Rules · 4 min read

Check, Checkmate, and Getting Out of Check

What check means

Your king is in check when an enemy piece is attacking it, that is, when a piece is positioned so that it could capture the king on the next move. Check is not the end of the game; it is a warning that must be answered right now. You are not allowed to ignore it and do something else on the board. Until your king is safe, nothing else is legal.

The three ways out

There are exactly three ways to answer a check. First, move the king to a square where it is no longer attacked. Second, block the check by placing one of your own pieces between the attacker and your king, this works only against sliding pieces like a rook, bishop, or queen, since you cannot block a knight or a pawn. Third, capture the piece that is giving check, removing the threat at its source. If at least one of these is possible, you must do one of them.

When there is no escape

If your king is in check and none of the three answers is available, no safe square, no way to block, no way to capture the attacker, then it is checkmate, and you lose. So checkmate is nothing more than a check you cannot escape. Everything you learn about attacking the king is really about slowly stripping away all three of these escapes at once.

A special case: double check

Sometimes a single move gives check with two pieces at once, usually through a discovered attack. This is called double check, and it has a strict consequence: you cannot block it and you cannot capture your way out, because removing one attacker still leaves the other. The only legal response to a double check is to move the king. Knowing this can help you both deliver crushing attacks and defend calmly when one lands on you.