Black to move · 1 move · Rating 503
Find checkmate in 1 move.
Show the solution
10...Qxf2#
Ponderchess / Puzzles
Mate in 1 puzzles
234 mate in 1 puzzles from real games, rated 503 to 1763. Here are 18, from easiest to hardest.
Every puzzle here ends the game in a single move. The checkmate is already on the board: one piece can give check and leave the enemy king with no square to run to, no way to capture the checking piece and nothing to put in between.
Mate-in-one puzzles train the pattern recognition that everything else is built on. The more mating patterns you know by sight, the faster you notice them in your own games, for both sides.
How to solve them: List every check you have, including the ones that look impossible or give up a piece. For each one, ask the same three questions: can the king move, can the checker be taken, can the check be blocked.
New to the idea? Read Back-rank mate in chess first.
18 mate in 1 puzzles to solve
Solve it on the board →
Black to move · 1 move · Rating 572
Find checkmate in 1 move.
Show the solution
14...Qxg2#
Black to move · 1 move · Rating 586
Find checkmate in 1 move.
Show the solution
16...Qxh2#
Black to move · 1 move · Rating 595
Find checkmate in 1 move.
Show the solution
17...Qxf2#
White to move · 1 move · Rating 643
Find checkmate in 1 move.
Show the solution
42.Qh8#
Black to move · 1 move · Rating 667
Find checkmate in 1 move.
Show the solution
26...Qxc2#
White to move · 1 move · Rating 690
Find checkmate in 1 move.
Show the solution
41.Rd7#
White to move · 1 move · Rating 719
Find checkmate in 1 move.
Show the solution
25.Qxf7#
Black to move · 1 move · Rating 774
Find checkmate in 1 move.
Show the solution
14...Qxg2#
Black to move · 1 move · Rating 810
Find checkmate in 1 move.
Show the solution
34...Nf2#
White to move · 1 move · Rating 855
Find checkmate in 1 move.
Show the solution
29.Nf7#
Black to move · 1 move · Rating 907
Find checkmate in 1 move.
Show the solution
38...Qxg2#
Black to move · 1 move · Rating 961
Find checkmate in 1 move.
Show the solution
38...Qg2#
White to move · 1 move · Rating 1019
Find checkmate in 1 move.
Show the solution
19.Nb5#
White to move · 1 move · Rating 1094
Find checkmate in 1 move.
Show the solution
17.Re8#
White to move · 1 move · Rating 1176
Find checkmate in 1 move.
Show the solution
58.Re7#
White to move · 1 move · Rating 1326
Find checkmate in 1 move.
Show the solution
50.Rb8#
White to move · 1 move · Rating 1763
Find checkmate in 1 move.
Show the solution
35.Qf8#
Train all 234 mate in 1 puzzles in the trainer, with a rating that adapts to you →
Positions from the open Lichess puzzle database (CC0).