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Chess Moment · Learn · Lesson 2

Check, checkmate, stalemate

What check forces you to do, when the game ends, and the draw that steals wins.

3 min · 4 steps

This is the written edition of an interactive lesson. In the app you play every position on the board; here you read it.

Step 1 · Check

Black to move

FEN: 1n2k3/p7/8/8/8/8/6PP/4R1K1 b - - 0 1

The white rook on e1 attacks the black king along the e-file. That is check, and the rules say Black must answer it right now.

Black's king is in check. What must Black do?

Quick check

  • Move the king off the rook's file
  • Push the pawn on a7
  • Take the rook with the knight
Show the correct answer

Correct answer: Move the king off the rook's file — Yes. In check you must act at once: move the king, block the line, or capture the attacker. Here only the king can move.

  • Push the pawn on a7 — Not allowed. Any move that leaves your own king in check is illegal — the check comes first.
  • Take the rook with the knight — The knight on b8 reaches a6, c6 and d7 — none of them is e1. It cannot help this move.

Step 2 · Get out of check

Black to move

FEN: 1n2k3/p7/8/8/8/8/6PP/4R1K1 b - - 0 1

Move the black king to a square the rook does not attack.

The move: Ke8-d8

Safe. The king left the e-file, and the game goes on.

Common mistake: Leave the e-file with the king — d8, f8, d7 or f7.

Step 3 · Checkmate

White to move

FEN: 7k/5K2/8/8/8/8/8/1Q6 w - - 0 1

Checkmate ends the game: the king is in check and has no way out. Black's king is stuck in the corner and your king on f7 already guards g7 and g8. Find the check it cannot escape.

The move: Qb1-h1

Checkmate. The king is in check and no legal reply can save it.

Common mistake: No mate yet: the black king still has an answer. Check along the h-file, while your king guards g7 and g8.

Step 4 · Stalemate

Black to move

FEN: 7k/5K2/6Q1/8/8/8/8/8 b - - 0 1

Black to move. Look at every square around h8: the queen on g6 and the king on f7 cover all of them — but nothing attacks h8 itself.

The black king has no legal move. What is the result?

Quick check

  • Stalemate — the game is a draw
  • Checkmate — White wins
  • Black must pass and White moves again
Show the correct answer

Correct answer: Stalemate — the game is a draw — Right. Nothing attacks h8, so Black is not in check — and with no legal move that is stalemate, a draw. Never let a winning position slip away like this.

  • Checkmate — White wins — Look at h8: neither the queen on g6 nor the king on f7 attacks it. No check means no checkmate.
  • Black must pass and White moves again — There is no passing in chess. A player with no legal move who is not in check is stalemated, and the game is drawn.

What you learned

In check, make your king safe. Checkmate ends the game. Stalemate is a draw: before moving, check the opponent’s legal replies.

Practise this idea

Public-domain positions that turn on exactly what this lesson taught.