King and Rook Checkmate

The king and rook checkmate is another simple checkmate, but it can be tricky at times.

First, make sure the king can't move forward using your rook.

If the king moves back, move your rook forward.

Do you remember what a knight's distance is?

Move your king a knight's distance away from the enemy king.

If the enemy king moves away from your king, follow him!

But if the enemy king is right in front of your king, move your rook up to give a check.

Your king covers the enemy king's escape, so he has to move toward the edge!

If the king attacks your rook, move the rook to the square right before the edge.

Don't move the rook to the edge yet! You'll see why.

When the king moves again, move your rook to the edge.

When we play this "waiting move", we can move our king to the knight's distance on our turn, not on our opponent's turn.

If we didn't wait, we wouldn't be able to checkmate.

When the opponent's king moves in front of your king, move your rook up.

That's checkmate!

When the opponent's king moves in front of your king, move your rook up.

Here's one way the whole checkmate could have gone if you wanted to see it: