A move after which the enemy king is attacked by two or more pieces at once.
Cite this entryChessGrammar (2026). Double Check. In: ChessGrammar: A reference for chess concepts, Tactics grammar, edition v3.0. Entry cg:double_check@1. https://chessgrammar.com/motifs/tactics/double-check
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Start position
the definition and its boundary
Rg6+
The rook on e6 stands on its own bishop's diagonal. A rook does not attack diagonally, so there is no check yet. It moves to g6 and checks down the g-file, and leaving e6 also opens the bishop's diagonal check. One move gives two checks on two different lines. It is a double check with no other variant.
6k1/8/4R3/8/2B5/8/8/1K6 w - - 0 1Re1+
Double Check differs from a discovered check by the number of checking pieces after the move, at least two instead of one. In the counter-example shown here, only the revealed bishop checks, so the position is a discovered check, not a double check.
Without the rook's own check, only the bishop checks. This is a single, plain discovered check and not a double check. The shape is that of a Discovered Check alone, in which the piece leaves the line and the slider behind it alone checks the king. It does not count as a realised discovered attack either. The black king has a free escape on h8 that loses no material and does not walk into mate, so the check gains nothing against best defence. Neither motif is realised here.
6k1/8/4R3/8/2B5/8/8/1K6 w - - 0 1the variants
The forms below are grouped by the feature they describe. A feature may have no separate named form. Open a form to read its criteria and see its examples.
Knight Double Checkknight discovery check
The mover itself is a knight, and it is one of the two (or more) checkers.
forms the literature names but the taxonomy does not carry as entries of their own
Double Checktwin check
no formal discriminator published
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