Mate in one puzzles
The most valuable two seconds in beginner chess: checking, every single move, whether there is a mate on the board right now.
- 120 positions in the course
- Difficulty 424–2247
- Section: First Moves
- 5 levels
Why mate in one is worth drilling on its own
A mate in one is a check the king cannot answer -- it cannot move, the checking piece cannot be captured, and the check cannot be blocked. That is three conditions, and beginners typically verify one of them, which is why so many games under 1000 contain a mate that both players walked past.
Drilling mate in one is not really about mate in one. It builds the habit of scanning every check in a position, which is the same scan that finds mate in two, finds the forcing tactic, and stops you missing your opponent's.
How to spot it
- List every check you have. There are rarely more than four.
- For each one, ask what the king's escape squares are -- including the ones its own pieces are standing on.
- Then ask whether the checking piece can be taken, and whether anything can interpose.
- Corners and back ranks first. A king with its own pawns in front of it is already half mated.
Three mate-in-one positions
Three positions from the 120 in this skill, easiest first. The highlighted squares are the move your opponent has just played. Work it out before you open the answer.
Position 1
Black to move. Find the best move.
Show the answer
30.Kxh2 30...Rh5#
The line ends in checkmate. Mate is check plus no legal reply, and the reason it is missed here is that the king's escape squares were occupied by its own side.
The position comes from an endgame of a real game, rated 424 for difficulty. The answer reaches checkmate.
Position 2
White to move. Find the best move.
Show the answer
32...a4 33.f5#
The line ends in checkmate. Mate is check plus no legal reply, and the reason it is missed here is that the king's escape squares were occupied by its own side.
The position comes from an endgame of a real game, rated 1309 for difficulty. The answer reaches checkmate.
Position 3
White to move. Find the best move.
Show the answer
14...fxg5 15.Qe6#
The line ends in checkmate. Mate is check plus no legal reply, and the reason it is missed here is that the king's escape squares were occupied by its own side.
The position comes from the middlegame of a real game, rated 1849 for difficulty. The answer reaches checkmate.
Missing them, and allowing them
The commonest reason a mate in one is missed is that the winning check gives away material. A queen that can be captured still mates if the capture is illegal, and beginners filter out the move before checking.
The commonest reason one is allowed is the back rank. If your king is on g1 or g8 behind three unmoved pawns, every enemy rook and queen on the board is one open file away from mating you.
Questions people ask
What is a mate in one in chess?
A position where one legal move delivers checkmate immediately -- the opponent's king is in check and has no legal response at all, whether moving, capturing the checking piece, or blocking the line.
How do I get better at finding mate in one?
Do them in volume and against a clock. The skill being trained is not calculation, it is the reflex of scanning checks, and reflexes come from repetition under mild time pressure rather than from thinking harder about any one position.
Why do I keep missing checkmate in my games?
Almost always because you are looking at captures before checks. Material is the thing beginners are taught to count, so the eye goes there first, and a mate that involves giving up a piece never gets considered. Scan checks first, every move.
Nearby patterns
Mate in One sits in First Moves. The rest of that section:
Printable worksheetsThree free PDF sheets of these positions with a full answer key. No sign-up, print and copy as many as you like.