Checkmate Patterns for Beginners – Full Chess Tutorial

Key Takeaways

In this beginner level chess course, you will learn the fundamentals of the endgame. Ehitchakara teaches this course. He has an ELO rating of 2200 and he is in the top 1% of chess players worldwide. This tutorial will guide you through the essential in-game fundamentals needed to convert an advantage into a victory. While many players understand the basics, this course focuses on building up your ability to recognize and execute common checkmate patterns to decisively end the game. Mastering these patterns is the key to transforming your play and increasing your chances of winning. You'll learn the strategic thinking required to systematically corner an opponent's king and avoid common pitfalls like stalemate. The course will provide you with a toolbox of powerful endgame techniques. First, you will learn algebraic notation to understand and record games, followed by a deep dive into essential checkmating strategies. Welcome to this beginner level chess course. I am Ehikara, your instructor. And in this video, you will learn some endgame fundamentals in chess. You learn about some common checkmate patterns for beginners and how you can recognize them more easily to increase your chances of winning. This course is not for absolute beginners. You should understand certain concepts like how to identify chess pieces and how each of them moves, how to set up a chess board. And you should be familiar with certain concepts like castling, check, checkmates, piece promotion, pin and so on. This course is divided into two sections. In the first section, you learn about algebraic chess notations which can help you understand how to record and communicate chess moves. In the second section, you learn about some endame and checkmate patterns like the rook end game, queen and king endame patterns, direct and knight opposition methods, opera mates and as chasm mates and so on. In order to get the best out of this course, you will need to follow along with a chess board. You can use either a physical board or an online chess board. You should try and replicate the moves to help you understand better. Let's get started. So, what are chess notations? A chess notation is a method of recording moves in a chess game. In a physical chess game, it usually involves two players writing down moves as they are played. While there are other forms of chess notations like descriptive, coordinates, numeric and so on. We'll focus on algebraic chess notation. So what is algebraic chess notation? Algebraic chess notation is the standard way of recording chess. Each notation shows the move number, the piece moved, and the position of the board where the piece was moved to. In some cases, the notations also show an action performed like a check, a checkmate, castling, and so on. In order to understand how to write notations in chess, it is very important that you understand how the board works. A chess board is made up of 64 squares, which we can divide into two categories, files and ranks. We have eight files in a chess board. If you look closely at the base of the chessboard, you can see alphabets lettered A to H. Each letter, each letter represents a file. So this is the A file. This is the B file. This is the C file and so on all the way down to the H file. A way to remember this is that files go from top to bottom or the vertical lines in a chessboard. This way we've been able to divide the chessboard into files and ranks. So what are ranks in a chessboard? Well, since the files are the vertical lines, the ranks are the horizontal lines in a chessboard. We have eight ranks. Just the same way we have eight files in a chessboard. And you can know the ranks by the numbers written on the edge of the board. So the one with the number one is the first rank and this is the second rank. This is the third rank and so on all the way to the eighth rank. So now that we are able to identify that the files are the vertical lines on a chessboard and the ranks are the horizontal lines. We can use that to identify each square on the chessboard. So let's say we want to move the white queen. this particular square. How do we identify the value of this square? Well, first you can look down here and see that this is the B file. And then this particular square falls under the fifth rank. So moving the queen here is the same as saying that you've moved the queen to B5. So you have to write the file first followed by the rank. So if we move it here, you can see the notation here. Q move to B5. Similarly, if we want to move a black piece, we can use notations to write where the piece is moving to. So, let's use the king as an example. If you want to move the king to this square over here, we can see that this square falls under the E file and it also falls under the seventh rank. So we can say that this square is E7 since it's under the E file and also under the seventh rank. So if we move the king here, we can see the notation says K E7. So let's talk about how to identify different pieces when writing notations. Now we have a chess board with all the pieces on the board. Let's start with the queen. The queen is denoted with the letter Q. The king is denoted with the letter K. The bishop is denoted using the letter B. The knight is denoted using the letter N. You don't use K to denote the knight since the king has already taken that letter. And the rook is denoted using the letter R. So now let's say we want to start this game with the knight and we want to move the knight to this square. How do we write that notation? Well, first of all, you have to write the letter of the piece you're moving. The knight is denoted using the letter N. So we are going to start with the letter N and then we have to calculate the coordinates. This particular square falls under the F file and on the third rank. So we are going to have N f3 meaning knight