Checkmate: a practical example
A queen may give check next to an opposing king only when the queen is protected and all escape squares are controlled or blocked. The presence of a strong attacking piece alone is not enough: every legal defensive response must fail.
How to use the idea in your games
Verify three possibilities: king moves, capture of the checking piece, and interposition. Checkmate ends the game immediately when produced by a legal move.
A useful study question
Can you explain checkmate in your own words, identify it in a position, and describe when the idea does not apply? Test the explanation on a legal board before relying on it.
Connect the ideas
Check, Stalemate, Back-rank mate are useful next concepts. Follow the links to compare definitions and examples, then return to the complete chess glossary whenever an unfamiliar term appears.
Sources & further reading
References checked September 5, 2026. Linked services are independent of ChessRankings.com™.