The Everything Chess Basics Book (33 page)

Keep the king confined. 7. Kd6 Ke8.

Not yet opposition again. 8. Rf2 Kd8.

Checkmate! 9. Rf8 checkmate.

The Back Rank Mate

The back rank mate, also referred to as the
corridor mate
, is one that can be executed only by a major piece. It is the mate that ends the king and major piece against king positions. It can take place on a side file as well as a side rank. But it can also come about when the next file or rank is denied the checkmated king by something other than an enemy king and opposition. Following are some examples.

White checkmates with 1. Rf7.

White checkmates with 1. Rd7.

White checkmates with 1. Rg6.

White checkmates with 1. Qc6.

Queen and King

Since a queen is more powerful than a rook, you would think that checkmating with king and queen would be easier than checkmating with king and rook. Well, yes, that’s true, and you can generally checkmate the lone king much faster with king and queen. But it’s also trickier.

Since a lone rook and king can force checkmate against a lone king, and a lone queen and king can force checkmate against a lone king, it follows that a lone pawn and king can also force checkmate against a lone king. Provided, that is, that the king and pawn can combine to force a safe promotion to a rook or queen.

Stalemate!

The reason it is trickier to checkmate with a queen than with a rook is because the tremendous power of the queen often gives the weak king a chance to set up a stalemate trap. The best way to show that possibility is to try to checkmate a lone king with a lone queen. Nothing else is allowed on the board for this exercise — not even the strong king. You will soon find that, although the lone queen can push the lone king to the side of the board, there is never a checkmate. There are, however, stalemate opportunities.

Black to move. Stalemate.

With the King’s Help

Now add the strong king, and the stalemating opportunities go up! Here are a few, with Black to move. They are all stalemate.

Black to move is stalemate.

Black to move is stalemate.

Black to move is stalemate.