to f3. F3 here meaning the ff file on the third rank. So if we play this move here you can see knight f3. Also the pawns do not have any letter associated with them. If you move a pawn you don't write p for pawn. You just have to write the coordinates where it was moved to. So let's say we want to move this black pawn to this particular square. This square falls under the D file. You can see the letter here D and it also falls under the fifth rank. So we are going to write D5 or a pawn movement. So if we move this pawn here, you can see D5 written here. On the other hand, if you want to move a pawn on the side of white, let's say we want to move a different pawn, not on the D file. Let's say we want to move this pawn over here. Want to move this pawn all the way to this square. So, how do we calculate that? Well, first of all, you have to check the file and the rank. This square falls under the A file and under the fourth rank. So, if you move this pawn here, it means you're going to write A4 for the pawn. Now we are going to move this bishop. How do we write this notation? We want to move the bishop to this square. The bishop is denoted using the letter B. So we start with B. If we move the bishop here, we have to check the file and the rank. This is the G file under the fourth rank. So we can say B G4. If you move here, you can see B G4, meaning B for bishop, G for the file, and four for the rank. If you're going to trace G4 on this chessboard, you can check for G and check for four. So that way you have B G4. So when it comes to capturing a piece, we can use X to denote a capture. Now we want to use the black bishop to capture the knight on this square. First of all, you have to write the letter of the piece that is going to capture which is B for bishop followed by an X to denote a capture and then followed by the square where you are capturing the piece. This knight is on the F file which is on the third rank. So we can say bx f3 to denote bishop captures f3 which you can see over here. Now we have a queen being threatened by the bishop and the pawn. Let's say we want to capture with the queen. So this is going to be Q for queen and x for capture. And then the square where we are capturing the piece. We already know from the last move that this square is f3. So we're going to have QX F3 denotes queen captures on F3 which we have over here. Now for checking the king it is denoted using the plus sign. So let's say we move a random piece here and then we are going to check with the bishop. So if we move the bishop over here we have bishop B5 and a plus. So B here denotes the bishop and B5 denotes the square where the bishop is standing on. You can see that this is on the B file which is on the fifth rank and then the plus is used to denote a check. This bishop is directly checking the king. When it comes to castling, let's say this bishop, let's say this pawn blocks this part. Now this is not a normal chess game. We're just using this to see how chess notations work. When castling to the king's side, you can denote that using two zeros or two O's. So, we castle to the king side. You can see in the notation that we have two O's or two zeros. If you're going to castle to the queen side, this would be three zeros or three O's. And with that, you now have a basic understanding. And with that, you now have a basic understanding of how chess notations work. Now, we're going to look at some basic checkmate patterns in chess. When playing with two rooks against a king, your primary objectives should be restricting the king's movements by cutting off squares where it can move to and then keeping your rooks closer to each other and far away from the king. At this point, this king has multiple squares to move to. It can come to this place, this square, this square, this square here, here, here, and here. So we can make out a little box where the king can move to. It is restricted to this area. So in order to restrict the movement of the king, what we can do is to move this rook to E2. That way we've cut off this particular E file. So the king now has a limited amount of space to explore. Now let's say the king moves to F5. This is an attempt to get closer to your rooks because if you happen to play rook to E5 which gives you a check here, the king can easily capture your rook. So the right thing to do here is to stay far away from the king. And the disadvantage the king has is that it can only move to one square at a time. If you move your rook all the way up, the king now has a whole lot of squares to cover in order to get to your rook. So with these arrangements, you can also set up your rooks to limit the space where the king can move to. Now the king has five possible squares to move to. The king can move to F4, F6, G4, G5, and G6. So let's assume the king moves to G6 and attempts to get even closer to your rook. Now the issue with this is the king cannot move past the E5 because you already have a rook blocking that file. And this gives you the opportunity to play a move that checks the king. Now with the check on F8, the king can move back to the E file and this rook is already occupying the F5 meaning that the king is forced to move into the G file. Now, naturally, the king is going to try and capture this rook over here. So, he's going to move to G7. But now, if you can easily move your rook all the way down to the board, now you have more advantages. You've claimed the F file, you've claimed the E file, and you've pushed the king into the G file. And the king also has a long way to go before it even gets to your rooks. At this point, all that is left to do is just to keep pushing the king towards the edge of the board. So if the king moves let's say to G6, you can just check the king with the rook. The king cannot move into the F file. This rook is occupying the G file. So the king is forced to move into the H file. So let's say it moves here. Now