This game collection is meant to help my students review the simplest Box Mate, where no other chessmen populate the board besides a Rook and King against a King. One insignificant Pawn may appear on either or both sides, just for widening the range of games to be included.

This mating pattern is among the most elementary and essential checkmate patterns for a beginner to learn quickly. It is very similar to the Back Rank Mate, but no defending Pawns are in the mix. Some chess writers consider the Box Mate to be among the four basic mate patterns that every chess player should know. I most certainly agree with this position!

It is important for beginners to understand that the Box Mate is the ONLY way for the Rook and King vs. King endgame to be solved. The targeted King must be pushed to the edge or into a corner for this checkmate to be possible.

Thus, each case requires the attacker to follow three key steps:

1-- Make the space of the King get smaller and smaller.

2-- Push the King to the edge or into the corner.

3-- Use the Rook and King as a team to finish the Box Mate.

Ask your coach why the Waiting Move tactic is usually part of the process of getting this checkmate.

Direct Opposition and Rectangular Opposition are also vital to getting this checkmate. Opposition is a large enough topic to need thorough coverage elsewhere, but for this mate, it is a means of pushing the King off to one side or backwards, then finally covering any escape square with the "Kings' Fence." This is my fanciful name for that set of squares neither King may use-- two Kings must never be placed face-to-face, whether on a diagonal or in front of each other.

To be specific, when the lone King has been brought to the edge of the board, Direct Opposition is required. The Kings are in front of each other with one empty square between them. Such a style, flavor or case of the Box Mate will be labelled with S1. Its "skeleton diagram" is shown below:

click for larger view

Two other styles of the Box Mate are available when the lone King has been relegated to the corner of the board. For the style that needs Direct Opposition, S2 will be the label. Its skeleton diagram is shown below:

click for larger view

The 'last' style needs Rectangular Opposition and its games will be labelled S3, which has the skeleton diagram below.

click for larger view

When FULL begins the game header, that game actually ended as the Box Mate, so it is a full example of the three-step process. (One or two games may have such a trivial ending that some steps were abrogated, though.)

They may also practice running the mate sequence from the lone King position without consulting the actual game. Afterwards, they could compare their results with Stockfish analysis to see if their solution was close to the move count SF gave.

Several games with U14 players are available as well, just not at CG, yet. In some cases, either or both players are masters now.

ChessCoachClark (CCC) originated this game collection in September of 2024 and he updates it on occasion. This project is a work in progress, culling games from various so9urces, including several chess training books and personal research. The games are ordered by date (oldest first), not by importance.

Be well.
Be safe.