What is Checkmate in chess?
The king is in check and has no legal way to escape - the game is over.
Delivering checkmate wins the game instantly. The goal of every attack is to trap the enemy king so that it can't move, block, or capture its way out.
Spot checkmate in your own games
Free. Chess2EZ finds the patterns you keep missing and explains each in plain English.
Analyze my games →More chess terms
- Zwischenzug (in-between move)An unexpected move inserted before the 'expected' recapture.
- TempoA single move counted as a unit of time.
- DevelopmentBringing your knights and bishops off the back rank into the game.
- InitiativeBeing the side making threats and dictating play.
- OppositionA king-and-pawn endgame technique of facing kings with one square between them.
- Promotion (queening)A pawn reaching the far rank becomes any piece, almost always a queen.