ChessIn a mate in two, your first move leaves your opponent only one or two replies, and your next move is checkmate. Compared to mate in one, there's an extra layer: how will your opponent answer? Often you even have to give up a piece first. Once you get the feel for it, play chess online and look for chances to use it.
How to solve them
- The first move is usually a check or a sacrifice. You can only calculate it all the way if your opponent has no choice.
- Think about every reply: what happens if your opponent captures, moves the king or blocks?
- Make sure you have a mate in one after every reply. The answer shows the most common one.
- Answers are written in algebraic notation. For example,
Qh7#means the queen moves to h7 and gives checkmate. If that looks confusing, read how to read chess notation first.
Puzzles
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1. Rxd8+ Qxd8 2. Rxd8# The front rook takes on d8 with check, and the black queen takes back. The back rook takes on d8 again, this time capturing the queen, and the black king is stuck behind its own pawns. Checkmate. Two attackers against one defender, plus the queen's help, still isn't enough, because White's last capture is mate.
From: Battery
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1. Qxf7+ Kh8 2. Qxe8# The queen takes on f7 with check. The black king can't take her, because the bishop backs her up. f8 is covered by the queen, so the only move is Kh8. Then the queen takes the rook on e8. Checkmate.
From: Battery
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1. Nf6+ gxf6 2. Qh7# The knight jumps to f6 with check, clearing h7. Black has to take the knight with a pawn, and the queen rushes to h7, protected by the bishop on d3. Checkmate.
From: Clearance
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1... Nf3+ 2. gxf3 Qxh2# The knight jumps to f3 with check, clearing the b8-h2 diagonal. White takes the knight with a pawn, and the black queen rushes to h2, protected by the rook on h6. Checkmate.
From: Clearance
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1. Qxh7+ Kxh7 2. Rh3# The queen takes on h7 with check. The king can't go to g8 (the knight covers it), so it has to take the queen. With the king on h7, the rook moves to h3 with check. g8 and g6 are covered by the knight, h8 and h6 by the rook. Checkmate.
From: Decoy
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1. Rd8+ Nxd8 2. Qxg7# The rook goes to d8 with check. The black knight has to take the rook or block on f8. Either way, the knight leaves e6, and the white queen takes on g7. Checkmate.
From: Deflection
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1. Qxc6 Rxc6 2. Rd8# The white queen takes the black queen on c6. If the rook doesn't take back, Black is a queen down. If it does, it leaves the 8th rank, and the white rook goes to d8. Checkmate.
From: Deflection
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1. Rxd5 Nxd5 2. Qxh7# The white rook takes the bishop on d5. If the knight takes back, it no longer guards h7, and the white queen, backed by the bishop on b1, takes on h7. Checkmate. If the knight doesn't take back, White is simply a bishop up.
From: Overloading
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1... Qxd4 2. Rxd4 Re1# The black queen takes the knight on d4. If the white rook takes back, it leaves the 1st rank, and the black rook lands on e1. Checkmate. If the rook doesn't take back, White is a knight down.
From: Overloading
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1. Qg8+ Rxg8 2. Nf7# The white queen jumps to g8 with check. The king can't take her (the knight on h6 protects g8), so the rook has to take. With the rook on g8, the king is completely surrounded by its own pieces, and the knight jumps to f7. Checkmate. This is called a smothered mate.
From: Sacrifice
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1. Qxe8+ Rxe8 2. Rxe8# The white queen takes the rook on e8 with check, and the rook on a8 takes back. But the white rook is right behind the queen, so it takes on e8 again, and the black king is stuck behind its own pawns. Checkmate. White gives up the queen and gets mate.
From: Sacrifice
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1. Ng6+ hxg6 2. Qh3# The white knight jumps to g6 with check, offering itself to the h-pawn. The black king can't go to g8 (the bishop on c4 covers it), so it has to take. With the h-file open, the white queen goes to h3. Checkmate.
From: Sacrifice
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1. Qe8+ Qxe8 2. Rxe8# The white queen rushes to e8 with check, and the black queen has to take her from e5. Once the black queen leaves, the e-file opens and the white rook takes back on e8. Checkmate. Simply taking the queen on e5 with the rook is good too, but mate is better.
From: X-ray
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1... Qe1+ 2. Rxe1 Rxe1# The black queen rushes to e1 with check, and White can only take her with the rook on e4. Once the white rook leaves, the e-file opens and the black rook takes back on e1. Checkmate.
From: X-ray
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1. Qe8+ Rxe8 2. Rxe8# The white queen dashes diagonally to e8 with check, and Black can only take her with the rook on e6. With the e-file open, the white rook takes back on e8. Checkmate.
From: X-ray
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1... Qe1+ 2. Rxe1 Rxe1# The black queen charges to e1 with check, and White has to take her with the rook. Then the black rook takes back on e1, nobody is guarding White's back rank, and it's checkmate. Give up a queen, win the game.
From: Back-Rank Mate
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1... Qxc3+ 2. bxc3 Ba3# The black queen takes the knight on c3 with check, and White has to take back with the b-pawn. Now b2 is empty, and the black bishop goes to a3 for mate, with the bishop on f5 covering b1 and c2.
From: Boden's Mate
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6. Bxf7+ Ke7 7. Nd5# The bishop takes on f7 with check, and the black king has to go to e7. Then the knight jumps to d5 for mate. Three minor pieces beat a queen.
From: Légal's Mate
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7. Bxf7+ Ke7 8. Nd5# The same idea: Bxf7+ Ke7, Nd5 mate. Black actually had a better choice here: instead of taking the queen last move, take the white knight on e5 with the knight from c6.
From: Légal's Mate
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1. Qg8+ Rxg8 2. Nf7# The queen charges to g8 with check. The king can't take her (the knight on h6 protects her), so the rook has to. Once the rook is on g8, the king is completely surrounded by its own pieces, and the knight returns to f7. Smothered mate. These are the last three moves of the classic combination above.
From: Smothered Mate
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1. Bg7+ Kh7 2. Nf6# The bishop checks from g7, and the king has to go to h7. Then the knight mates from f6: the white king covers g8 and g6, the bishop covers h8 and h6, and the bishop can't be taken because the king protects it.
From: Bishop and knight mate
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22. Qf6+ Nxf6 23. Be7# The queen goes to f6 with check, and the black knight has to take it. Then the bishop goes to e7, mate: the knight on d5 covers c7 and e7, the knight on g7 covers e8, and c8 and d7 are blocked by Black's own bishop and pawn.
From: The Immortal Game
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16. Qb8+ Nxb8 17. Rd8# The queen goes to b8 with check, the black knight has to take it, and the d-file is empty. The rook goes to d8, mate: the bishop on g5 covers e7, and the black king is hemmed in by its own pieces with nowhere to go.
From: The Opera Game
Frequently asked questions
Why does the answer have three moves?
The answer is "you move, your opponent moves, you move again". The last move is mate. Your opponent's move is the toughest or most natural reply.
Why do so many mates in two start with a sacrifice?
A sacrifice can drag an enemy piece away, or pull the king onto the square you want. If your second move is mate, the piece you gave up doesn't matter.
Mate in two is too hard. What should I do?
Go back and do more mate in one puzzles to get used to the shapes of the common mates. When you see a mate in two, first picture what the final mating position looks like, then work backwards to find the first move.
Give it a try
When you finish this set, try other puzzles, or open free online chess and play the computer to use what you just learned in a real game.