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  • Lesson 22 of 32
  • Checkmate patterns
  • 4 min

How to Checkmate With a King and Rook

King and rook against a lone king is a win from any position where the rook is safe, and the method is worth knowing by heart. It comes up in real games, it takes longer than mate with a queen, and it teaches you how kings fight each other.

Step 1 of 5

  1. The rook builds a box

    The rook on a6 holds the whole 6th rank, so the black king is shut in the top two ranks: a box. A rook can't mate on its own, though. Your king has to come up and take squares from the black king, and when the two kings face each other, the rook checks along the edge.

  2. The final picture

    This is how the mate looks. The kings face each other on the d-file with one square between them, so your king on d6 covers c7, d7 and e7. A rook check along the back rank now leaves the black king nowhere to go.

    Your move

    Checkmate in one move.

  3. The waiting move

    The black king on d8 has one free square, c8: your rook holds the e-file, and your king covers c7 and d7. If it were Black's move, the king would have to step to c8, straight in front of your king, and Re8 would be mate. So make a move that changes nothing: slide the rook along the e-file, out of the king's reach. That waiting move passes the turn to Black.

    Your move

    Checkmate in two moves.

  4. Now against the bot

    Back to the box from the start of the lesson. Drive the king to the back rank, follow it with your king, and mate it on the edge. When the kings don't line up, use a waiting move.

    Your move

    Checkmate the black king. The bot will defend.

  5. From the middle of the board

    Now the whole method, from the middle of the board. Cut the king off with the rook, bring your own king up to face it, and shrink the box a rank or a file at a time until the black king stands on the edge.

    Your move

    Checkmate the black king. The bot will defend.

What you learned

  • The rook builds a box; your king does the rest. A rook can't mate alone.
  • Mate usually comes when the kings face each other and the rook checks along the edge.
  • If the kings don't line up, a waiting move with the rook makes the defender step into place.
  • Never leave the rook where the king can take it, and never leave the king without a move.

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

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