Today we shall take a look at the most basic yet crucial checkmate patterns. At one point or another, you will encounter an endgame where you are obviously up material - the real question is: can you convert your advantage into a win? We all don't want to be that person who can't checkmate even when up a Queen! Now that would be humiliating....
You only have a maximum of 50 moves to checkmate (w/o any captures) before the game is automatically drawn. The first thing you might think to do is attack the enemy king by giving check. However, running around checking willy-nilly is actually counterproductive. The enemy king will just keep moving out of check and heading back to the center of the board (where it is harder to be checkmated).
King + Rook vs. King
King + Queen vs. King
King + 2 Rooks vs. King
King + 2 Bishops vs. King
King + Bishop + Knight vs. King
Disclaimer: this is an extremely rare scenario! Bishop+Knight is difficult checkmate pattern to master. However, you should familiarize yourself with it just in case it pops up in your game....(I honestly can't remember this pattern lol). Countless Grandmasters have also failed to win w a Bishop and Knight - here is an infamous video
Checkpoint questions: What general guidelines can you follow in order to checkmate in the most efficient way (regardless of the position)?
What general guidelines can you follow to make it harder for your opponent to checkmate YOU? Assume you're playing the disadvantaged side - don't give up until you're finally mated!
Today we shall take a look at the most basic yet crucial checkmate patterns. At one point or another, you will encounter an endgame where you are obviously up material - the real question is: can you convert your advantage into a win? We all don't want to be that person who can't checkmate even when up a Queen! Now that would be humiliating....
You only have a maximum of 50 moves to checkmate (w/o any captures) before the game is automatically drawn. The first thing you might think to do is attack the enemy king by giving check. However, running around checking willy-nilly is actually counterproductive. The enemy king will just keep moving out of check and heading back to the center of the board (where it is harder to be checkmated).
King + Rook vs. King
King + Queen vs. King
King + 2 Rooks vs. King
King + 2 Bishops vs. King
King + Bishop + Knight vs. King
Disclaimer: this is an extremely rare scenario! Bishop+Knight is difficult checkmate pattern to master. However, you should familiarize yourself with it just in case it pops up in your game....(I honestly can't remember this pattern lol). Countless Grandmasters have also failed to win w a Bishop and Knight - here is an infamous video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFF5ibgB6eA
Here is a video if you are curious: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=45&v=r3EqM17jvOc&feature=emb_logo
Patience is crucial!
Checkpoint questions: What general guidelines can you follow in order to checkmate in the most efficient way (regardless of the position)?
What general guidelines can you follow to make it harder for your opponent to checkmate YOU? Assume you're playing the disadvantaged side - don't give up until you're finally mated!