One of the first chess strategies that every beginner needs to learn is how to checkmate the opponent.  So many beginners’ games end as a draw simply because the superior side doesn’t know how to turn an overwhelming material advantage into a checkmate.

I faced the same problem when teaching my children how to play chess, and I came up with a simple set of rules for checkmating the opponent’s bare king when you have a king and queen.

Here are the rules:

Get your king in the center;
Make the box smaller;
Cut off the row;
Get the king in position;
Checkmate with the Queen, 1, 2, 3.

The first rule is to get your king in the center.  If your opponent has his King in the center (and he should) you will need to use your Queen together with your King to drive him out, but it shouldn’t be too difficult to do.

The second rule is to make the box smaller.  What I mean by a “box” is this: if you draw imaginary vertical and horizontal lines from your Queen to the edges of the board, you will see 1, 2, or 4 rectangular boxes.  Your opponent’s King will be in one of those boxes.  He will try to keep his King in the biggest box; your job is to make the box that the opponent’s King is in smaller and smaller, one step at a time.  You do this by moving your King and Queen together to constrict the space your opponent has available.

Third, you cut off the row.  That is, eventually your making the box smaller will drive your opponent’s King to one of the edges of the board.  When your opponent’s King stands on a square at the edge of the board, use your Queen to occupy the adjoining row (it can be either a vertical row or a horizontal row), which will keep him permanently stuck on the edge.

Fourth, get your King in position for the checkmate.  Specifically, move your King to a position directly opposite your opponent’s King.

Fifth, checkmate with the Queen, one, two, three.  “One, two, three” refers to the pattern that the pieces will make in the final position.  The opponent’s King will be on the edge of the board, one; your Queen will be in a line next to the opponent’s King in the next row, two; and three, your own King will stand next to the Queen, protecting it from capture.

The ability to checkmate your opponent is one of the first chess strategies you should master.  You can look at the video I’ve uploaded to see how to do this; I even show how my seven-year-old daughter used these rules to checkmate me … in practice, of course.