Tactics / Back-Rank Mates

Back-Rank Mates

Punish the king trapped behind its own pawns.

When the king is boxed in on its first rank by its own pawns, a rook or queen on that rank delivers mate. The most common mating pattern in real games — and the easiest to overlook.

Drawn from 123,000+ rated puzzles taken from real games — rated to your level.

More tactics