why is this checkmate?

why cant the pawn take in this scenario?

pardon the ignorance but im missing it and need to know lol

thank you

If the pawn takes it isn't checkmate, but stalemate, which means that there is no legal way to win.

the game doesn't give you the opportunity to take the knight. it calls it checkmate

Was tis against a bot or a user?

neither, its just a question ive had so ive been setting it up in different engines making sure it isnt a glitch..and it isnt, im missing something...we're missing something lol

It's checkmate because the black king is in check from the white knight and black cannot take the knight and black cannot escape to a safe square. There are no co-ordinates but if it's a normal board, white is going up, black is going down. So the pawn cannot take the knight.

Thanks @IfPatriotGames. I am not great this

What's also interesting is if the black pawn were a black knight it would still be checkmate.

thank you. could you explain why black cant take the knight?

Because then the pawn would be going backwards (the pawn is one square away from promoting; it is not on its home square).

i knew i was missing something simple. thank yall for helping me see it

You really have to google and then learn what "stalemate" means. It's very hard to play chess without knowing that.

Technically that's true. There is no mating going on.

It's called checkmate.

pawn cant take! Its going the opposite way!!

yea i got it now. thanks everyone

Checkmate in chess occurs when a player's king is in a position to be captured ("in check") and there are no legal moves that can prevent capture of the king. This results in the immediate end of the game. The concept of checkmate embodies the strategic depth of chess, where players strive to position their pieces in such a way that they can control key squares and force the opponent's king into a vulnerable position.