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checkmate
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{{Short description|Winning game position in chess}}{{About|the position in chess|a list of checkmates|Checkmate pattern|other uses|Checkmate (disambiguation)}}File:CheckmateProper.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.35|Black is checkmated and loses the game.]]Checkmate (often shortened to mate) is any game position in chess and other chess-like games in which a player's king is in check (threatened with {{chessgloss|capture}}) and there is no possible escape. Checkmating the opponent wins the game.In chess, the king is never actually capturedâthe player loses as soon as the player's king is checkmated. In formal games, it is usually considered good etiquette to resign an inevitably lost game before being checkmated.{{harvnb|Hooper|Whyld|1992|p=336}}{{harvnb|Burgess|2009|p=526}}If a player is not in check but has no legal moves, then it is stalemate, and the game immediately ends in a draw. A checkmating move is recorded in algebraic notation using the hash symbol "#", for example: 34.Qg3#. {{AN chess|pos=toc}}- the content below is remote from Wikipedia
- it has been imported raw for GetWiki
Examples
A checkmate may occur in as few as two moves on one side with all of the pieces still on the board (as in fool's mate, in the opening phase of the game), in a middlegame position (as in the 1956 game called the Game of the Century between Donald Byrne and Bobby Fischer),WEB,weblink D. Byrne vs. Fischer, New York 1956, Chessgames.com, 17 September 2022, or after many moves with as few as three pieces in an endgame position.{{col-begin|width=auto; float:left; clear:left}}{{col-break}}{{chess diagram-fen|fen=rnb1kbnr/pppp1ppp/8/4p3/6Pq/5P2/PPPPP2P/RNBQKBNR|size=23|align=tleft|reverse=false|header= Fool's mateKurzdorfer | p=92}}}}{{col-break}}{{chess diagram-fen|fen=1Q6/5pk1/2p3p1/1p2N2p/1b5P/1bn5/2r3P1/2K5|size=23|align=tleft|reverse=false|header= D. Byrne vs. Fischer | Burgess | Emms | p=216}}}}{{col-break}}{{chess diagram-fen|fen=8/8/8/5K1k/8/8/8/7R|size=23|align=tleft|reverse=false|header= Checkmate with a rook | Kurzdorfer | p=144}}}}{{col-end}}{{Clear}}Etymology{{wiktionary}}The term checkmate is, according to the Barnhart Etymological Dictionary, an alteration of the Persian phrase "shÄh mÄt" () which means "the King is helpless".WEB,weblink Online Etymology Dictionary, May 29, 2010, Harper, Douglas, Dan McCormack, Persian "mÄt" applies to the king but in Sanskrit "mÄta", also pronounced "mÄt", applied to his kingdom "traversed, measured across, and meted out" thoroughly by his opponent; "mÄta" is the past participle of "mÄ" verbal root.Monier-Williams Sanskrit Dictionary Others maintain that it means "the King is dead", as chess reached Europe via the Arab world, and Arabic mÄta () means "died" or "is dead".{{harvnb|Hooper|Whyld|1992}}{{harvnb|Davidson|1949|p=70}} Moghadam traced the etymology of the word mate. It comes from a Persian verb mandan (), meaning "to remain", which is cognate with the Latin word and the Greek menÅ (, which means "I remain"). It means "remained" in the sense of "abandoned" and the formal translation is "surprised", in the military sense of "ambushed".{{harvnb|Davidson|1949|pp=70â71}} "ShÄh" () is the Persian word for the monarch. Players would announce "ShÄh" when the king was in check. "MÄt" () is a Persian adjective for "at a loss", "helpless", or "defeated". So the king is in mate when he is ambushed, at a loss, helpless, defeated, or abandoned to his fate.{{harvnb|Murray|2012|p=159}}In modern Persian, the word mate 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 interpret mate as "unable to respond". A king being in mate (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 the origin story detailed in the Shahnameh.In modern parlance, the term checkmate is a metaphor for an irrefutable and strategic victory.WEB,weblink Checkmate â Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Merriam-webster.com, 2010-08-13, 2012-06-18,HistoryIn early Sanskrit chess ({{abbr|c.|circa}} 500â700), the king could be {{chessgloss|captured}} and this ended the game. The Persians (c. 700â800) introduced the idea of warning that the king was under attack (announcing check 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,{{harvnb|Davidson|1949|p=22}} and checkmate was the only decisive way of ending a game.{{harvnb|Davidson|1949|pp=63â64}}Before about 1600, the game could also be won by capturing all of the opponent's pieces, leaving just a bare king. This style of play is now called annihilation or robado.BOOK, A Short History of Chess, Davidson, Henry, Three Rivers Press, 2012, 9780307828293, In Medieval times, players began to consider it nobler to win by checkmate, so annihilation became a half-win for a while, until it was abandoned.Two major pieces{| style"float:right;" |
Basic checkmates
There are four fundamental checkmates when one side has only their king and the other side has only the minimum {{chessgloss|material}} needed to force checkmate, i.e. (1) one queen, (2) one rook, (3) two bishops on opposite-colored squares, or (4) a bishop and a knight. The king must help in accomplishing all of these checkmates.{{harvnb|Silman|2007|p=33}} 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 a pawn has queened. 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 the bishop and knight checkmate is difficult and requires precision.King and queen{| style"float:right;"| (File:Chess kll45.svg)| (File:Chess qll45.svg)| (File:Chess kdl45.svg)
The first two diagrams show representatives of the basic checkmate positions with a queen, 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 in opposition and the queen mates on the {{chessgloss|rank}} (or {{chessgloss|file}}) of the king.{{col-begin|width=auto; float:left; clear:left}}{{col-break}}{{Chess diagram small|tleft|Support mate
{{pad}}1. Qf6 Kd5 2. Qe7 Kd4 3. Kc2 Kd5 4. Kc3 Kc6 5. Kc4 Kb6 6. Qd7 Ka6 7. Qb5+{{efn|7.Kc5 wins two moves faster.}} Ka7 8. Kc5 Ka8 9. Kc6 Ka7 10. Qb7{{chessAN|#}}{{harvnb|Seirawan|2003|pp=4â5}}
{{Clear}}Avoid stalemateThe winning side must be careful to not stalemate 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.{{harvnb|Fine|Benko|2003|p=2}}{{col-begin|width=auto; float:left; clear:left}}{{col-break}}{{chess diagram-fen|fen=k7/2Q5/8/8/8/8/8/7K|size=23|align=tleft|reverse=false|header=|footer= 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.}}{{col-break}}{{Chess diagram small|tleft|King and rook{| style"float:right;"
1. Kd3+ Kd5 2. Re4 Kd6 3. Kc4{{chesspunc|!}} Kc6 4. Re6+ Kc7 5. Kc5 Kd7 6. Kd5 Kc7 7. Rd6 Kb7 8. Rc6 Ka7 9. Kc5 Kb7 10. Kb5 Ka7 11. Rb6 Ka8 12. Kc6 Ka7 13. Kc7 Ka8 14. Ra6# (second checkmate position, rotated).{{harvnb|Seirawan|2003|pp=1â4}}
Avoid stalemateThere are two stalemate patterns:{{harvnb|Fine|Benko|2003|pp=2â3}}{{col-begin|width=auto; float:left; clear:left}} {{col-break}}{{chess diagram-fen|fen=k7/1R6/2K5/8/8/8/8/8|size=23|align=tleft|reverse=false|header=|footer= This is stalemate if Black is to move. The white king can also be on c7 or b6.}}{{col-break}}{{chess diagram-fen|fen=k1K5/7R/8/8/8/8/8/8|size=23|align=tleft|reverse=false|header=|footer= This is stalemate if Black is to move.}}{{col-end}}{{clear}}King and two bishops {{anchor|Two bishops}}{| style"float:right;"
|The bishops are best when they are near the {{chessgloss|center{edih} of the board and on adjacent diagonals. This cuts off the opposing king.
|The king must be used aggressively, in conjunction with the bishops.
}}{{Clear}}{| align="right" border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0"|The king must be used aggressively, in conjunction with the bishops.