you can deliver the checkmate and then the game ends. This is just one way of winning a game where you have two rooks against the king. The whole process is similar. All you have to do is push the king towards the edge of the board by restricting the squares where it can move to and then keep your rooks closer to each other if possible. In some cases, you don't even need to keep your rooks closer to each other. If there's enough space to push the king towards the edge of the board by having the rooks on either sides of the board, then you can still do that. Let's look at another example. In this position, the king is already in a bad spot. It is so far away from the rooks and you have enough space to restrict its movement. If you move your rook here to A6, you're now cutting off this rank, meaning that the king cannot cross over to that part. Similarly, if you move your rook to F4, you've blocked off the F5, restricting the king within the G and the H files. So, let's say you move to A6. The king is not close to your rooks and it's only limited to one square per move. If the king moves here or here or on any of these squares, it's not going to make any difference. So let's say the king moves to F7. You can check on B7. The king cannot proceed past the sixth rank because you're already blocking that rank with your rook. So you are forcing it back into the eighth rank. So if the king moves to any of these squares, you can deliver the checkmates. Now let's look at another example that has the rooks on opposite sides of the board. Now this is another lost position for the black king. You have both rooks on opposite ends of the board and you have the king at the center. The king is nowhere close to them. So it means the more it gets closer to them, the more you restrict its movements. So we can start by playing A6 to check the king. Since we have a rook on the fifth rank, the king cannot proceed there. So the king is forced back into the seventh rank. Let's say the king moves here because this moves it a bit closer to this rook which is going to check it here. So if you check the king on H7, the king is going to move to G8 threatening to capture the rook on H7. At this point he can move to B7. One thing you should not do is blocking your rooks with each other. Now although in this position you can come back from this or in some cases this might become a disadvantage. So always try to keep your rooks diagonal to each other or in a situation where they are not blocking each other from moving freely. So at this point the king is going to move to either F8 or H8. Both moves are useless because the next move ends the game. Now, here's a position you can use for practice. Always keep two things in mind. Keep your rooks away from the king and then try to limit the squares where the king can move to by cutting off files and ranks. Next, we'll look at how to checkmmetate a king with a queen and the king. There are different ways of winning a game when playing with a queen and a king against an opposing king. But one of the most efficient ways is using the knight move method. So this involves moving your queen as though it was a knight. So if for example you check how many squares on the board can put your queen in a position that simulates the move of a knight. You can see for d6 this is a knight move. Another position here would be c5 which also simulates a knight move. Another position here is G3, which is also a knight move. Another position here would be C3. This is also a knight move. Now, as you would see when we start playing this knight moves. This slowly shrinks the box where the king can move to. At this point, the king is limited to this space. But using the knight move, we're going to slowly push the king towards the edge of the board. I'm going to start by moving the queen to D6. The D6 move already shrinks the box. Now, we were here before, which gave us or which gave the king free movement within this area. Now, with the queen on D6, that box shrinks. The king can of course move to any part of the board where it wants to as long as it's not under check. But let's assume that the king moves to E3, which is here. What you have to check next is which other move can I make with the queen that puts it in a position that looks as though it was a knight knight check. So if you move your queen to E5, this is a knight check. if that were to be a knight and that also shrinks the box again. You can see how this box is slowly shrinking. So if the king moves let's say to G4, you can simply come down to F6. This shrinks the box again and at the same point it imitates a knight check on the king. Let's say the king now moves to G3. Again, you have to move your queen to a position that imitates a nice check. So if we move to F5, this looks like a nice check. At the same time, you are shrinking that box. Again, the king can move to either H4, H2 or G2. Wherever it moves to, it still becomes a problem for it. If you can move the queen to a square that imitates a knight check. So let's say the king moves to G2. Now you can move your queen to F4. Again imitating a knight check at the same time shrinking the box. Now the king has three positions to move to or three squares to move to. If the king comes to H3, you can simply move your queen to G5. That way, the king has now been pushed to the edge of the board. If the king moves to G1, you can bring your queen to F3, which is another knight check. So, let's assume that the king moves to G1. You can move your queen to F3. Now the king is going to have one more square to move to which is H2. At this point you can move your queen to G4. You successfully push the king all the way to the edge of the board and your queen is still imitating a nice check. At this point the king can only move to H1. But this is one of the most important things you should have in mind when you get to a position like this. You should not move