How to checkmate in chess
Stockfish 16.1 · runs in your browserPlay Qg7#. Black is in check with no legal move: White has checkmated Black.
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Commentary
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Best move
Checkmate means the king is in check and the player has no legal reply. Cover its escape squares, protect the checking piece when needed, and check whether the attack can be blocked or captured. Try queen, rook and knight mating patterns here.
Try the moves
Choose an example, play the suggested move, then reset to compare another legal move.
How to win at chess
Checkmating the opposing king wins. Capturing more material alone does not decide the result; your opponent can also resign.
Checkmate patterns
Compare queen-and-king, back rank, smothered and bishop-and-knight mates in the example selector. In each, check covers every legal reply.
Rules and examples
The board positions are original teaching examples. Rule references and further practice are linked below.
Rules: FIDE Laws of Chess, effective 1 January 2023. https://handbook.fide.com/chapter/E012023
Rule replay: python-chess 1.11.2 (GPL-3.0-or-later). The shared browser engine retains its Stockfish GPL-3.0 notice. No engine score is claimed by these demonstrations.
Read the rulesA move on the board
7k/8/5KQ1/8/8/8/8/8 w - - 0 1
7k/6Q1/5K2/8/8/8/8/8 b - - 1 1
- Qg7#Black is in check with no legal move: White has checkmated Black.
Black is in check with no legal move: White has checkmated Black.
Original teaching example replayed with python-chess 1.11.2, 2026-10-18.
Analysis runs on Stockfish 16.1 in your browser, compiled to WebAssembly by stockfish.js. Stockfish is free software under the GNU General Public License v3; its source code is on GitHub.