Check is a threat. Checkmate ends the game.

Check means the king is attacked. Your next move must leave your king safe. Look for three kinds of answer: move the king, capture the checking piece, or block the checking line. A knight’s check cannot be blocked because the knight jumps. A checking piece right next to the king also leaves no square on which to block.

Do not assume a capture is safe just because your king can reach the attacker. The attacker may be protected. Before moving your king, examine every enemy piece that attacks the destination. In double check, the king must move: capturing or blocking just one checking piece does not remove the other attack.

Check is not automatically a good move. If the opponent can answer by developing a piece or winning your attacker, you may have helped them. In a puzzle, list the checks, but still calculate the reply.

In this position Black is to move. The queen on g7 attacks the king on h8 diagonally. The king’s possible neighboring squares are g8, g7 and h7. The queen attacks g8 and h7. Capturing the queen on g7 is illegal because White’s king on f6 protects her.

There is no Black piece that can capture the queen or block her adjacent diagonal attack. Black is in check with no legal answer: checkmate. Notice how the White king contributes. A queen can restrict a lone king, but getting close enough to finish often requires her own king’s support.

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Try it yourself

Why can’t Black capture the queen?

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The White king on f6 attacks g7. Black would move into check by capturing the queen. The other two neighboring squares are attacked by the queen, so this is checkmate.

Now the queen is on f7, with the same kings on f6 and h8. Black still has no legal move: g8 is attacked diagonally by the queen, g7 is attacked by the queen and White king, and h7 is attacked along the seventh rank. But the king on h8 is not currently attacked.

That makes the position stalemate, a draw. Material advantage does not change the result. The side to move must have a legal move somewhere, not necessarily a king move. If Black had a pawn elsewhere that could legally advance, this would not be stalemate.

When you have a large advantage against a lone king, pause before a non-checking move. Ask whether the opponent will have any legal reply. It is often safer to keep the queen a little farther away while bringing your king closer than to take away every square without giving check.

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Try it yourself

Is a blocked king enough to call checkmate?

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No. First establish that the king is attacked. Here h8 is safe in the current position, but every move would enter check. With no other Black pieces able to move, it is stalemate.

Treat a claimed mate as a small proof. Find the attacking piece, test every escape square, and look for captures or blocks. This habit prevents missed defensive resources as well as accidental stalemates. It is especially useful after a queen move, when many lines change at once.

Try placing the two examples on a physical board and switching between g7 and f7. Explain the result without using the words “trapped” or “nowhere to go” until you have first said whether the king is in check. A clear explanation should identify both the current attack and the legal moves.

Other draws can happen even when legal moves remain, including repetition and positions where checkmate is impossible. Those are separate from stalemate. During a timed or organized game, follow the platform or event rules for claims and clock-related results; do not assume every draw is decided in the same way.