The Everything Chess Basics Book (32 page)

1. b7 mate.

Two Rooks

This is the simplest and the easiest to execute of the basic checkmates. It is the same whether we use two rooks, two queens, or rook and queen. The strong king isn’t even necessary, and could get in the way if you aren’t careful.

The Checkmate

The final checkmate will have the weak king on the edge of the board. Either the a-file or the h-file or the first rank or the eighth rank will do. But don’t think you can checkmate a king in the middle of the board unless he cooperates or you use your own king to help.

The checkmated king is on the edge of the board. Note that the rooks take away the seventh and eighth ranks.

The reason you need to herd the weak king to the side of the board or, even better, a corner of the board, is that he has too many escape squares when he is in the center. The weak king is hard to trap in the center just because he has so many possibilities. Naturally, any intelligent weak king is going to try to stay in or near the center in order to preserve his life, so your plan must be to induce him to the side or corner and checkmate him there.

The Plan

The lumbering giants can herd the king to the side of the board by what is sometimes referred to as
bicycle pedaling
. One full rank (or file) is first taken away from the weak king by one of the rooks. Then the next rank is taken away by the other rook, then the next by the first rook, until the poor beleaguered fellow comes to the edge of the board. At that time he has no further recourse and is checkmated.

Here’s how it works:

The game continues 1. Ra4 Kg5 2. Rb5+ Kf6 3. Ra6+ Ke7 4. Rb7+ Kd8 5. Ra8 checkmate.

Distance is a useful protection for rooks, especially when fighting against any piece that can move along diagonals, such as a king.

Rook and King

This is trickier and takes a little longer, but the checkmate is always there if you know what you are doing. The checkmate will look something like this:

Once again, the checkmated king is on the edge of the board. The rook takes away the h-file, while the White king takes away the g-file.

The rook takes away the a-file, while the White king covers the b-file.

The rook covers the first rank while the White king takes away second-rank squares.

Opposition

You’ve already encountered opposition in the last chapter. There you used it to help shepherd a pawn to the promotion square or to prevent a pawn from getting to the promotion square.

There are many books devoted to checkmate on the market. The simplest are those of A. J. Gillam, who fills up his books with checkmate positions or positions one move from checkmate. Others include
Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess
, which is a step-by-step explanation of how to find the lurking checkmating patterns in positions two and three moves away from the final checkmate.

The way to use it in king and rook versus rook positions is to take an entire rank or file away from the opposing king using the opposition. Thus, your king fulfills the role of one of the rooks in the two-rook
checkmate.

The idea of gradually taking squares away from the weak king is the whole key to this checkmate plan. The weapons you use are the opposition and the tremendous long-range power of the rook, which can take away an entire file or rank from the lone weak king, or lose a move in order to persuade that monarch to step into the opposition himself. When your prey is finally in jail, with nowhere left to go, it is time for the checkmate.

Taking Squares Away

Here’s how to do it. This is really nothing more than a slower way to execute the two-rook checkmate. It’s just that your king isn’t as powerful as the other rook was. So you have to use the opposition to take a rank or file away from the weak king.

Kings already in opposition. 1. Rf6+ Kc7 2. Kc5 Kd7.

Kings not yet in opposition. 3. Kd5 Ke7 4. Rf1.

This last move is the key. White does not move into the opposition. Rather, he gently persuades Black to move into the opposition himself by dropping back with his rook.

The Black king is about to step into the opposition again. 4. ... Kd7 5. Rf7+ Ke8 6. Ke6 Kd8.