QUICK MATES

The quickest possible checkmates with the 32 chess pieces.

This page was created by Enrique Fernández Alcázar with the help of Marcelo Iglesias and Marcia Levitus

The goal is to find out how each of the 32 chess pieces can mate in the fewest moves.

Because the king cannot mate directly, in this particular case the last move ending in checkmate will be castle-ing. Pawns must mate as pawns, and not after promotion to another piece.

The combinations shown in this page are intended to be the shortest, but they might not be the only ones that are possible with the same number of moves.

The figure shows the number of moves needed by each piece to mate.

Ra8Nb8Bc8Qd8Ke8Bf8Ng8Rh8Pa7Pb7Pc7Pd7Pe7Pf7Pg7Ph7Pa2Pb2Pc2Pd2Pe2Pf2Pg2Ph2Ra1Nb1Bc1Qd1Ke1Bf1Ng1Rh1

Click on the desired piece on the board to see the combinations and their diagrams.

Moves between brackets indicate that any move is allowed, as far as it doesn't interfere with the combination.

Ra1 (5): 1.a4 g6 2.Ra3 Bg7 3.Rd3 Kf8 4.Rxd7 (...) 5.Rxd8++
Nb1 (4): 1.Nc3 e6 2.Nb5 c6 3.(...) Ne7 4.Nd6++
Bc1 (5): 1.e4 f6 2.(...) Kf7 3.h4 Kg6 4.h5+ Kg5 5.d3++
Qd1 (3): 1.e4 f6 2.(...) g5 3.Qh5++
Ke1 (6): 1.d4 d6 2.Na3 Kd7 3.Bh6 Kc6 4.Qd3 Kd5 5.Qf5+ Kxd4 6.0-0-0++
Bf1 (3): 1.e4 g5 2.Be2 f6 3.Bh5++
Ng1 (4): 1.Nh3 g6 2.Ng5 e6 3.Ne4 Ne7 4.Nf6++
Rh1 (5): 1.h4 g5 2.hxg Bh6 3.Rxh6 Nf6 4.Rxh7 Nh5 5.Rxh8++

Pa2 (5): 1.a4 d6 2.b4 Kd7 3.e3 Kc6 4.Qf3+ Kb6 5.a5++
Pb2 (5): 1.d3 d6 2.c4 Kd7 3.b4 Kc6 4.Be3 Bd7 5.b5++
Pc2 (5): 1.c4 e6 2.d4 Ke7 3.g3 Kd6 4.Bg2 Be2 5.c5++
Pd2 (5): 1.d4 d6 2.e4 Kd7 3.b3 Ke6 4.Bb2 Nd7 5.d5++
Pe2 (5): 1.e4 e6 2.Qh5 Ke7 3.(...) Kf6 4.(...) Ne7 5.e5++
Pf2 (5): 1.e4 f6 2.f4 Kf7 3.Bc4+ Kg6 4.d3 (...) 5.f5++
Pg2 (5): 1.f4 e6 2.g4 Ke7 3.Nf3 Kf6 4.Nh4 Ne7 5.g5++
Ph2 (5): 1.d4 f6 2.e4 Kf7 3.Bc4+ Kg6 4.h4 (...) 5.h5++

Pa7 (5): 1.d3 d5 2.Kd2 Qd6 3.Kc3 Qc5+ 4.Kb2 a5 5.(...) a4++
Pb7 (5): 1.d3 b5 2.Kd2 Nc6 3.Kc3 a5 4.Kb3 a4+ 5.Ka3 b4++
Pc7 (4): 1.d4 d5 2.Kd2 c5 3.Kc3 Qa5+ 4.Kb3 c4++
Pd7 (4): 1.d3 d5 2.Kd2 e5 3.Kc3 Be6 4.Nd2 d4++
Pe7 (4): 1.e3 e5 2.Ke2 Qh4 3.Kf3 (...) 4.Ne2 e4++
Pf7 (5): 1.d3 d5 2.Kd2 e5 3.Ke3 f5 4.Nf3 (...) 5.Nbd2 f4++
Pg7 (4): 1.e3 d5 2.Ke2 g5 3.Kf3 Qd6 4.Be2 g4++
Ph7 (5): 1.f3 e5 2.Kf2 h5 3.Kg3 d6 4.Nh3 (...) 5.Nf2 h4++

Ra8 (5): 1.Nf3 a5 2.g3 Ra6 3.Bh3 Rh6 4.Bg4 Rxh2 5.Nd4 Rxh1++
Nb8 (3): 1.e4 Nc6 2.g3 Nd4 3.Ne2 Nf3++
Bc8 (4): 1.f3 e5 2.Kf2 h5 3.Kg3 h4+ 4.Kg4 d6++
Qd8 (2): 1.f3 e5 2.g4 Qh4++
Ke8 (5): 1.f3 e5 2.Kf2 d5 3.Kg3 Ke7 4.Kh4 Kf6 5.g3 Kg6++ (Contribution by Javier Rebottaro)
Bf8 (3): 1.f3 e5 2.g4 Be2 3.(...) Bh4++
Ng8 (4): 1.e3 Nh6 2.c3 Nf4 3.Ne2 Ne5 4.(...) Nd6++
Rh8 (5): 1.g4 h5 2.gxh Rxh5 3.Bh3 Rxh3 4.Nf3 Rxh2 5.Nd4 Rxh1++


IF YOU FIND A SHORTEST SOLUTION, PLEASE SEND ME AN E-MAIL AND I'LL ADD IT WITH YOUR NAME

If you have comments or suggestions, please send me an e-mail. eferal@ono.com

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