The kill box mate

A rook and a queen at a very specific distance from each other. Get the distance right and the nine squares around the king are all covered by two pieces.

11 positions in the course match this pattern
Lichess rating 790–2047
Section: Checkmate Patterns
Every line verified by the app’s rules engine

The pattern

The pattern, finished. The black king on e8 is in check from the rook on d8, which the queen on f6 defends. It has five squares to try and none of them work: d7 is covered by the rook on d8; e7 is covered by the queen on f6; f7 and f8 are blocked by its own pieces; the rook on d8 cannot be taken, because the queen on f6 defends it.

The rook checks from the square beside the king. The queen stands a knight's move away from the king -- two squares along one line and one along the other -- and from there it does two things at once: it defends the rook, and it covers the squares of the three-by-three block the rook cannot reach.

The distance is the pattern. A queen closer than that is usually giving the king a square by blocking its own line; a queen further away stops defending the rook. There is essentially one square it wants and finding the mate is finding that square.

It is the queen-and-rook version of the same idea the Arabian mate builds with a knight: put the rook where it should not survive, and make one other piece both defend it and take the last square.

What is always true

Each line below was tested against all 11 positions in this course that show the pattern, using the same rules engine the trainer runs on. The build stops if any of them is ever false, so the count beside each one is the real count.

The checking piece is a rook 11/11
That rook stands on a square adjacent to the king 11/11
A queen defends the rook 11/11
That queen stands a knight's move away from the king 11/11

How to spot it

A queen and a rook both already pointed at the same corner of the board. The pattern needs no other material at all.
An enemy king pushed to the edge, which is where most of these finish.
The knight's-move relationship. If your queen is already a knight's move from the enemy king, look for a rook check on an adjacent square before anything else.
Forcing checks that drive the king onto the square you want. Half of these positions are one queen check away from the box being correct.

4 positions to solve

Real games, easiest first. The amber squares are the move your opponent has just played, not the answer. Work it out before you open the solution; the second diagram inside each answer is the finished mate with the trapped king outlined.

Position 1

Black to move. Force the mate.

Show the answer

25.Bh2 25...Rd1+ 26.Rxd1 26...Rxd1+ 27.Rf1 27...Rxf1#

The white king on g1 is in check from the rook on f1, which the queen on h3 defends. It has five squares to try and none of them work: f2 and h1 are covered by the rook on f1; g2 is covered by the queen on h3; h2 is blocked by its own bishop; the rook on f1 cannot be taken, because the queen on h3 defends it.

The position comes from the middlegame of a real game, rated 790 in the Lichess pool and scored there as mate in three. The amber squares on the first diagram are the move your opponent had just played.

Position 2

White to move. Force the mate.

Show the answer

25...hxg3 26.Qe6+ Kd8 27.Rxb8+ Nc8 28.Rxc8#

The black king on d8 is in check from the rook on c8, which the queen on e6 defends. It has five squares to try and none of them work: d7, e7 and e8 are covered by the queen on e6; c7 is blocked by its own pawn; the rook on c8 cannot be taken, because the queen on e6 defends it.

The position comes from the middlegame of a real game, rated 1538 in the Lichess pool and scored there as mate in three. The amber squares on the first diagram are the move your opponent had just played.

Position 3

White to move. Force the mate.

Show the answer

19...Qd8 20.Ng5+ Nxg5 21.hxg5+ Kg8 22.Rh8#

The black king on g8 is in check from the rook on h8, which the queen on f6 defends. It has five squares to try and none of them work: f7 and g7 are covered by the queen on f6; h7 is covered by the rook on h8; f8 is blocked by its own rook; the rook on h8 cannot be taken, because the queen on f6 defends it.

The position comes from the middlegame of a real game, rated 1695 in the Lichess pool and scored there as mate in three. The amber squares on the first diagram are the move your opponent had just played.

Position 4

White to move. Force the mate.

Show the answer

31...Rhe8 32.Rxc6+ dxc6 33.Qxc6+ Kb8 34.Ra8#

The black king on b8 is in check from the rook on a8, which the queen on c6 defends. It has five squares to try and none of them work: b7, c7 and c8 are covered by the queen on c6; a7 is covered by the rook on a8; the rook on a8 cannot be taken, because the queen on c6 defends it.

The position comes from the middlegame of a real game, rated 2047 in the Lichess pool and scored there as mate in three. The amber squares on the first diagram are the move your opponent had just played.

Drill the named mates until you see them 120 positions on the named mating patterns, in five graded levels, in the free Reflex Chess trainer. No account needed to start. Practise named mates

Easy to confuse with

These are the patterns Kill Box Mate gets mistaken for. The difference is usually one piece or one square.

Questions people ask

What is the kill box mate?

A checkmate in which a rook checks the king from an adjacent square while a queen, standing a knight's move from the king, defends the rook and covers the rest of the three-by-three box around it.

Where does the queen have to be for the kill box?

A knight's move from the king: two squares along one line and one along the other. In every position of this pattern in the course, that is exactly where it is.

All the named mates

One page each, or the whole set as a single motif in the course. The rest of the tactics library is at every motif in the course.