How to Checkmate with a King and Queen
· Endgames
To checkmate with a king and a queen, use the queen to trap the enemy king in a smaller and smaller box, bring your own king next to it, and finish with a queen check that your king protects. It is always winning and never takes more than ten moves. The only ways to spoil it are to stalemate your opponent or to leave the queen where the king can capture it.
The queen is the strongest piece, so this is the easiest of the basic mates, and it is a good first one to learn. The method is close to the king and rook checkmate, only faster. You can practise it against the computer on the king and queen checkmate page.
Start with the final positions
Everything you do aims at a mate like these. In the first one the defending king stands on the edge, your king is two squares in front of it, and the queen gives check along the edge.
White to move plays Qb8, which is checkmate. The white king covers d7, e7 and f7, and the queen covers the whole eighth rank.
With a queen you have a second way to finish: put the queen right next to the enemy king, on a square your own king protects. The king cannot take it, and every square it could run to is covered.
White plays Qg7, which is checkmate. The queen is protected by the king on f7, so Black cannot capture it, and g8 and h7 are both covered.
Job 1: shrink the box with a knight's move
Place the queen a knight's move away from the enemy king. From there it takes away the most squares, and the king cannot attack it, because a king steps only one square at a time.
The queen on g4 is a knight's move from the king on e5. Black may go only to d5, d6 or f6, and cannot cross the fourth rank or step onto e6.
Each time the king moves, find the queen move that is again a knight's move away and cuts the king off a little more. The box gets smaller until the king is pushed to the edge of the board. You do not need to calculate long lines: keep the box shrinking and keep the queen safe.
Do not put the queen next to the king without protection
The beginner's mistake is to give checks close to the king in the hope that something will happen. If your king is far away, the queen is simply taken.
White played Qe4+ with the king far away on e1. Black replies Kxe4 and White has lost the queen. Black could also move to d6 or f6, but capturing is best.
Check yourself before every move: after it, can the enemy king take the queen? If it can, the queen must be protected by your king, or you must choose another square.
Job 2: bring your king up
The queen alone cannot give mate, because every check can be answered by the king stepping aside or, close to the queen, taking it. You need your king to protect the queen and to cover squares at the end. When the enemy king is trapped on the last few squares, stop and walk your king closer, one step at a time, while the queen keeps the box in place.
Use the queen only to hold the cage while your king marches. Make a quiet queen move only if the cage would otherwise open. Because the defender has few squares, he will soon be pushed to the edge, and then you are ready for the finish.
Job 3: finish, and watch for stalemate
Once the enemy king is on the edge and your king stands two squares in front of it, or nearby, look for a checking move that your king supports. Before you play any move, do a different check: does the opponent still have a legal move? If not, and he is not in check, the game is drawn.
White to move. Qf7 is stalemate: Black is not in check and has no legal move. Qf8 is checkmate, because the king on g6 covers g7 and h7 and the queen covers g8.
Stalemate is the most common way to throw away this win. It happens when you take away every square from the king but forget to give check. The rule of thumb: if the enemy king is boxed in a corner and has no moves, either give check or make sure he has a move.
A full example: mate in three
Here is the whole plan in a short example. The black king is on the edge and the white king has come up, but the queen is still far away.
White to move wins by force in three moves.
White plays Ke6, taking the opposition and closing in. Black has two moves, and both lose:
- 1...Kf8 2.Qh8#. The queen checks along the eighth rank, and the king on e6 covers e7 and f7.
- 1...Kd8 2.Qb7, a quiet move that leaves Black only the move Ke8, 2...Ke8 3.Qa8#. The queen checks along the eighth rank again, with the king on e6 covering d7, e7 and f7.
Notice that in the second line 2.Qb7 does not give check. Its job is to take away the squares c8 and c7, so that Black has one move left and must walk into the final pattern. After 2.Qb7, Black is not stalemated, because Ke8 is legal. That is exactly the kind of quiet move to look for.
A checklist to follow
- Before each move, make sure the enemy king cannot capture the queen, and that he still has a legal move or is in check.
- Put the queen a knight's move from the king, so the box shrinks.
- When the king is on the edge, bring your own king closer, keeping the queen in place.
- With the kings two squares apart, or the queen protected next to the king, give mate.
- If you are unsure, make a quiet move that keeps the box and leaves the defender a move.
Once this feels easy, try the harder mates with fewer pieces, such as the king and rook checkmate, or browse all the endgames you can practise against the computer.