Chess · Stage 2: Basic mates
Mate with king and queen
The queen cannot mate alone; the two kings and the queen work together. The computer’s king will run for the middle of the board.
You were part-way through this lesson, at step 1 of 3.
Already know this? Take the check: just the questions, no reading. Get them all right first time and the lesson counts as done.
The plan has three parts. Use the queen to box the king in, a knight's move away from it, and shrink the box. Once the king is on the edge, bring your own king up. Then mate. After every queen move, check the king still has a square, or it is stalemate.
More practice, free: Practice: the basic checkmates, against the computer, on Lichess.