Hello everyone,
In this lesson, you will learn about an important rule of the game – checkmate, or just mate. You will understand what mate is and what it means.
Getting out of check is possible
In this position, Black is in check. The king has only one square to which it can go. It can get out of check by moving away. But, you already know that.
This position doesn’t teach you much that is new. Black can get out of check by capturing the queen.
Mate
The situation has suddenly changed. White has gained an extra knight. Black has no way left to get out of check. Moving away is not possible, nor is capturing.
The king is in check and cannot get out of it: Black is mated.
The game is over, and White has won. Result: 1-0.
Another example of a mate.
The white bishop is protecting the queen. So Black cannot take the queen. Other squares around the king are out of the question too. The white queen is controlling them all.
Escape squares
For a mate, various things are important. Let’s take a close look at them one by one.
Escape squares: The squares to which the king can still move. We shall always mark these squares with a green plus sign.
Guard: We call a piece that takes squares away from the king the guard. The queen controls squares b7, c7 and d7: the squares with red squares. Red because these squares are a no-go area for the king.
The hunter
We shall call the piece which gives check “the hunter”. It is tempting to give a check here, but this queen check is unwise. The king will get more escape squares.
Here the queen is the guard and must do guard duty. Of course, it can give check and become the hunter, but then it has to find another way to control all the escape squares which it is guarding.
Help is needed
The queen cannot mate on its own. It needs support from at least one of its own pieces.
Now White can mate.
Supported mate
Black is mated. The queen is delivering mate. It is the hunter and the guard at the same time. The knight is supporting the queen.
We call a piece which helps you deliver mate the helper. This piece protects the piece which is delivering mate. So it always controls at least one escape square.
The red box means that the king cannot take the queen.
Now It’s your time to solve!
Exercise!
Puzzle 1.
Puzzle 2.
Puzzle 3.
Mate with a capture
You can also mate your opponent with a capture!
Watch out… Defender
When delivering mate you must watch out for your opponent’s defending pieces. Here White must keep an eye on the black bishop. It is in the game too!
Harmful material
There are positions in which the side which is attacking does not need a helper. The opponent is kind enough to move his own material in the way. In this position, Black would be better off without his own h-pawn. That’s harmful material for you!
A well-known mate
A position that will frequently crop up. White can mate with the rook.
Very harmful material
Summing up
The king is in check. He cannot get out of check. So he is mated.
We give names to the attackers which deliver mate:
– the hunter (the piece which gives check)
– the guard (the piece which takes away the king’s escape squares)
– the helper (the piece which supports the hunter if that is needed)
The piece giving check (here it is the queen) is also taking away all its escape squares. It is being supported by a helper (here the bishop). It protects the piece which is giving check. Together they bring about a supported mate.
The loser can have pieces of his own that are getting in his way (here the pawn on a6). We call that harmful material.
Mate means the end of the game. The winner gets one point, the loser none. 1-0 means a win for White, and 0-1 means that Black has won.