your queen closer to imitate a nice check because if you do this, it's going to be a stalemate and the game ends as a draw. So if you move your queen to G3, the king has nowhere to go to because all those moves are now illegal. So the game ends as a stalemate. What you should do instead is to bring your king closer. At this point, you've been able to box the king into a corner. The king only has one square or rather two squares to move to H2 and H1. So at this point you can start bringing your king closer. This king is just going to rotate between those two squares while you bring your king closer. And now you can deliver the checkmates. Now, I'm going to play this particular position again with an engine to show you how effective the knight move method is when playing with a queen and a king against a king. So, I'm going to continue from here and play with the computer. The strength for Stockfish is set to level eight, which is the highest. So, we can start now. So I'm going to play the knight move to imitate a knight check on the king. Now Stockfish is going to play. It's moved to E3. So at this point I have restricted the king's movements within this area. And if we are going to use the same knight move method, I am going to move to D5. So let's see where the king moves. The king moves up again. The box is slowly shrinking. I'm going to move back or I'm going to move forward to D4. Shrinking the box further. Now the king moves to F3. At this point, I do not want to move up here because now we reverse the whole position. I am going to come down to E5. I am still shrinking the box and still pushing the king back. The king moves upward. I'm going to move to E4. The box is still shrinking. So, let's see where the king is going to move to. Good. Now, I'm going to move to F3. The king now has one position to move to, which is H2. Now, I am going to move my queen down to G4. Again, we are back into this position. The king can only move to H1. I do not want to move to G3 at this point. Moving to G3 becomes a stalemate. So at this point I can bring my king forward and then we can end the game with a checkmates. So using the knight move method when playing with a king and a queen against a king is very very effective irrespective of the rating range. This method is going to work if you can move to the right squares. We're talking about how to win an endame with a rook and a king. It's very important to understand the concept of direct opposition in chess. Now director position occurs when you have both kings facing each other on the same file or the same rank with a square in between them. Now if you check the possible moves of this white king, you can see that the three squares in front of this king have been cut off. So the white king cannot proceed past these lines because it's in director position with the black king. If you look at this position now and we click on the white king, you can see all the squares where it can move to. Whereas when it is in direct opposition with the black king, the squares in front of it directly opposite to the other king cannot be assessed by the white king. Now we're going to play with a rook and a king against the opposing king. And you'll see how to use direct opposition in combination with other techniques to win an end game like this. We're going to start with this position. Now, right from the start, both kings are in direct opposition with each other. Something we can do here is to check with the rook. This is because even though the kings are not close to each other using the exo position and the check, we can force the black king into the next file or rank. This is because when you deliver a check here with the white rook, you can see that the black king cannot get past these lines because it's in direct opposition with the white king. So it has only these three squares to move to. So let's say the king moves to d6 getting closer to the white rook. At this point you'd want to support your rook with your king so we can move closer to the rook. And then you can see that these two kings again are in direct opposition. If this king doesn't move out of the direct opposition, we are going to have to push it again to the next file or rank. So let's say the king moves here. You can now bring your own king closer to support your rook. At this point, you would want to avoid checks because checking the king just gives it room to escape. If you look closely at the board, you can see that we've put the king into an imaginary box. So, checking the king here is just going to allow it to escape, and you don't want to do that. The idea here is to keep shrinking the box until we push the king to the edge of the board. Let's say black plays to d6. You don't want to check the king here because he just moves back to this spot. So the best thing to do here is to play to C5. This way the box shrink and the king cannot escape past the C file. If the king moves to another position, you can still cover up. Now the D file has been claimed. The king cannot go past the D file. And this box is shrinking. So if the king moves up, you can bring your king forward. If you check here, the king moves to the D file. And remember, we already have control of the D5. And we don't want the king to escape through the D file. So in a position like this, moving your rook is not very wise. If you move your rook here, the king escapes and then you have to start all over again to shrink the box. So instead, you can bring your king forward so that if the king plays, do not give a check again. Giving a check lets the king escape. Right now, moving your king is the best approach. That way, you maintain your hold over this box and then force the king to make a move. At this point, the king has three possible squares to move to. If it moves here, you can cover up this space. If the king moves up, you can bring your king up. Remember, do not check the king here