Playboard
  • Lesson 15 of 32
  • Winning the game
  • 2 min

How to Checkmate With a King and Queen

King and queen against a lone king is a win every time, if you know the method. It is the first ending every player should learn, because without it a won game can end in a draw.

Step 1 of 3

  1. Build a box

    The queen does not chase the king. She cuts it off. Here the queen on c4 controls the whole c-file and the 4th rank, so the black king is shut in a box of twenty squares. Make the box smaller with quiet queen moves, a knight's jump away from the king, then bring your own king up to help. Never leave the king without a move, or it's stalemate.

  2. Finish it

    The box is down to the corner. Your king on f6 guards g7, right next to the black king, so the queen can land there.

    Your move

    Checkmate in one move.

  3. Shrink the box, then mate

    Now the bot defends. First take away the rank the king can still run to, then deliver mate. You can take as many moves as you need, as long as you don't give the queen away or stalemate.

    Your move

    Checkmate the black king. The bot will defend.

What you learned

  • The queen cuts the king off; she doesn't chase it.
  • Shrink the box a knight's jump away from the king, then bring your own king up.
  • Mate with the queen next to the enemy king, protected by your king, and always leave the defender a move until the last one.

In this course

Unit 1The pieces

  1. The Chessboard and How to Set Up the Pieces
  2. How the Rook Moves in Chess
  3. How the Bishop Moves in Chess
  4. How the Queen Moves in Chess
  5. How the King Moves in Chess
  6. How the Knight Moves in Chess
  7. How Pawns Move and Capture in Chess
  8. Chess Piece Values: What Each Piece Is Worth

Unit 2Special moves

  1. What Is Check in Chess, and How to Get Out of It
  2. How to Castle in Chess: Kingside and Queenside
  3. En Passant in Chess, Explained on the Board
  4. Pawn Promotion in Chess: Turning a Pawn Into a Queen

Unit 3Winning the game

  1. What Is Checkmate? Learn to Mate in One
  2. Stalemate in Chess: Why It's a Draw
  3. How to Checkmate With a King and Queen

Unit 4Your first tactics

  1. The Fork: Attack Two Pieces at Once
  2. The Pin in Chess: Freeze a Piece in Place
  3. The Skewer in Chess: Attack Through a Piece

Unit 5Checkmate patterns

  1. Back-Rank Mate in Chess: Spot It and Stop It
  2. Smothered Mate in Chess: The Knight's Checkmate
  3. The Ladder Mate: Checkmate With Two Rooks
  4. How to Checkmate With a King and Rook

Unit 6More tactics

  1. Discovered Attack in Chess: Unmask a Hidden Attacker
  2. Double Check in Chess: Two Checks at Once
  3. Removing the Defender in Chess: Take the Guard

Unit 7Opening principles

  1. Control the Centre: A Chess Opening Principle
  2. How to Develop Your Pieces in the Chess Opening
  3. Scholar's Mate: How It Works and How to Stop It
  4. Fool's Mate: The Fastest Checkmate in Chess

Unit 8Endgame basics

  1. The Rule of the Square in Chess Endgames
  2. The Opposition in Chess: King Endgame Basics
  3. King and Pawn vs King: How to Win the Ending

Lessons for every game

Take it to the table.

Put what you just read into practice. No sign-up needed.

Play ChessRead the Chess rulebook