As we all know, the ultimate goal of chess is to deliver a checkmate.  Fortunately not all checkmates in chess are as complicated as the one discussed here. Today we’ll focus on 13 most common checkmates in chess. You should always look to setup one while playing a game and also be aware of these structures in order to avoid nasty surprises prepared by your opponents.

By looking at this positions you will learn basic checkmating patterns and will train your ming to  create and find similar position in your own games.

White to move  in each position.

Two major pieces back rank mate

This is by far the simplest possible mate in the game of chess, which usually occurs in the late stages of the game (i. e. endgame). Stronger side cuts the opponents King from 7^th rank with one major piece and delivers a mate with the other one.  One the diagram above white mates with 1.Ra8#. This mate is very common and thus important to know and to be aware of.

Note: If the opponent’s king is stuck in the middle of the board, the stronger side should “walk” him onto the 8^th rank to the shown position by given interchangeable checks with the rooks, and then mating on the back rank.

Two  Pawn checkmate

This is a very common endgame, where one side has two pawns and the other side has none.  On the positions above, Black has nowhere to move: d7 and f7 are guarded by the White’s King; d8 and f8 are guarded by the e7 pawn which obviously cannot be captured.

If it were Black to move, White would feel silly since it is a stalemate – a draw. However in this case it is White to move and mate in one:  1.d7#.

This mate is also often occurs in more complex positions with other pawns and pieces present on the board.

Back rank checkmate

This is a classical example of the back rank checkmate which is a very powerful weapon which is used by all players as a serious weapon or a threat.  In the position above Black’s King is blocked by his own pawns on the 8^th rank (i. e. back rank) and any check by a major piece on the back rank would turn out deadly.

If we take a look at the White’s pawn structure it is pretty similar to the Black’s with one big exception:  h – pawn is advanced from h2 to h3 freeing and escape square or an escape window on h2, illuminating back rank checkmate threat.

White continues with 1. Ra8# delivering checkmate in one.

Note: You should be always aware of the back rank threats even when no immediate checkmate is available, position can change very rapidly and therefore it is a good practice to create an escape window in the endgame where major pieces are present.

Tip: There are a lot of cases of the back rank mate in the Middle game also.