Back-rank mate puzzles
A rook or queen mates the king on its back row, where its own pawns stop it escaping.
It is one of the most common ways games end at every level. Defend against it by giving your king a square (moving a pawn in front of it, often called "making luft") before it becomes a problem.
8 real puzzles from games on Lichess, easiest first, rated 497 to 2478. The course has 432 back-rank mate puzzles in all.
Puzzle 1 · rated 497
White just played Rxd4. Black to move.
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30... Re1#
Puzzle 2 · rated 691
Black just played Rxe8. White to move.
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25. Rxe8+ Nf8 26. Rxf8+ Rxf8 27. Rxf8#
Puzzle 3 · rated 829
Black just played Nf2+. White to move.
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22. Rxf2 Rxf8 23. Qxf8+ Rxf8 24. Rxf8#
Puzzle 4 · rated 1042
White just played Qxg8. Black to move.
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27... Qxf2+ 28. Kh1 Qxe1#
Puzzle 5 · rated 1303
White just played Rexd6. Black to move.
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23... Qxd1+ 24. Rxd1 Rxd1#
Puzzle 6 · rated 1623
White just played Qg8. Black to move.
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28... Qxf2+ 29. Rxf2 Rd1+ 30. Rf1 Bd4+ 31. Kh1 Rxf1#
Puzzle 7 · rated 1985
Black just played Nd4. White to move.
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27. Qxf8+ Kxf8 28. Nd7+ Kg8 29. Re8#
Puzzle 8 · rated 2478
White just played Nxf8. Black to move.
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25... Qg5 26. f3 Qe3+ 27. Kh1 Qxc1+ 28. Qe1 Qxe1#
Free, no sign-up. Puzzles come in order of difficulty and the ladder adjusts to how you solve.
‹ Mate in 4 · Smothered mate ›
Puzzles from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0). Every line was replayed move by move by the course's rules engine. Part of Chess Path, a free chess course. Free coach for your Chess.com and Lichess games.