TacticsPlay as white

Mate in Four

Two shapes: the quiet move that shuts the door, and the sacrifice that drags the king out.

Introduction

A mate in four is too long to calculate move by move unless every reply is forced. So the first move does one of two jobs. Either it is quiet — no check, no capture — and takes away the king's last escape, so that the checks which follow cannot be answered. Or it is a sacrifice that pulls the king out of its shelter onto a square where the checks begin. After that first move, every move is a check or a mate threat, and your opponent is only choosing how to lose.

Lesson Content

Try this position

Shape one: the quiet move. White has a rook on b7 and a king on f5 against the black king on f8 — but Black's pawn on b2 queens next move, so White must mate now or lose. The obvious Rb8+ does not do it: the king escapes to e7 or f7, and the b-pawn becomes a queen. Before checking, White needs a move that takes those two squares away.

Mating NetQuiet Move

Try this position

1. ..Ke6

Black queens next move, so this has to force mate — shut the king in before you check it.

Ke6 is quiet, and it is the one move that wins. The white king now covers d7, e7 and f7, so Rb8 would be checkmate next move — the king on f8 has no square left, and g7 is covered by the pawn on h6. Black's only way to delay is ..b1=Q, putting a queen on the b-file so that the rook check can be captured.

Mating NetQuiet Move

Alternative Moves

Rb8+ — Rb8+ is the obvious check, but the king simply steps out to e7 — the white king on f5 covers neither e7 nor f7 — and the mate is gone for good. White must now run back to stop the b-pawn, and Black's rook and extra pawns win the endgame.

Kf6 — Kf6 looks similar but leaves e8 uncovered: Black's king slips out with Ke8 and keeps running to the queenside, the mate never comes, and with the b-pawn about to queen it is White who is fighting for a draw.

Try this position

2. Rxb1

Black has a new queen. Keep your mating threat alive.

Rxb1 takes the queen, and the threat of mate on b8 is exactly what it was. Black can only delay again: Rd2 prepares to block on d8, and after Rb8+ Rd8 the blocking rook is taken — Rxd8# — mate in three from here.

Mating NetQuiet Move

Alternative Moves

Rb8+ — Rb8+ hands the rook to the new queen: Qxb8 takes it, and with a queen and a rook against a bare king it is White who will be mated.

Try this position

Shape two: the sacrifice. The black king on f8 has a single defender, the rook on e8, and Black's queen on b3 is far from home. White's rook on c7 owns the seventh rank, the knight on d5 covers c7 and e7, and the bishop on g2 can switch to the h3–c8 diagonal in one move. A quiet move will not do here, because Black would get a free move to bring the queen back. Instead, White pays a whole rook to pull the king out onto e8, where the checks begin and the king has to walk into them.

Mating NetSacrificeDecoy

Try this position

3. Rxe8+

Pull the king out from behind its last defender, whatever it costs.

Rxe8+ gives up a whole rook, but Black has to take it with the king, and after Kxe8 the king is out in the open. Rc8+ Kd7 follows, because e7 is covered by the knight on d5; then Bh3+ f5 is the only way to block, and Bxf5# takes the blocker with checkmate. A rook is a small price for a mate in four.

Mating NetSacrificeDecoy

Alternative Moves

Rc8 — Rc8 looks like the same idea without the sacrifice, but the rook on e8 just takes it: Rxc8, and White is a whole rook down with nothing to show for it.

Rf1 — Rf1 attacks f7 but gives Black a free move: after f6 the king has f7 to breathe, the rook on e8 keeps guarding the back rank, and the engine calls the position level — the mate is gone and so is White's advantage.

Try this position

3. ..Bh3+

The king is out in the open — find the check it cannot run from, only block.

Bh3+ attacks the king along the diagonal, and every square around it is already taken: e7 and c7 by the knight on d5, c6, d8 and e8 by the rook on c8, e6 by the bishop itself — and c8 cannot be captured, because the bishop sees it as soon as the king leaves d7. Black's only answer is to block with f5, and Bxf5# takes the blocker with checkmate: mate in two.

Mating NetKing Attack

Alternative Moves

Rc7+ — Rc7+ chases the king to d8, where no check follows: White's attack is over, and with the queen free to take on g3 it is Black who now has the winning chances.

Try this position

Black's king on h8 is boxed in by its own bishop on g8 and pawn on g7, and White's rook on d8 is already lined up against it. Which first move forces mate in four?

Mating NetSacrificeDecoy

Try this position

The quiet move and the sacrifice look nothing alike. What do these two first moves have in common?

Mating NetQuiet MoveSacrifice

Key Takeaways

A quiet first move works when it removes the king's last escape square — the check that follows then cannot be answered.
A sacrifice works when it drags the king out of its shelter onto a square where the checks begin.
After the first move, every move must be a check or a mate threat; one free move for your opponent and the mate is gone.

Now play it through

Step through every move on a real board, try the wrong ones, and ask Knighty why they fail.

Practice Interactively

Related Lessons

Calculate the Line

Double Bishop Mate

Deflection and Decoy

Summary

A mate in four is three forcing moves and one preparation. If the king still has a flight square, the preparation is a quiet move that takes it away; if the king sits behind a defender, the preparation is a sacrifice that pulls it out. Either way, once the checks begin every reply is forced — so calculate the end first, then find the move that gets you there.

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