Mate in One Puzzles: find the checkmating move

6... Bxg3# The black bishop takes the pawn on g3 with check. The f- and g-pawns are both gone, so nothing can block the diagonal. f2 is on the bishop's diagonal, and d1, f1, d2 and e2 are all taken by White's own pieces, so the white king can't move a single square.

6. Nd6# The knight jumps to d6 with check. The e7 pawn is pinned by the white queen on e2 and can't take it, and d7, d8 and f8 next to the black king are all filled with Black's own pieces. There's nowhere to run.

6. Qh5# The white queen jumps to h5 with check. The f- and g-pawns in front of the black king have both moved, so the diagonal is wide open. Black has nothing to put on g6 or f7, and the king has no square to escape to.

7... Nf3# The knight jumps to f3 with check. The squares around the white king are blocked by its own queen, rook, pawns and bishop. The bishop on e2 can't take the knight either, because the black queen pins it: if it moves, the king gets captured.

7. Nd5# The knight jumps to d5 with check. Every square around the black king is either covered by White's knights and bishop or blocked by Black's own pieces. There's nowhere to run.

10... Qh2# The black queen charges down the diagonal from c7 to h2. The black knight on g4 protects h2, so the white king can't take the queen, and its own rook on f1 blocks the escape.

5. Qxf7# The queen takes f7. The bishop on c4 protects the queen, so the black king can't take it, and every square around the king is either covered by the queen or blocked by Black's own pieces.

1. Qxg7# The queen takes on g7. The bishop on b2 backs her up, so the black king can't take her. f8 holds Black's own rook and the queen covers h8. Checkmate.

1. Bg5# The bishop goes to g5. The bishop gives check on the diagonal, and the rook on d1 gives check down the open d-file. That's a double check. e7 is covered by the bishop, d7 by the rook, and c8, e8 and c7 hold Black's own pieces. Checkmate.

1. Nf6# The knight goes to f6. The knight and rook both give check, so the king has to move. But e7 is covered by the rook, d7 by the knight on f6, and every other square holds a black piece. Checkmate. After Nd6, the king could still escape to d7.

1. Qh3# The queen slides along the 3rd rank to h3 and gives check down the h-file. g8 and g6 are covered by the knight, h8 and h6 by the queen, and g7 is Black's own pawn. Checkmate. A queen does this mate just as well as a rook.

1... Rh4# The black rook goes to h4 with check. g1 and g3 are covered by the knight on e2, h1 and h3 by the rook, and g2 is White's own pawn. Checkmate.

1. Rxh7# The rook goes up the h-file and takes the pawn on h7 with check, protected by the knight on f6. g8 is covered by the knight and g7 by the rook. Checkmate.

1. Rxg8# The white rook takes the black rook on g8 with check, protected by the knight on f6. h7 holds Black's own pawn, and g7 is covered by the rook. The black king can't take the rook. Checkmate.

1... Rxh2# The black rook takes the pawn on h2 with check, protected by the knight on f3. g1 is covered by the knight and g2 by the rook. The white king is trapped in the corner. Checkmate.

1... Ra1# The black rook goes to a1 and gives check along the 1st rank. The white king is locked in by its f2, g2 and h2 pawns, and the white queen can't get back in time to block. Checkmate.

1. Rxd8# The rook on d2 takes on d8, backed up by the rook on d1. The black king can't take back and has nowhere to go. Checkmate. Two rooks stacked together are much stronger than one.

1. Ba6# The bishop on d3 goes to a6 with check, controlling b7. The bishop on e5 stays put, covering c7 and b8. d7 and d8 hold Black's own pieces. Checkmate.

1... Ba3# The black bishop goes to a3 and gives check along a3-b2-c1. The bishop on f5 covers b1 and c2, and d1 and d2 hold White's own rook and knight. Checkmate.

1. Qh7# The white queen goes up the h-file to h7 with check. The pawn on g6 protects her, h8 is covered by the queen, and f8, f7 and g7 are all Black's own pieces. Checkmate.