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{{chesspunc|?}} is stalemate) 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 a tempo; 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).{{harvnb|Seirawan|2003|pp=5â7}}
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 to endgame tablebases).Avoid stalemate{{Chess diagram |tleft|From SilmanKing, bishop and knight
{| style="float:right;"Common checkmates
Back-rank mate
{{Chess diagram |tleft|From Burgess, p. 16Scholar's mate
{{col-begin|width=auto; float:left; clear:left}} {{col-break}}{{chess diagram-fen|fen=r1bqkb1r/pppp1Qpp/2n2n2/4p3/2B1P3/8/PPPP1PPP/RNB1K1NR|size=26|align=tleft|reverse=false|header=|footer= Scholar's MateâBlack is checkmated.}}{{col-break}}(File:scholars mate animation.gif|frame|left|Animation demonstrating Scholar's Mate){{col-end}}{{clear}}The scholar's mate (also known as the four-move checkmate) is the checkmate achieved by the moves:
1. b:Chess Opening Theory/1. e4|e4]] b:Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5|e5]] 2. b:Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. Qh5|Qh5]] b:Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. Qh5/2...Nc6|Nc6]] 3. b:Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. Qh5/2...Nc6/3. Bc4|Bc4]] b:Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. Qh5/2...Nc6/3. Bc4/3...Nf6|Nf6??]] 4. (wikibooks:Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. Qh5/2...Nc6/3. Bc4/3...Nf6/4. Qxf7|Qxf7#)
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).{{harvnb|Hooper|Whyld|1992|pp=358â59}} There are also other ways to checkmate in four moves.Fool's mate
{{col-begin|width=auto; float:left; clear:left}} {{col-break}}{{chess diagram-fen|fen=rnb1kbnr/pppp1ppp/8/4p3/6Pq/5P2/PPPPP2P/RNBQKBNR|size=26|align=tleft|reverse=false|header=|footer= Fool's MateâWhite is checkmated.}}{{col-break}}(File:fools mate animation.gif|frame|left|Animation demonstrating Fool's Mate){{col-end}}{{clear}}The fool's mate, also known as the two-move checkmate, is the quickest possible checkmate. A prime example consists of the moves:
1. b:Chess Opening Theory/1. f3|f3]] b:Chess Opening Theory/1. f3/1...e5|e5]] 2. b:Chess Opening Theory/1. f3/1...e5/2. g4|g4]] b:Chess Opening Theory/1. f3/1...e5/2. g4/2...Qh4|Qh4#]]
resulting in the position shown.{{harvnb|Hooper|Whyld|1992|p=143}} (The pattern can have slight variations, for example White might play f4 instead of f3 or move the g-pawn first, and Black might play ...e6 instead of ...e5.)Smothered mate
{| align="right"Rare checkmates{| style"float:right;"| (File:Chess kll45.svg)| (File:Chess nll45.svg)| (File:Chess kdl45.svg)| (File:Chess pdl45.svg)
In some rare positions it is possible to force checkmate with a king and knight versus a king and pawn.Stamma's mate
{{chess diagram-fen|fen=8/8/8/8/8/p2N4/k1K5/8|size=23|align=tright|reverse=false|header=Stamma's mate|footer=White wins with either side to move.}}In the diagram showing Stamma's mate (named for Philipp Stamma), White to move wins:{{harvnb|Emms|2004|p=122}}
1. Nb4+ Ka1
2. Kc1 a2
3. Nc2#
White also wins if Black is to move first:
1... Ka1
2. Nc1 a2
3. Nb3#
{{Clear}}{{chess diagram-fen|fen=8/3N4/8/8/8/p7/k2K4/8|size=23|align=tright|reverse=false|header= Nogueiras vs. Gongora, 2001|footer= White to move wins.}}This checkmate occurred in Jesús NogueirasâMaikel Gongora, 2001 Cuban ChampionshipWEB,weblink Nogueiras vs. Gongora, Las Tunas 2001, Chessgames.com, 2005-02-08, 2012-06-18, (see diagram), which proceeded:
81. Kc2 Ka1
82. Nc5 Ka2
If 82...a2 then 83.Nb3#.
83. Nd3
Reaching the position in the first diagram, with Black to move.
83... Ka1
84. Nc1 {{chessAN|1â0}}
Black resigned here; play would have continued 84...a2 85.Nb3#.{{harvnb|Snape|2003|p=55}}{{Clear}}{{chess diagram-fen|fen=8/8/8/8/8/p7/k1KN4/8|size=23|align=tright|reverse=false|header=|footer= 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 his MS De ludo scachorum (Latin for "The game of chess"), dated 1498 and recently reprinted (Gli scacchi) by Aboca Museum Edizioni.
1. Nf3 Ka1
2. Nd4 Ka2
3. Ne2 Ka1
4. Nc1 a2
5. Nb3#
{{Clear}}Unusual mates
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).{{harvnb|Pandolfini|2009|p=63}} Nevertheless, it keeps these {{chessgloss|material}} combinations from being ruled a draw because of "insufficient mating material" or "impossibility of checkmate" under the FIDE rules of chess. The U.S. Chess Federation rules are different. In a typical position with a {{chessgloss|minor piece}} versus a minor piece, a player would be able to claim a draw if they have a limited amount of time left.{{harvnb|Just|Burg|2003|pp=49, 291}}{{Clear}}{{col-begin|width=auto; float:left; clear:left}}{{col-break}}{{Chess diagram small|tleft|PandolfiniTwo and three knights
- Two knights
- Three knights{| style="float:right;"
See also
{hide}Columns-list|colwidth=30em|- Boden's Mate
- Checkmate patterns
- Chess problem
- Chess theory
- Hisshi (brinkmate)
- Ideal mate
- Légal Trap
- Model mate
- Pawnless chess endgame
- Pure mate
- Two knights endgame
Notes
{{Notelist|30em}}References
{{Reflist|20em}}Bibliography
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