because it just escapes. So, you can bring your king up to F5. Now the king again has three squares to move to. Let's say it moves to G7. At this point you can deliver a check. If you have your kings in this sort of position where they form an L shape as though your king was a knight, you can deliver a check with your rook. Now if the king moves to F8, you can bring your king forward. Now you can see that this particular box has shrked all the way to the edge of the board. So now let's say the king moves to f8. You can bring your king forward. Now this king has only one square to move to. So we're going to take that square. The king moves to g8. At this point you just want to move away with your rook. You are now in a territory where this king must be forced into direct position with the white king. You don't want to move the white king because the black king will just move back. So at this point move away with your rook and then the black king cannot come here because that becomes direct opposition. It has only two squares now to move to H8 and E8. So when it moves to H8, you can move your own king forward to the G file. On the G file now the black king has only one legal move to play which is G8. Now they are in direct opposition. Remember when two kings are in direct opposition, the three squares in front of them are inaccessible. So you can simply move your rook to A8 to end the game. In this section of the course, we're going to go over more checkmate patterns, but these ones may happen at any point in your game. You can either set them up and plan and execute them on your own or they may actually happen by chance. The goal here is to try and understand how these patterns work so that you can recognize them in your games. The first pattern we're going to talk about here is the back rank mates. The back rank mates happens when the king has three of its pieces blocking it. As you can see here, if we move the rook to D8, this becomes a checkmate because the king has nowhere to escape from. So a back rank mate involves a king trapped behind its own pieces. And in most cases, those pieces are usually three pawns. So if I move here to checkmate the king, the game ends. Now this is the second position. Still, we're still dealing with the back rank mates. But in this case, we're going to have to trade pieces in order to arrive at the mates. If you look closely, the rook on the E file is attacking a rook on the back rank. Now, if we trade this rook for this, we are forcing this one to capture it. At that point, we have our queen to deliver the checkmate. So, if we play rook captures, we now have a queen threatening this piece. But now if you look very closely, we have three pawns blocking the king's escape. So if we capture this, the game ends. This is another version of the pack rank mates. Now we have the king trapped in the A file. It has no escape. Its pawns are already on the same line. In the other lesson or in the other puzzle, we saw that the pawns were positioned on the seventh rank. In this case, you just have to move your rook to A1. Deliver the checkmates. This is another position that leads to a back rank mate. If you look closely, this king has an escape route, but the queen is blocking that position. You are going to have to sacrifice your queen to deliver a back rank mate. And this is something you have to get used to in chess. In some cases, you have to trade pieces in order to get the desired results. So, you may have to trade a powerful piece in order to checkmates. If we move our queen to F7, we're going to check the king. But if you look, the king cannot move to the F5. So, we're going to have to force the king to move into the H file. So, if we check here, the king is going to have to move. Now the king is in a bad position because two pawns are blocking his escape and the queen is already blocking here. At this point you have enough space to checkmates the king because if you move here you are going to force the bishop to capture. So if we move to F8 the bishop has to capture at this point you can capture the bishop and end the game. When we capture this bishop with the rook, the king cannot get closer. The king cannot escape through these routes because they are blocked. So the capture ends the game. This is another checkmate pattern called an aers mate. In this case, you have a knight blocking the safe path for the king and a rook ready to deliver a check and end the game. In this case, you can see that the king is already at the edge of the board. If you check with the rook, the rook already controls the H5 that the king is on. But then the king cannot escape to G6 or to G8 because you have a knight blocking those squares. So if we play rook to H5, the game ends. This is the second position that we're going to look at to study how an aers mate works. Now, if you look at the board, it looks as though white has more advantage at this point is black's turn to play. This king has the H2 square open. And then if you look closely, we have a knight that can deliver a check on E2. If you play a check on E2, you are going to pause the king to do either of two things. move to H1 or move to H2. Now, it doesn't look like much is happening until you see that we have a rook that can proceed to the H5 square. If the king moves to H1, the game still ends. If you play your rook to H5, this king cannot return to the G square because we have a knight protecting these two squares. Alternatively, if the king had moved to H2, it becomes the same problem because now the knight controls G1 and G3 and the king has only the G5. So if we play the rook again, the king is trapped. The king cannot proceed to G3 because the knight protects that square. The king cannot proceed to G1 because the knight is protecting that square as well. And now with the check on the H f pile, the game ends. So let's go over some of the Anastasia's mate patterns on lees. So in