Mate in two puzzles
The step from mate in one to mate in two is the step from seeing a mate to making one, and it is the largest single jump in beginner chess.
- 120 positions in the course
- Difficulty 544–2281
- Section: Checkmate Patterns
- 5 levels
What makes a mate in two different
A mate in two is one forcing move followed by a mate the opponent cannot prevent. The difficulty is never the second move. It is that the first move usually looks wrong, because it gives something away, or moves a piece to a square where it can be captured.
The puzzles here come from real games rather than composed problems. That matters: composed two-movers are built around a single hidden key move and train a kind of lateral thinking, whereas a mate in two from a real game trains the pattern you will actually meet, which is a sacrifice that opens a line and a mate on the square it opened.
How to spot it
- Start from the mating position and work backwards. Ask which square you want to mate on, then what stops you.
- Only forcing moves qualify. Checks, captures and unstoppable threats -- if the opponent has a free move, the mate is not in two.
- Look at sacrifices on the squares around the king first: h7, g7, f7 and their mirrors. A queen or bishop landing there is the most common first move in the whole set.
- Count the king's flight squares before and after each candidate. A check that gives the king a new square is almost never the answer.
Three mates in two
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
White to move. Find the best move.
Show the answer
28...Rxf2 29.Qa8+ Qc8 30.Qxc8#
The line ends in checkmate. The first move is forcing, so the reply is not a choice, and the second move mates against every legal answer.
The position comes from an endgame of a real game, rated 544 for difficulty. The answer reaches checkmate.
Position 2
White to move. Find the best move.
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34...Rxd1 35.Nxc6+ Ka8 36.Qa7#
The line ends in checkmate. The first move is forcing, so the reply is not a choice, and the second move mates against every legal answer.
The position comes from the middlegame of a real game, rated 1308 for difficulty. The answer reaches checkmate.
Position 3
Black to move. Find the best move.
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32.Bd4 32...b5+ 33.axb6 33...Nxb6#
The line ends in checkmate. The first move is forcing, so the reply is not a choice, and the second move mates against every legal answer.
The position comes from the middlegame of a real game, rated 1858 for difficulty. The answer reaches checkmate.
The two mistakes that cost these
Rejecting the first move because it loses material. In a mate in two material is irrelevant by definition, and the sacrifice is usually the point -- it removes a defender or opens the line the mate arrives on.
Checking the wrong reply. A mate in two must work against every legal answer, not the natural one. If you have found a line where the opponent's best is to block, check what happens when they capture instead.
Questions people ask
What is a mate in two?
A position where the side to move can force checkmate on their second move, regardless of how the opponent replies. The first move is always forcing -- a check, a capture, or a threat that cannot be met.
Are mate in two puzzles good for improvement?
Yes, and specifically for calculation rather than pattern recognition. They force you to look at your opponent's replies, which is the habit most improvers are missing and the reason most tactics are miscounted.
Why can I see mate in one but not mate in two?
Because mate in two requires you to evaluate a move that looks bad. The first move usually gives up material or puts a piece en prise, and that filter is applied before you ever calculate the line.
Nearby patterns
Mate in Two sits in Checkmate Patterns. The rest of that section:
- Back Rank MatesThe king behind its own pawns
- Smothered MateThe knight and the crowded king
- Named MatesAnastasia, Boden, Arabian, Legal
- Mate in ThreeThree forcing moves deep