From mate in 1, avoiding stalemate and stopping mate threats to mate in 2 and longer attacks on the king.
- Yellow square: the piece to move (the "glowing piece" in the question).
- Stars: squares you could move to; only one is right.
- Letters A, B, C on squares: the options to choose from.
- Arrow: the last move, or a move the question gives you.
- Red square: a piece under attack.
- Blue square: a piece or square to watch.
Mate in 1
Checkmate with the queen, with the rook, on the back rank and with the basic mating patterns.
There are three stars; only one is checkmate. A queen next to the black king needs a friend protecting her.
Show answer
Answer: ♕g7#
Why: That's the queen's kiss pattern.
There are three stars; only one is checkmate. One rook already blocks rank 7, and the other is ready to give check.
Show answer
Answer: ♖b8#
Why: That's the two-rook ladder.
Avoiding stalemate
A big lead turns into a draw if the enemy king has no moves left. Practise mating without stalemating.
There are three stars: one star is checkmate, two give stalemate. Pick the checkmate star!
Show answer
Answer: ♕e8#
Why: The white queen wins the game instead of letting it be a draw.
There are three stars: one star is checkmate, two give stalemate. Pick the checkmate star!
Show answer
Answer: ♖a2#
Why: The white rook wins the game instead of letting it be a draw.
Stopping a checkmate threat
See where the opponent threatens mate, then make room for the king, block, or capture the attacker.
White to move. Black threatens checkmate next move. Stop it!
Show answer
Answer: b3
Why: Before every move, remember to check what your opponent is threatening.
White to move. Find the best move!
Show answer
Answer: ♗e5+
Why: Black can't checkmate anymore.
Checkmate with king and rook
Driving the enemy king to the edge: the rook cuts it off, the kings face each other, the rook mates.
There are three stars. Remember: the black king must be IN CHECK with nowhere to run, or else it's a draw. Pick one!
Show answer
Answer: ♖a2#
Why: The white king blocks the front, and the rook checks along the back row.
White to move. Checkmate with the rook, and don't let it be a draw!
Show answer
Answer: ♖h2#
Why: The white king blocks the front, and the rook checks along the back row.
Mate in 2
A first move that prepares, sometimes a quiet one, then checkmate whatever the opponent does.
There are three stars: one check lets the black king run away. Pick the right check!
Show answer
Answer: ♕c8+
Why: Wherever the black king runs, it gets checkmated.
The glowing pawn is blocking the rook's path. How should the pawn move so the rook gives checkmate?
Show answer
Answer: exf6#
Why: The pawn captures diagonally, the rook gives check, and the pawn also guards the square in front of the king.
Attacking the king
Taking away escape squares, luring the king out, breaking open a castled king and longer mates.
The glowing piece is the queen. Sacrifice it so the white king's way gets blocked!
Show answer
Answer: 1…♕g1+ 2.♖xg1 ♘f2#
Why: The queen sacrifices itself on g1, the white rook takes and blocks the escape square itself. The knight drops to f2: checkmate.
The glowing piece is the queen. Sacrifice the queen to open the way for the rook!
Show answer
Answer: 1…♕f1+ 2.♗xf1 ♖xf1#
Why: The queen sacrifices itself with check on f1, and the white bishop must take. The rook takes back on f1: checkmate, because the bishop on h3 guards g2.
Keep practising in the Karotto app
Each theme above is a lesson in the app's chess course, with a voice that reads every question, hints when your child is stuck, and a replay of the opponent's answer after a wrong move.