this pattern, we're going to have to trade our queen. If you look closely, we already have a knight on E7. And this knight is already attacking these two squares with the king at the edge of the board. But we need to force the king to get out of this position where it can be exposed for a check on H5. The queen can easily capture this piece and still have advantage in the game. But a better move here would be playing queen to H7. What does this move do? Well, when you play to H7, now you're forcing the king out of where it's being protected by the pawns and the rook. So if we play queen to H7 and capture, we are forcing the king out of his position. And now we can move rook to H5 to end the game. With rook to H5, the king cannot move to G6 and the king cannot move to G8 because the knight protects those squares and then the game ends. This is another position where we have to trade pieces. So again, we're going to have to check the king first to move it to the edge of the board. Now, we're going to have to do the same thing. We have to sacrifice the queen on H7 to force the king out. So, if you play to E7 and capture the king, the king moves out and you can deliver a checkmate here. This is another position where you can practice an ASM. As you can see, this game looks like it's still in the middle game, which is a clear example that you don't need to be in an end game to win a game in chess. The game can still be starting or be in the middle game, and you can still win. If we look closely, we have a knight that can check the king on E2. Checking the king on E2 forces it to move to the edge of the board on H1, which sets up another move where the queen can force it out of where it's hiding. and then having a rook here that can deliver a checkmate. So if we play the check first, the king moves to the edge of the board. The king cannot return to this position anymore because we have a knight protecting that square. Similarly, the knight is protecting this square. And now we are going to use the queen to capture the pawn to force the king out. Now with the king out of its position behind the pawns, we have a rook that can deliver a checkmate on H6. If we play H6, the knight protects this spot and protect this square. So the king cannot move to either of those squares. So this ends the game with the rook on H6. The sm shows how powerful the knight can be in an endame. In this position, the king looks as though he's being protected by the rook and the pawns in front of it. But a knight has an advantage over other pieces in chess. The fact that it can jump over pieces and its attack can go over other pieces. Now, if you put the knight on F7, this king has no way to escape from. It's being blocked by its own pieces. So, if we play to F7, this game ends. And this is what is called a smothered mate in chess. This is another position. Now we have to deliver a smothered mate. We have a queen attacking the H7 square. And we have a knight that can also go to that position. At this point, white is down a piece. So what we can do is force this queen to block H7. If we capture the pawn on H7, the king cannot capture since there's a knight attacking that square. So now we are forcing the queen to capture H7 and block that square setting it up for his smile mates. So if we play queen captures the pawn on H7 we are forcing this queen to occupy that square hereby trapping the king behind them and now you can deliver a smthered mate. This is another position that shows how you can use the smothered mates to your advantage. In this case we want this square to be blocked. If you have a black piece on this square, it means that the king has no escape routes. It's being blocked by its own pieces. You can trade your queen in order to achieve that result. If we play our queen to G8, the king cannot capture on G8 since there's a bishop protecting that square, forcing this rook to move back. So, if you play here, the rook has to move back. And now instead of capturing, this is something most beginners might think of doing, capturing a rook, which is a powerful piece. If you capture the rook, the king captures back and then the king now has a place to escape from. The best thing to do here is to play knight to f7. With knight on f7, you are checking the king. At the same point, the king cannot escape through any of the squares because it's being blocked by its own pieces. So we play knight to f7. The game ends. The opera mate usually involves a rook delivering a check in the back rank or file, a bishop covering this diagonal line where the king can escape from and a piece or multiple pieces of the king blocking its escape routes. In this case, if we deliver a check with the rook on D8, the king has no way to escape from. This part is already blocked by the bishop and the pawn here blocks the king from escaping through that shrank or fire. So, this delivers a checkmate. This is another example of the opera mates. We're going to have to trade our queen in order to end this game. You can already see a bishop protecting that line. Now the king is being blocked by a pawn where it can escape from. And this line also is being protected by the bishop. So if we trade our queen, we are forcing this bishop to capture. Here we have another rook that can check the king over here. With this check, this line is blocked since the rook already protects that line. The bishop protects the rook as well on D1. So with this, the game ends. Congratulations on finishing this course. You can continue improving and learning more advanced checkmates patterns by improving other aspects of your game like strategy, tactics, opening principles, solving puzzles, and so on. You can also practice by playing against other humans or engines. One good place to do that is on less.org. It's free, has an active community, and a ton of tools to help you improve. Thank you for your time, and good luck on your journey.