Why learn checkmate patterns?
A checkmate pattern is a familiar arrangement of pieces that ends the game: the same few shapes recur across thousands of games. If you can name one when you see it, you find the winning move faster and you also spot when your own king is one move from the same fate. The names come from the players, places or shapes they are remembered for, such as Morphy, Pillsbury and the swallow’s tail.
The puzzles linked below come from our daily puzzle series. Each position comes from a real game in the open Lichess database and is engine-verified, and each post has the solution and a video that walks through it. To practise thousands more, RankUp Chess has a library of 5,000+ puzzles you can filter by difficulty and theme, offline and free to play.
Back-rank mate
A rook or queen checks the king along its home rank (the first rank for White, the eighth for Black), and the king cannot step away because its own pawns are in the way.
How to spot it. Look for a castled king whose pawns have never moved, and for a rook or queen that can reach the back rank. Making "luft", a pawn move that gives the king an escape square, is the usual defence.
Practise it:
Arabian mate
A rook and a knight trap the king in a corner. The rook checks from the square next to the king, and the knight, two squares away diagonally, protects the rook and covers the last escape square.
How to spot it. Look for a king on a corner square such as h8 with a knight able to reach f6, and a rook that can land next to the king.
Practise it:
Anastasia's mate
A knight and a rook (or queen) trap the king between the edge of the board and one of its own pieces. The knight takes away the escape squares and the rook or queen gives the check along the edge file.
How to spot it. Look for a king on the a- or h-file with its own pawn beside it, and a way to open the file for a rook, often after a sacrifice.
Practise it:
Morphy's mate
A bishop gives the checkmate while a rook and one of the king’s own pawns box the king in.
How to spot it. Look for a long diagonal pointing at a cornered king, with a rook already controlling the escape squares.
Practise it:
Pillsbury's mate
A rook gives the checkmate while a bishop cuts off the king’s escape. It is the mirror of Morphy’s mate, where the bishop gives the check and the rook confines the king.
How to spot it. Look for a king on the edge, a bishop already covering its flight squares, and an open file for a rook.
Practise it:
Opera mate
A rook checkmates on the back rank and a bishop protects it. It is named after Paul Morphy’s 1858 game played at the opera in Paris.
How to spot it. Look for a king that has not castled, with a pawn restricting its movement, and a bishop lined up behind an open file.
Practise it:
Epaulette mate
The two squares on either side of the checked king are occupied by its own pieces, like the epaulettes on a uniform, so a queen or rook check from directly in front cannot be escaped.
How to spot it. Look for a king boxed in on its back rank by its own rooks or other pieces, with a queen or rook able to check from straight ahead.
Practise it:
Swallow's tail mate
A queen delivers the mate while the king’s own pieces block its retreat, and the pieces form a V shape like a swallow’s tail. It is also called the dovetail or Guéridon mate.
How to spot it. Look for a king hemmed in by two of its own pieces and a queen that can arrive next to it with support.
Practise it:
Corner mate
A rook or queen confines the king to a corner, and a knight (or another minor piece) delivers the checkmate.
How to spot it. Look for a king already close to a corner and a knight that can reach a checking square.
Practise it:
Mate in two and mate in three
These are puzzle types rather than patterns: you are told the king can be mated in a set number of moves, and you have to find the forcing sequence. Look at every check, every capture and every threat before you settle on a move; a quiet move that removes the king’s last escape square is often the answer.
All daily chess puzzles
- #1: Arabian mate, Royal fork and Discovered attack
- #2: Epaulette mate, Knight fork and Interference
- #3: Mate in two, Discovered attack and Knight fork
- #4: Back-rank mate, Deflection and Double check
- #6: Swallow's tail mate, Skewer and Exposed king
- #7: Opera mate, Zugzwang and Hanging piece
- #8: Mate in three, Discovered check, Quiet move and Sacrifice
- #9: Pillsbury's mate, Pin, Skewer and Queen fork
- #10: Anastasia's mate, Sacrifice, Attack on f7 and Discovered attack
- #11: Mate in two, Quiet move, Pin and Zugzwang
- #12: Back-rank mate, Trapped piece, Promotion and Quiet move
- #13: Corner mate, Rook fork, Zugzwang and Pin
- #14: Morphy's mate, Discovered attack, Hanging piece and Intermezzo
- #15: Mate in three, Rook fork, Queen fork and Sacrifice
- #16: Pillsbury's mate, Discovered check, Sacrifice and Queen fork
- #17: Opera mate, Clearance sacrifice, Trapped piece and Queen fork
- #18: Mate in two, Pin, Quiet move and Deflection
- #19: Back-rank mate, Knight fork, Pin and Quiet move
- #20: Arabian mate, Skewer, Attraction and Pin
Train these patterns offline
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