Checkmate (often shortened tomate) is any game position inchess and other chess-like games in which a player'sking is incheck (threatened withcapture) and there is no possible escape. Checkmating the opponent wins the game.
In chess, the king is never actually captured. The player loses as soon as the player's king is checkmated. In formal games, it is usually considered good etiquette toresign an inevitably lost game before being checkmated.[1][2]
If a player is not in check but has no legal moves, then it isstalemate, and the game immediately ends in adraw. A checkmating move is recorded inalgebraic notation using the hash symbol "#", for example: 34.Qg3#.
The termcheckmate is, according to the BarnhartEtymological Dictionary, an alteration of thePersian phrase "shāh māt" (شاه مات) which means "the King is helpless".[7] Persian "māt" applies to the king but in Sanskrit "māta", also pronounced "māt", applied to his kingdom "traversed, measured across, and meted out" thoroughly by his opponent; "māta" is the past participle of "mā" verbal root.[8] Others maintain that it means "the King is dead", as chess reached Europe via theArab world, and Arabicmāta (مَاتَ) means "died" or "is dead".[9][10] Moghadam traced theetymology of the wordmate. It comes from a Persian verbmandan (ماندن), meaning "to remain", which is cognate with the Latin wordmaneō and the Greekmenō (μένω, which means "I remain"). It means "remained" in the sense of "abandoned" and the formal translation is "surprised", in the military sense of "ambushed".[11] "Shāh" (شاه) is the Persian word for the monarch. Players would announce "Shāh" when the king was in check. "Māt" (مات) is a Persian adjective for "at a loss", "helpless", or "defeated". So the king is inmate when he is ambushed, at a loss, helpless, defeated, or abandoned to his fate.[12]
In modern Persian, the wordmate depicts a person who is frozen, open-mouthed, staring, confused and unresponsive. The words "stupefied" or "stunned" bear close correlation. So a possible alternative would be to interpretmate as "unable to respond". A king being inmate (shah-mat) then means a king is unable to respond, which would correspond to there being no response that a player's king can make to the opponent's final move. This interpretation is much closer to the original intent of the game being not to kill a king but to leave him with no viable response other than surrender, which better matches theorigin story detailed in the Shahnameh.
In modern parlance, the termcheckmate is ametaphor for an irrefutable and strategic victory.[13]
In early Sanskrit chess (c. 500–700), the king could becaptured and this ended the game. ThePersians (c. 700–800) introduced the idea of warning that the king was under attack (announcingcheck in modern terminology). This was done to avoid the early and accidental end of a game. Later, the Persians added the additional rule that a king could not be moved into check or left in check. As a result, the king could not be captured,[14] and checkmate was the only decisive way of ending a game.[15]
Before about 1600, the game could also be won by capturing all of the opponent's pieces, leaving just abare king. This style of play is now calledannihilation orrobado.[16] InMedieval times, players began to consider it nobler to win by checkmate, so annihilation became a half-win for a while, until it was abandoned.[15]
Twomajor pieces (queens orrooks) can easilyforce checkmate on the edge of the board using a technique known as theladder checkmate.[17] The process is to put the two pieces on adjacentranks orfiles and force the king to the side of the board by using one piece to check the king and the other to cut it off from going up the board.[18] In the illustration, White checkmates by forcing the Black king to the edge, one row at a time. The ladder checkmate can be used to checkmate with two rooks, two queens, or a rook and a queen.[18]
Checkmate using a queen and rook. 1.Qg5+ Ke4 2.Rf4+ Ke3 3.Qg3+ Ke2 4.Rf2+ Ke1 5.Qg1#[19]
There are four fundamental checkmates when one side hasonly their king and the other side has only the minimummaterial needed to force checkmate, i.e. (1) onequeen, (2) onerook, (3) twobishops on opposite-colored squares, or (4) a bishop and aknight. The king must help in accomplishing all of these checkmates.[20] If the winning side has more material, checkmates are easier.
The checkmate with the queen is the most common, and easiest to achieve. It often occurs after apawn hasqueened. A checkmate with the rook is also common, but a checkmate with two bishops or with a bishop and knight occurs infrequently. The two-bishop checkmate is fairly easy to accomplish, but thebishop and knight checkmate is difficult and requires precision.
The first two diagrams show representatives of the basic checkmate positions with aqueen, which can occur on any edge of the board. Naturally, the exact position can vary from the diagram. In the first of the checkmate positions, the queen is directly in front of the opposing king and the white king is protecting its queen. In the second checkmate position, the kings are inopposition and the queen mates on therank (orfile) of the king.
With the side with the queen to move, checkmate can be forced in at most ten moves from any starting position, withoptimal play by both sides, but usually fewer moves are required.[23][24] In positions in which a pawn has justpromoted to a queen, at most nine moves are required.[25]
In the position diagrammed, White checkmates easily by confining the black king to a rectangle and shrinking the rectangle toforce the king to the edge of the board:
The winning side must be careful to notstalemate the opposing king, whereas the defender would like to get into such a position. There are five general types of stalemate positions that can occur, which the stronger side must avoid. The first two are more common.[27]
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Stalemate if Black is to move. The queen blocks off all possible moves for Black, regardless of where the white king is placed on the board.
