{"schema":"chessgrammar_motif_entry/1","slug":"checkmate","name":"Checkmate","aka":"mate · #","category":{"key":"mate","label":"Checkmates"},"edition":{"version":"v3.0","year":"2026"},"certified":false,"canonical":"https://chessgrammar.com/motifs/mats/checkmate","tabs":{"identity":"https://chessgrammar.com/motifs/mats/checkmate#identity","structure":"https://chessgrammar.com/motifs/mats/checkmate#structure","examples":"https://chessgrammar.com/motifs/mats/checkmate#examples"},"citation":"ChessGrammar (2026). Checkmate. In: ChessGrammar: A reference for chess concepts, Mates grammar, edition v3.0. Entry cg:checkmate@1. https://chessgrammar.com/motifs/mats/checkmate","variants":["anastasia","anderssen","arabian","back_rank","back_rank_smothering","balestra","bishop_and_knight","blackburne","blind_swine","boden","corner","cozio","damiano","damiano_bishop","david_and_goliath","double_bishop","double_knight","dovetail","epaulette","fools","greco","hook","kill_box","king_and_rook","king_and_two_bishops","ladder","legal","lolli","max_lange","mayet","morphy","opera","pillsbury","railroad","rainbow","reti","scholars","smothered","stammas","swallow","triangle","vukovic"],"seeAlso":["back-rank-mate","smothered-mate","double-check"],"definition":{"id":"cg:checkmate@1","statement":"A move places the enemy king in check, and no legal reply exists. The king cannot move to a safe square, the checking piece cannot be captured and, when only one piece gives check, no piece can interpose.","predicate":["After the move, the side to move is in check and has no legal move. The king has no square to move to, the checking piece cannot be captured and, if only one piece gives check, the check cannot be blocked.","A position can be checkmate without matching any named mating pattern. The diagram here is one such case."],"diagnosis":"Checkmate differs from check by one criterion. In checkmate, no legal reply remains. If the king can escape, if the checking piece can be captured or if a single line of check can be blocked, the position is check and not mate. In the counter-example shown here, Kb1 is the reply that remains.","maturity":{"state":"stable"},"holotype":{"fen":"8/8/8/8/8/1Q6/8/k1K5 w - - 0 1","move":"b3a3","san":"Qa3#","mating_piece":"queen","king":"a1","pattern_squares":["a3","c1"],"why":"Black's king stands in the a1 corner and has only three neighbouring squares: a2, b1 and b2. The queen moves from b3 to a3 and covers a2 and b2. White's own king on c1 covers b1, which the queen does not reach. No named pattern matches this position, so the mate rests on the definition alone."},"nearMiss":{"fen":"8/8/8/8/3K4/1Q6/8/k7 w - - 0 1","move":"b3a3","san":"Qa3+","mating_piece":"queen","king":"a1","pattern_squares":["a3","d4"],"delta":"White's king moves from c1 to d4. The piece that covered b1 is now out of range.","why":"The queen still checks from a3 and still covers a2 and b2. The white king has moved from c1 to d4 and is too far away to cover b1. Black plays Kb1 and escapes, so the position is no longer checkmate.","neighbour":"none"},"nearMissPending":null,"standing":{"certified":true,"scope":"definition"}},"axes":[{"key":"pattern","name":"The named mating pattern","values":["anastasia","anderssen","arabian","back_rank","back_rank_smothering","balestra","bishop_and_knight","blackburne","blind_swine","boden","corner","cozio","damiano","damiano_bishop","david_and_goliath","double_bishop","double_knight","dovetail","epaulette","fools","greco","hook","kill_box","king_and_rook","king_and_two_bishops","ladder","legal","lolli","max_lange","mayet","morphy","opera","pillsbury","railroad","rainbow","reti","scholars","smothered","stammas","swallow","triangle","vukovic"],"nature":"partition","note":"One value per named mate (42 patterns). A mate that matches none of them is the bare motif."}],"summary":"The king is in check and no legal move answers it, so the game ends."}