ChessHere Academy

Checkmate Patterns

Back rank to diagonal killers — recognise and deliver every forced mate on sight

Corridor Mates

Trap the king on the back rank, the edge, or between its own pieces.

Five lessons covering back-rank mate, luft defence, the rook ladder, epaulette, and dovetail. All are delivered by long-range pieces pushing the king into a corridor with no escape.

  1. Back-Rank Mate

    Deliver a back-rank mate with a rook.

  2. Luft — The Escape Hatch

    Recognise back-rank threats and create or use luft to neutralise them.

  3. Ladder At Speed

    Deliver a two-rook ladder mate from any orientation.

  4. Epaulette and Dovetail

    Deliver an epaulette mate and a dovetail mate with the queen.

  5. Checkpoint: Corridor Check

    Apply all four corridor mate patterns in one timed checkpoint.

Knight Magic

Three knight-powered mates and how to defend against them.

Five lessons covering smothered mate, Anastasia's mate, Arabian mate, and the defence against a smother threat — finishing with a mixed knight checkpoint.

  1. Smothered Mate

    Deliver a smothered mate where the knight checks a king completely surrounded by its own pieces.

  2. Anastasia's Mate

    Deliver Anastasia's mate — knight pins the king to the h-file, rook delivers the blow.

  3. Arabian Mate

    Deliver the Arabian mate — knight and rook corner the king on a back-rank square.

  4. Break the Smother

    Recognise a smothered mate threat and find the defensive move that neutralises it.

  5. Checkpoint: Knight's Net

    Apply all three knight-based mates in one checkpoint.

Diagonal Killers

Two criss-cross bishops, a bishop-and-rook tandem, and a queen-bishop battery

Unit 3 covers three patterns driven by diagonal control: Boden's Mate, Opera Mate, and the Queen-Bishop Battery. Learn to set up each trap, recognise when the pieces are in place, and execute the final blow.

  1. Boden's Mate

    Deliver Boden's Mate — two criss-cross bishops mating a castled king

  2. Opera Mate

    Deliver Opera Mate — bishop seals the diagonal while the rook strikes along rank 8

  3. Queen-Bishop Battery

    Deliver the Queen-Bishop Battery — queen sweeps to f7, bishop guards the landing square

  4. Scholar's Check

    Recognise the Scholar's Check threat and find every legal defensive reply

  5. Diagonal Gauntlet

    Identify and deliver all three diagonal-killer patterns without assistance

The Gauntlet

Eleven patterns, no hints — recognise and deliver on sight

Unit 4 is the final test. Two lessons challenge you to distinguish real mates from near-misses, and to name and execute any pattern from the full course without assistance.

  1. Mate or Not?

    Distinguish real mate-in-one positions from near-miss setups across all three unit patterns

  2. Boss: Name It and Mate It

    Name the checkmate pattern from any unit and then deliver it in one move