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This is stalemate if Black is to move. Also stalemate if the white king is on one of the marked squares.
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This is stalemate if Black is to move. Also stalemate if the white king is on the marked square.
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This is stalemate if Black is to move. Also stalemate if the queen is on one of the marked squares.
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This is stalemate if Black is to move. Also stalemate if the queen is on one of the marked squares.
The first diagram shows the basic checkmate position with arook, which can occur on any edge of the board. The black king can be on any square on the edge of the board, the white king is in opposition to it, and the rook can check from any square on the rank or file (assuming that it cannot be captured). The second diagram shows a slightly different position where the kings are not in opposition but the defending king must be in a corner.
With the side with the rook to move, checkmate can be forced in at most sixteen moves from any starting position.[27] Again, seeWikibooks – Chess/The Endgame for a demonstration of how the king and rook versus king mate is achieved.
In the third diagram position, White checkmates by confining the black king to a rectangle and shrinking the rectangle to force the king to the edge of the board:
Thetwo bishops checkmate is the checkmate of alone king by the opponent's two bishops and king.[b] The superior side is able todrive the lone king into a corner andforce mate using the two bishops and king collaboratively. The only stipulation is that the two bishops must move on opposite-colored squares.[c][32] Accomplishing the mate requires a maximum of 19 moves.
Checkmates with two bishops
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Checkmate via forcing opponent's king in a corner
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Checkmate via a side square adjacent to a corner square
The king and bishops cooperate to drive the enemy king to an edge of the board, and then into a corner to deliver the mate.[31] "The process, though a bit lengthy, is fascinating because it gives us a glimpse of the power of the two bishops on the open board."[33]
Three basic checkmate positions are possible via the two bishops checkmate.[34] The first is a checkmate in the corner. The second position is a checkmate on a side square next to the corner square (this position can theoretically occur anywhere along an edge, but can only be forced adjacent to a corner). With the side with the bishops to move, checkmate can be forced in at most nineteen moves,[35] except in some very rare positions (0.03% of the possible positions).[36] The third checkmate position is possible but not forceable.[34]
It is not too difficult for two bishops to force checkmate, with the aid of their king. Two principles apply:
The bishops are best when they are near thecenter of the board and on adjacent diagonals. This cuts off the opposing king.
The king must be used aggressively, in conjunction with the bishops.
From Seirawan
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Two bishops and king can force mate.
In the position from Seirawan, White wins by first forcing the black king to the side of the board, then to a corner, and then checkmates. It can be any side of the board and any corner. The process is:
1. Ke2 Ke4 (Black tries to keep his king near the center)2. Be3 Ke5 (forcing the king back, which is done often)3. Kd3 Kd5 4. Bd4 Ke6 5. Ke4 Kd6 (Black tries a different approach to stay near the center)6. Bc4 (White has a fine position; the bishops are centralized and the king is active)6... Kc6 (Black avoids going toward the side)7. Ke5 Kd7 (Black is trying to avoid the a8-corner)8. Bd5 (keeping the black king off c6)8... Kc7 9. Bc5 Kd7 10. Bd6! (an important move that forces the king to the edge of the board)10... Ke8 (Black is still avoiding the corner)11. Ke6 (now the black king cannot get off the edge of the board)11... Kd8 12. Bc6 (forcing the king toward the corner)12... Kc8 (Black's king is confined to c8 and d8; the white king must cover a7 and b7)13. Kd5 (13. Ke7? isstalemate)13... Kd8 14. Kc5 Kc8 15. Kb6 Kd8 (now White must allow the king to move into the corner)16. Bc5 Kc8 17. Be7! (an important move that forces the king toward the corner)17... Kb8 18. Bd7! (the same principle as the previous move)18... Ka8 19. Bd8 (White must make a move that gives up atempo; this move is such a move, along with Bc5, Bf8, Be6, or Ka6)19... Kb8 20. Bc7+ Ka8 21. Bc6# (as the first diagram in this section).[37]
This is not the shortest forced checkmate from this position. Müller and Lamprecht give a fifteen-move solution; however, it contains an inaccurate move by Black (according toendgame tablebases).[35]
Avoid stalemate
From Silman
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1.Kb6 would be stalemate.
One example of a stalemate is this position, where 1.Kb6 (marked with the x) would be stalemate.[38]
Of the basic checkmates, this is the most difficult one toforce, because these two pieces cannot form a linear barrier to the enemy king from a distance. Also, the checkmate can be forced only in a corner that the bishop controls.[36][39]
Checkmates with a bishop and a knight
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Two basic checkmate positions are shown with abishop and aknight, or thebishop and knight checkmate.[40] The first position is a checkmate by the bishop, with the black king in the corner. The bishop can be on other squares along the diagonal, the white king and knight have to be on squares that attack g8 and h7. The second position is a checkmate by the knight, with the black king on a side square next to the corner. The knight can be on other squares that check the black king. The white king must be on a square to protect the bishop and cover a square not covered by the knight.
