Checkmate HOME PAGE The object of the game of chess is to checkmate the opponent’s king. The game is won by the player who checkmates the opponent’s king by a legal move. Checkmate is when the square occupied by a king is under attack by one or more of the other player’s chessmen, (even if the attacking chessman cannot move) and the check cannot be cured, or parried, by any legal move. BLACK A B C D E F G H 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 A B C D E F G H WHITE The white king is in checkmate. It cannot move to c1 or c2 because those squares are occupied by white chessmen. It cannot move to e1 or e2 because those squares are under attack by the black queen at e7. The king is in check by the black rook at d4 even though that rook cannot move because it doing so would expose the black king to check by the white bishop at a7. The white bishop cannot move to capture the checking rook because this would expose the white king to check by the black rook at h1. The white king also cannot move forward to d2 because that square is also under attack by the black rook at d4.