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Chess Quizzes for Beginners : Check and Checkmate
Make sure you've mastered one set of six quizzes before you start the next set.


This series of quizzes is designed to test your knowledge of check and checkmate. Each quiz is a series of seven multiple choice questions based on a specific chess position.

Can you recognize check?

In this first quiz set, you have to count the number of checks available to White.

Can you find checkmate in 1 move?

In the second set, you have to find checkmate in one move.

Can you find checkmate in 2 moves?

Finally, you have to find checkmate in two moves.

If the positions in the quizzes look familiar, there are at least two reasons for this. First, many of the positions are also used in 10 New Puzzle Sets (see the link box in the upper right corner of this page). They are two-move checkmates taken from Fred Reinfeld's 1001 Brilliant Ways to Checkmate. For more about Reinfeld, see the 10 New Puzzle Sets article.

Second, the puzzles used in our three quiz sets above are the same! The seven positions in quiz no.1 for Can you recognize check? are from the same puzzles used in quiz no.1 for both Can you find checkmate in 1 move? and Can you find checkmate in 2 moves?. Similarly, the positions for quiz no.2 through no.6 are related across all three quiz types. The idea is that you can't solve checkmate in 2 unless you can solve mate in 1, and you can't solve checkmate in 1 if you can't recognize check.

Take your time, work through the quizzes in sequence, and make sure you've mastered one set of six quizzes before you start the next set. You'll be well on the road to recognizing checkmate positions in your own games.


 Related Resources
• Introduction to the Rules
• How to Check & Checkmate
• 10 New Puzzle Sets