To surprise your opponent

Deadly mates

Mistakes opponents really make that end in checkmate. Learn one in a minute and use it in your next game.

  1. If your opponent plays 3...Nf6 · Early Queen Attack (Scholar's Mate) · Basic

    Mate in 4 moves: 1.e4 e5 2.Qh5 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Qxf7#

  2. If your opponent plays 4...Bc5 · Early Queen Attack (Scholar's Mate) · Basic

    Mate in 6 moves: 1.e4 e5 2.Qh5 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nh6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxh6 gxh6 6.Qxf7#

  3. If your opponent plays 4...d6 · Early Queen Attack (Scholar's Mate) · Basic

    Mate in 6 moves: 1.e4 e5 2.Qh5 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nh6 4.d3 d6 5.Bxh6 gxh6 6.Qxf7#

  4. If your opponent plays 5.Nxf7 · Blackburne Shilling Gambit · Basic

    Mate in 7 moves: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 4.Nxe5 Qg5 5.Nxf7 Qxg2 6.Rf1 Qxe4+ 7.Be2 Nf3#

  5. If your opponent plays 6...b6 · Italian Game (Giuoco Piano) · Basic

    Mate in 8 moves: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 4.d4 exd4 5.Nxd4 Nxd4 6.Qxd4 b6 7.Qd5 c6 8.Qxf7#

  6. If your opponent plays 7.O-O · Stafford Gambit · Basic

    Mate in 8 moves: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 Nc6 4.Nxc6 dxc6 5.Nc3 Bc5 6.Bc4 Ng4 7.O-O Qh4 8.g3 Qxh2#

  7. If your opponent plays 6.Bg5 · Stafford Gambit · Basic

    Mate in 8 moves: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 Nc6 4.Nxc6 dxc6 5.d3 Bc5 6.Bg5 Nxe4 7.Bxd8 Bxf2+ 8.Ke2 Bg4#

  8. If your opponent plays 8.Bxc8 · Stafford Gambit · Basic

    Mate in 8 moves: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 Nc6 4.Nxc6 dxc6 5.d3 Bc5 6.Be2 Ng4 7.Bxg4 Qh4 8.Bxc8 Qxf2#

  9. If your opponent plays 6.Bxg8 · Blackburne Shilling Gambit · Basic

    Mate in 8 moves: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 4.Nxe5 Qg5 5.Bxf7+ Kd8 6.Bxg8 Qxg2 7.Rf1 Qxe4+ 8.Qe2 Qxe2#

  10. If your opponent plays 7.b3 · Albin Countergambit · Basic

    Mate in 8 moves: 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5 3.Nc3 exd4 4.Qxd4 Nc6 5.Qxd5 Be6 6.Qxd8+ Rxd8 7.b3 Nb4 8.Rb1 Nc2#

  11. If your opponent plays 7.Nf3 · Albin Countergambit · Basic

    Mate in 8 moves: 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5 3.Nc3 exd4 4.Qxd4 Nc6 5.Qxd5 Be6 6.Qxd8+ Rxd8 7.Nf3 Nb4 8.Rb1 Nc2#

  12. If your opponent plays 8...Nd4 · Fried Liver Attack · Basic

    Mate in 9 moves: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Nxd5 6.Nxf7 Kxf7 7.Qf3+ Ke8 8.Bxd5 Nd4 9.Qf7#

  13. If your opponent plays 7...Kg8 · Fried Liver Attack · Basic

    Mate in 10 moves: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Nxd5 6.Nxf7 Kxf7 7.Qf3+ Kg8 8.Bxd5+ Qxd5 9.Qxd5+ Be6 10.Qxe6#

  14. If your opponent plays 7...b6 · Four Knights Game · Basic

    Mate in 10 moves: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bc4 h6 5.d4 exd4 6.Nxd4 Nxd4 7.Qxd4 b6 8.e5 Bc5 9.Qf4 Nh5 10.Qxf7#

  15. If your opponent plays 8.Nxh8 · Two Knights Defense, Traxler Counterattack · Basic

    Mate in 10 moves: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 Bc5 5.Nxf7 Bxf2+ 6.Kxf2 Nxe4+ 7.Ke3 Qh4 8.Nxh8 Qf4+ 9.Kd3 Nb4+ 10.Ke2 Qf2#

  16. If your opponent plays 9...Ke7 · Fried Liver Attack · Basic

    Mate in 11 moves: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Nxd5 6.Nxf7 Kxf7 7.Qf3+ Ke6 8.Nc3 Nd4 9.Bxd5+ Ke7 10.Qf7+ Kd6 11.Ne4#

