How to stop missing checkmates in chess
Many missed mates are only one or two moves deep. A short checking habit that finds them, the patterns to know, and how to count the mates you miss.
Missed checkmates are usually not hard ones. Many are mate in one or two, missed in a position where you were thinking about something else. The fix is a habit: before every move, look at every check you have.
Why do players miss mate in one?
The reasons are almost always the same:
- The mate came after an opponent’s mistake you weren’t expecting
- You were already winning and playing on autopilot
- The mating move is a quiet-looking rook or queen move, not a capture
- Time trouble
Strong players miss mates for the same reasons, just less often.
What is the habit that finds mates?
Checks, captures and threats, in that order, every move. Look at every check you can give, even the silly ones, and play it through in your head for one reply. It takes a few seconds, and a check is the only kind of move that can end the game on the spot.
When your opponent’s king has few squares, give it extra attention. If it has none, any check that can’t be blocked or captured is mate.
Which checkmate patterns should you know?
| Pattern | What it looks like |
|---|---|
| Back-rank mate | A rook or queen on the last rank, the king boxed in by its own pawns |
| Smothered mate | A knight checks a king surrounded by its own pieces |
| Queen and king | The queen checks next to the king, protected by your king or another piece |
| Two rooks | One rook cuts the king off, the other checks it on the edge of the board |
| Anastasia’s mate | A knight and a rook trap the king on the edge |
The back-rank mate is the one to learn first, because it turns up in ordinary middlegames, not only in puzzles.
Do mate puzzles help?
Yes. Mate in one and mate in two puzzles train you to look at checks first, and the same patterns turn up in your own games. Short, regular sessions work better than an occasional long one.
How do you see how many mates you missed?
Chesslord’s insights go through your chess.com and Lichess games and count the mates you found and the ones you missed, sorted by length, with missed mates counted from mate in one up to mate in four. The panel lists the latest positions, and any of them opens in the game review.
If most of your misses are mate in one, start with the checking habit above. If they are mate in three or four, do longer mate puzzles.
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