The method
Use the queen to confine the enemy king to a shrinking rectangle. A queen a knight's move away from the king takes away the most squares without giving check.
Once the king is on the edge, stop pushing with the queen. Walk your own king over until it stands opposite the enemy king, then mate on the edge.
The stalemate trap
The most common mistake is to keep shadowing the king with the queen after it reaches the corner. Before every move, check that the enemy king still has a legal move or is in check.
Remember
- Box the king in
- Queen a knight's move away
- Bring your king
- Check for stalemate before every move