Two rooks checkmate

White to move and win.

The ladder mate: two rooks take turns pushing the king to the edge, and your own king does not even need to help.

The idea

  1. One rook holds a rank while the other checks on the next rank.
  2. If the king comes close to a rook, swing that rook to the far side of the board.
  3. Keep climbing until the king runs out of board.

More basic checkmates

All endgames · Practice · Openings