reading a chess book which is explaining all the different terms. In one instance it describes what stalemate is; "If your opponent has no ...
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Can a player resign after checkmating their opponent?
A friend of mine recently told me that once, he checkmated his opponent and then immediately resigned because he thought his win was unfair. This happened in a FIDE-rated tournament.
Searching the ...
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How many different ways are there to checkmate in the early game?
We all know the shortest possible checkmate is 4 ply:
f3 e5
g4 Qh5#
This isn't the only possible move order. In fact, there are 8, depending on whether white moves the f or g pawn first, whether he ...
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How many moves of head start does white need for a guaranteed win?
As we all know, it is not known whether white can always win in chess with optimal play. If, however, white got to make two moves before black made their first move would they be able to win with ...
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Is it possible for a white piece to deliver check to the black king, but for black's counter move to result in white getting checkmated?
Is it possible for a white piece to deliver check to the black king, but for black's counter move to result in white getting checkmated?
Has this happened in games between top players?
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What moves solve this mate in 2?
It’s White to move and mate in 2 moves.
[FEN "7r/1p3Q1p/2q5/3bk3/1Q2p3/2P5/r2P2PP/2KR4 w - - 0 1"]
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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 ...
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Checkmate with two knights?
Is it really possible to checkmate with two knights and king against a king?
There is a mating position with this but no extra tempo to do it in real game.
What are the explanations, why knights ...
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Outside-the-box mate-in-one challenge
I've received an (I would say impossible) mate-in-one challenge and I have already checked all movements, but couldn't solve it yet. It came from a trustable source and they say you need to think ...
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What are the shogi equivalents of Fool's and Scholar's mate?
In western chess, the Fool's mate and Scholar's Mate are two well-known mates that take very few moves from the starting position. What would be the shogi equivalents to these, or, more generally, ...
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How is mate guaranteed - Bobby Fischer 134
I am working through Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess and #134 asks
If White plays Rook-takes-Rook-check, can he mate?
The answer is Yes, the mate is delivered by the white Queen. However, can't it be ...
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What is the shortest number of moves from the starting position required for Black to mate White with a pawn?
Interesting puzzle that is quite hard to stop.
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Which piece combinations can mate a lone king without being aided by the attacking king?
Clearly not a practical question since the king can and should be used in the endgame, but I was curious if anyone has done a comprehensive analysis of which combinations of pieces (including some ...
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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 ...
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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, ...
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What is the longest proven forced win (including 50 & 75 move rules)?
What is the longest (currently discovered) number of moves for a forced mate position where players will use both the 50-move draw rule and the 3-fold repetition rule if it will help them avoid losing?...
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What is the order of actions in chess under FIDE rules?
Reading some recent posts about the 50 move rule made me realize that I've never seen an explicit order of actions for chess. By way of comparison, the order of actions in Monopoly is given here:
(1) ...
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When checkmate is impossible in a position
The laws of chess say
1.5. If the position is such that neither player can possibly checkmate the opponent’s king, the game is drawn (see Article 5.2.2).
5.2.2. The game is drawn when a position has ...
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