With the side with the bishop and knight to move, checkmate can be forced in at most thirty-three moves from any starting position,[41] except those in which the defending king is initiallyforking the bishop and knight and it is not possible to defend both. However, themating process requires accurate play, since a few errors could result in adraw either by thefifty-move rule orstalemate.
Opinions differ as to whether or not a player should learn this checkmate procedure.James Howell omits the checkmate with two bishops in his book because it rarely occurs but includes the bishop and knight checkmate. Howell says that he has had it three times (always on the defending side) and that it occurs more often than the checkmate with two bishops.[42] On the other hand,Jeremy Silman includes the checkmate with two bishops but not the bishop plus knight checkmate because he has had it only once and his friendJohn Watson has never had it.[43] Silman says: "... mastering it would take a significant chunk of time. Should the chess hopeful really spend many of his precious hours he's put aside for chess study learning an endgame he will achieve (at most) only once or twice in his lifetime?"
Avoid stalemate
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After 1.Na3+?, 1...Kc1! draws.
This position is an example of a stalemate, from the end of a 1966endgame study by A. H. Branton. White has just moved 1.Na3+? If Black moves 1...Kc1!, then White must move his bishop to save it because if the bishop iscaptured, the position is a draw because of theinsufficient material rule. But after any bishop move, the position is a stalemate.[44]
Aback-rank checkmate is a checkmate delivered by a rook or queen along a back rank (that is, the row on which the pieces [not pawns] stand at the start of the game) in which the mated king is unable to move up the board because the king is blocked by friendly pieces (usually pawns) on the second rank.[45] An example of a back-rank checkmate is shown in the diagram. It is also known as thecorridor mate.
The moves might be played in a different order or in slight variation, but the basic idea is the same: the queen and bishop combine in a simple mating attack on f7 (or f2 if Black is performing the mate).[46] There are also other ways to checkmate in four moves.
resulting in the position shown.[47] (The pattern can have slight variations, for exampleWhite might play f4 instead of f3 or move the g-pawn first, and Black might play ...e6 instead of ...e5.)
Smothered mate after 27.Nf7+ Kg8 28.Nh6+ Kh8 29.Qg8+ Rxg8 30.Nf7#.
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Final position
Asmothered mate is a checkmate delivered by aknight in which the matedking is unable to move because it is surrounded (orsmothered) by its own pieces.[49]
The mate is usually seen in a corner of the board, since fewer pieces are needed to surround the king there. The most common form of smothered mate is seen in the adjacent diagram. The knight on f7 delivers mate to the king on h8 which is prevented from escaping thecheck by therook on g8 and the pawns on g7 and h7. Similarly, White can be mated with the white king on h1 and the knight on f2.
Blackresigned here; play would have continued 84...a2 85.Nb3#.[52]
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White to move wins.
A similar position with the knight on d2 is more than 500 years old, identified as "Partito n. 23" by Luca Pacioli, in hisMS De ludo scachorum (Latin for "The game of chess"), dated 1498 and recently reprinted (Gli scacchi) by Aboca Museum Edizioni.
There are also positions in which a king and a knight can checkmate a king and a bishop, knight, or rook; or a king and a bishop can checkmate a king with a bishop on the other color of squares or with a knight, but the checkmate cannot be forced if there is no other material on the board (see the diagrams for some examples).[53] Nevertheless, it keeps thesematerial combinations from being ruled adraw because of "insufficient mating material" or "impossibility of checkmate" under theFIDErules of chess. TheU.S. Chess Federation rules are different. In a typical position with aminor piece versus a minor piece, a player would be able to claim a draw if they have a limited amount of time left.[54]
Checkmate positions are possible to construct, but they cannot be forced.
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Checkmate cannot be forced. Here, ...Ka8?? allows checkmate (Nbc7#), but ...Kc8 avoids it.
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White cannot force checkmate because of stalemate.
It is impossible toforce checkmate with a king and two knights, although checkmate positions are possible (see the first diagram). In the second diagram, if Black plays 1...Ka8?? White can checkmate with 2.Nbc7#, but Black can play 1...Kc8 and escape the threat. The defender's task is easy – they simply have to avoid moving into a position in which they can be checkmated on the next move, and they always have another move available in such situations.[55]
In the third diagram, one knight is guarding c1, leaving the other knight to try to checkmate. After 1.Ndc3+ Ka1, White needs to get the knight on e2 to c2. But if White plays 2.Nd4, Black isstalemated.[56]
Under some circumstances, two knights and a king can force checkmate against a king and pawn (or rarely more pawns). The winning plan, quite difficult to execute in practice, is to blockade the enemy pawn(s) with one of the knights, maneuver the enemy king into a stalemated position, then bring the other knight over to checkmate.[56] (SeeTwo knights endgame.)
Three knights
Three knights and a king can force checkmate against a lone king within twenty moves (assuming that the lone king cannot quickly win a knight).[57] These situations are generally only seen inchess problems, since at least one of the knights must be apromoted piece, and there is rarely a reason to promote a pawn to a piece other than a queen (seeunderpromotion).
^Fine 1979, p. 4, "Two bishops of the same color cannot administer mate; a mating position is not even conceivable. The same holds true of nine (or more!) bishops all of one color."