1... Qh2# The black queen goes to h2 with check, protected by the pawn on g3. h1 is covered by the queen, f1 holds White's own rook, and f2 and g2 hold White's own pawns. Checkmate.

1. Qg7# The queen goes along the diagonal to g7 with check, protected by the pawn on h6. h8 and h7 are covered by the queen, and f8 and f7 hold Black's own pieces. Checkmate. Move the pawn, and the queen just uses a different square. Same idea.

1. Qe6# The queen goes along the diagonal to e6 with check. d7, e7 and f7 are all covered, and d8 and f8 hold Black's own rooks. Checkmate.

1. Qxe7# The queen takes the pawn on e7 with check, protected by the knight on d5, so the king can't take her. d7 and f7 are covered by the queen, and d8 and f8 hold Black's own rooks. Checkmate. In an epaulette mate the queen can also stand right next to the king, as long as she's protected.

1... Qe3# The black queen goes to e3 with check. d2, e2 and f2 are all covered by the queen, d1 and f1 hold White's own rooks, and White can't block on e2. Checkmate.

2... Qh4# The black queen goes to h4. Checkmate. No white piece can block on g3 or f2, and the white king is surrounded by its own pieces.

3. Qh5# The white queen goes to h5. Checkmate. No black piece can reach g6 or f7 to block the diagonal. f7 next to the black king is controlled by the queen, and every other square holds Black's own pieces.

2... Qh4# The black queen goes to h4. Checkmate. A different order, the exact same shape: once the f- and g-pawns have moved, the diagonal is open.

7. Nd5# The knight jumps to d5 for mate. e8 and e6 are covered by the bishop, d7 by the knight on e5, f6 by the knight on d5, and the bishop on f7 is protected by a knight.

4. Qxf7# The queen takes on f7 for mate, protected by the bishop on c4. Black's Nf6 attacked the queen but didn't block the h5-f7 line.

4. Qxf7# The queen goes down the f-file and takes on f7 for mate, protected by the bishop on c4. Black should have played Nf6 first to block the f-file.

4... Qxf2# The black queen takes on f2 for mate, protected by the bishop on c5. This is Black's version of Scholar's mate: White's f2 is also protected only by the king.

1... Nf2# The black knight jumps to f2 with check. Next to the white king, g1 holds a rook and g2 and h2 hold pawns, and no white piece can take the knight on f2. Smothered mate.

8... Nd3# The black knight jumps to d3 with check. Around the white king, d1, d2, e2, f1 and f2 are all taken by White's own pieces. The e2 pawn could take the knight, but it's pinned by the black queen on e7: if it moves, the white king is in check. Smothered mate.

1. Nf3# The knight checks from f3. The bishop on g2 covers h1 and h3, and the white king covers g1 and g3. Checkmate. Careful: Nh3?? is stalemate.

1. Qd8# The queen goes to d8 and checks along the back rank. The white king covers a7 and b7, so the black king has nowhere to go.

1. Qe8# The queen goes to e8 and checks along the back rank. The white king covers f7, g7 and h7, so there is no escape.

1. Ra8# The rook goes to a8 and checks along the back rank. The white king covers f7, g7 and h7, so the black king has nowhere to go.

1. Bb2# The dark-squared bishop checks from b2. The white king covers a2, the light-squared bishop on f5 covers b1, and the king can't take on b2 because the white king protects it. Checkmate.

1. O-O-O# White castles long. The rook lands on d1 and checks the black king on d3 through d2, and the king on c1 covers c2. As for the king's other escapes, c3 is covered by the b2 pawn and e2 by the bishop on h5, and the rest are blocked by Black's own pawns. Checkmate.

1. bxc6# The white pawn captures en passant, moving diagonally from b5 to c6 and removing the black pawn on c5. With b5 and c5 both empty, the rook on a5 checks the black king on e5. Every square the king could run to is covered by a white pawn, the knight or the bishop. Checkmate.

1. Qf8# The white queen goes to f8 with check. The black king's g8, g7 and h7 are all covered: checkmate. If you play Qf7 instead, the black king isn't in check and has no move, and it's stalemate.