  17. If your opponent plays 8...Kg8 · Danish Gambit · Basic

    Mate in 11 moves: 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Bc4 cxb2 5.Bxb2 Nf6 6.e5 Ne4 7.Bxf7+ Kxf7 8.Qf3+ Kg8 9.Qb3+ d5 10.exd6+ Be6 11.Qxe6#

  18. If your opponent plays 7...Bc5 · Danish Gambit · Basic

    Mate in 11 moves: 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Bc4 cxb2 5.Bxb2 Nc6 6.Nf3 Nf6 7.O-O Bc5 8.e5 Ne4 9.Qd5 Bxf2+ 10.Rxf2 Nxf2 11.Qxf7#

  19. If your opponent plays 8.Nxh8 · Two Knights Defense, Traxler Counterattack · Intermediate

    Mate in 11 moves: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 Bc5 5.Nxf7 Bxf2+ 6.Kxf2 Nxe4+ 7.Ke3 Qh4 8.Nxh8 Qf4+ 9.Ke2 Qf2+ 10.Kd3 Nb4+ 11.Kxe4 Qf4#

  20. If your opponent plays 9...Nxc2 · Fried Liver Attack · Basic

    Mate in 12 moves: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Nxd5 6.Nxf7 Kxf7 7.Qf3+ Ke6 8.Nc3 Nb4 9.O-O Nxc2 10.Bxd5+ Ke7 11.Qf7+ Kd6 12.Ne4#

  21. If your opponent plays 7.Ke1 · Two Knights Defense, Traxler Counterattack · Basic

    Mate in 12 moves: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 Bc5 5.Nxf7 Bxf2+ 6.Kxf2 Nxe4+ 7.Ke1 Qh4+ 8.g3 Nxg3 9.Nxh8 Ne4+ 10.Ke2 Qf2+ 11.Kd3 Nb4+ 12.Kxe4 Qf4#

  22. If your opponent plays 8.g3 · Two Knights Defense, Traxler Counterattack · Basic

    Mate in 13 moves: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 Bc5 5.Nxf7 Bxf2+ 6.Kxf2 Nxe4+ 7.Kf1 Qh4 8.g3 Qf6+ 9.Kg2 Qf2+ 10.Kh3 d6+ 11.Kh4 Qf6+ 12.Kh5 Qf5+ 13.Ng5 Qxg5#

  23. If your opponent plays 6.Bxb4 · Albin Countergambit · Basic

    Mate in 13 moves: 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 d4 4.e3 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 dxe3 6.Bxb4 exf2+ 7.Ke2 fxg1=N+ 8.Rxg1 Bg4+ 9.Ke1 Qxd1+ 10.Kf2 Qd4+ 11.Kg3 Qe3+ 12.Kxg4 h5+ 13.Kf5 g6#

  24. If your opponent plays 7...h6 · Four Knights Game · Basic

    Mate in 14 moves: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bc4 Bc5 5.d3 O-O 6.Bg5 d6 7.Nd5 h6 8.Nxf6+ gxf6 9.Bxh6 Re8 10.Nh4 f5 11.Bxf7+ Kxf7 12.Qh5+ Ke6 13.Qxf5+ Ke7 14.Ng6#

  25. If your opponent plays 9.c3 · Two Knights Defense, Traxler Counterattack · Basic

    Mate in 14 moves: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 Bc5 5.Nxf7 Bxf2+ 6.Kf1 Qe7 7.Nxh8 d5 8.exd5 Nd4 9.c3 Bg4 10.Qa4+ Nd7 11.cxd4 Qf6 12.dxe5 Qf4 13.Bb5 Bd4+ 14.Ke1 Qf2#

  26. If your opponent plays 9.Kxf2 · Two Knights Defense, Traxler Counterattack · Basic

    Mate in 14 moves: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 Bc5 5.Nxf7 Bxf2+ 6.Kf1 Qe7 7.Nxh8 d5 8.exd5 Nd4 9.Kxf2 Ng4+ 10.Ke1 Qf6 11.Rf1 Qh4+ 12.g3 Qxh2 13.c3 Qxg3+ 14.Rf2 Qxf2#

  27. If your opponent plays 8.Qf3 · Two Knights Defense, Traxler Counterattack · Basic

    Mate in 15 moves: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 Bc5 5.Nxf7 Bxf2+ 6.Kxf2 Nxe4+ 7.Ke3 Qh4 8.Qf3 Nf6 9.Nxh8 Nd4 10.Bf7+ Ke7 11.Qg3 Qe4+ 12.Kf2 Qe2+ 13.Kg1 Qd1+ 14.Kf2 Ne4+ 15.Ke3 Qe2#