How the solutions work · counted by a rules engine
What a typical mate in 1 solution looks like
Sample: 25,000 mate in 1 puzzles (2.8% of all 894,029).
100% need 1 solver move. Median rating: 916 for the shortest solutions, 916 for the longest.
60.6% open with a queen move. The first move captures in 42.7% and gives check in 100%; 100% end in checkmate, 0% involve a sacrifice, 54.3% have White to move.
42.7%first move captures
100%first move gives check
100%end in checkmate
0%involve a sacrifice
How many moves does the solver need?
1 solver move
100% · median rating 916
Which piece plays the key move?
Key move by a queen
60.6%
Key move by a rook
24.7%
Key move by a knight
7.7%
Key move by a bishop
4.4%
Key move by a pawn
2.6%
What does the solver win?
Captures nothing along the line
57.3%
Most valuable capture: pawn
27.5%
Most valuable capture: rook
9.1%
Most valuable capture: bishop
2.4%
Most valuable capture: knight
1.9%
Most valuable capture: queen
1.8%
Material balance along the whole line, counting every capture by both sides (pawn 1, minor piece 3, rook 5, queen 9):
No material gained (mating or positional)
57.3%
Up to 2 pawns’ worth
27.5%
3–4 points (about a minor piece)
4.3%
5–8 points (a rook or more)
9.1%
9 or more points (a queen’s worth)
1.8%
How much is left on the board?
28 or more pieces on the board
9.5%
21–27 pieces
39.2%
13–20 pieces
41.3%
12 pieces or fewer
9.9%
How it is counted: every puzzle in the sample is replayed move by move with a chess rules engine. A sacrifice means a piece that is captured on the very next ply and was worth more than what it captured itself (pawn 1, minor piece 3, rook 5, queen 9). Sample of 25,000 puzzles. Percentages are shares of the sample.
Where it happens
Where the key move lands
Where the solver’s first move ends, drawn from their own side (rank 1 is their back rank). Busiest squares: h7 (14.7%), g7 (13.1%), f7 (10.2%), e8 (7.8%), f8 (6.1%).
1.6
2
5.8
7.8
6.1
2.1
4.5
8
1.6
1.7
1.3
2
10.2
13.1
14.7
7
1.3
1.4
2.1
2.3
2.9
6
1.1
1.9
5
4
3
2
1
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
Counted from the same 25,000-puzzle sample. Squares under 1% are left blank.
In the chess glossary
What the glossary says
Checkmate
Often shortened to mate. A position in which a player's king is in check and the player has no legal move (i.e. cannot move out of or escape the check). A player whose king is checkmated loses the game.
Where this page comes from
The text above is adapted from
“Glossary of chess” on Wikipedia,
by its contributors. We kept only the definitions of the terms listed, removed citations, diagrams and navigation templates, and left the wording otherwise unchanged — nothing here was written or rewritten by AI.
The original is published under
CC BY-SA 4.0,
so this section is published under the same licence. You may share and
adapt it, including commercially, as long as you credit the original and keep the same
licence.
Puzzle positions, ratings and move sequences on this page come from real rated games (CC0 data), not from Wikipedia; theme write-ups and difficulty guides
elsewhere on this site are Chess Puzzle Print's own original work and are not covered by
this licence.
Study positions
The most-solved mate in 1 puzzles, from each difficulty level. Play each one on the board, then open the answer for the full line.
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White to move · rating 1026 · solved 16,148 times
· Mate in 1. It ends in checkmate on g7 with the queen. The solver captures a pawn.Reveal line
Opponent's last move: Kh7
Solution: Qxg7#
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Black to move · rating 1071 · solved 15,777 times
· Mate in 1. It ends in checkmate on d2 with the queen.Reveal line
Opponent's last move: Qxg1
Solution: Qd2#
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White to move · rating 1143 · solved 15,847 times
· Mate in 1. It ends in checkmate on b7 with the queen.Reveal line
Opponent's last move: Qxe5
Solution: Qb7#
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Black to move · rating 1219 · solved 13,728 times
· Mate in 1. It ends in checkmate on g1 with the queen.Reveal line
Opponent's last move: Rd8
Solution: Qg1#
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White to move · rating 1351 · solved 5,987 times
· Mate in 1. It ends in checkmate on f4 with the pawn.Reveal line
Opponent's last move: Kg5
Solution: f4#
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Black to move · rating 1391 · solved 7,442 times
· Mate in 1. It ends in checkmate on f2 with the rook. The solver captures a pawn.Reveal line
Opponent's last move: Rah7
Solution: Rxf2#
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Black to move · rating 1410 · solved 6,537 times
· Mate in 1. It ends in checkmate on a4 with the rook.Reveal line
Opponent's last move: Ka6
Solution: Ra4#
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White to move · rating 1647 · solved 2,141 times
· Mate in 1. It ends in checkmate on d8 with the queen.Reveal line
Opponent's last move: Qc2
Solution: Qd8#
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White to move · rating 1735 · solved 1,844 times
· Mate in 1. It ends in checkmate on f7 with the queen.Reveal line
Opponent's last move: Kc4
Solution: Qf7#
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Black to move · rating 1933 · solved 1,899 times
· Mate in 1. It ends in checkmate on f4 with the rook. The solver captures a knight.Reveal line
Opponent's last move: Nxf4
Solution: Rxf4#
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White to move · rating 2006 · solved 768 times
· Mate in 1. It ends in checkmate on f8 with the knight.Reveal line
Opponent's last move: Bf5
Solution: Nf8#
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White to move · rating 2047 · solved 950 times
· Mate in 1. It ends in checkmate on f7 with the queen. The solver captures a pawn.Reveal line
Opponent's last move: Rg6
Solution: Qxf7#
Positions and move sequences come from real rated games (CC0 data). Engine evaluations, where shown, are stored evaluations of the position (CC0).
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