The object of the game is to 'checkmate' the enemy king, the term
checkmate originating from the Persian shah mat
("the king is dead"). The guide includes a few examples of early
The guide also has two famous examples of successful mating attacks
in typical endgame positions:
In an endgame, the minimum of pieces necessary to force
checkmate against a solitary king are:
When exchanging pieces you must always ensure that you are left with
sufficient material with which to checkmate.
Against a solitary king you cannot force checkmate with only:
- Queen alone (aided by the king).
- Rook alone (aided by the king).
- Two rooks.
- Two bishops (aided by the king).
- Knight and bishop (aided by the king) - rare.
- Three knights (aided by the king), one promoted - rare.
- One bishop (aided by the king).
- One knight (aided by the king).
- Two knights (aided by the king) unless there are other pieces on the
board as well.