Back-rank mate

What is a back-rank mate?

A back-rank mate is a mate on your opponent's back rank. The king stands behind its own pawns, often after castling kingside, and a rook or queen gets onto that rank. The pawns that were meant to shelter the king now hem it in.

The defense is to give the king air, an escape square, by pushing one of the pawns in front of it, for example the h-pawn one step. Against a player who has forgotten, there's often a combination: a sacrifice that deflects the last piece guarding the rank.

This mate turns up at every level, from the first club night to grandmaster games. The puzzles here teach you both to find it and to notice when your own king is in trouble.

How the puzzles work

There are 150 puzzles here. Choose a level above the board. Within each level the puzzles get harder and harder, and when you come back you pick up where you left off.

Your opponent makes the first move, then it's your turn. If you get stuck, Hint shows which piece to move, and Show the solution plays the rest. The theme only shows once the puzzle is done, but here you already know what you're looking for.

In Puzzle training you get puzzles in this theme at your own level, and see how you're doing in each theme.

More puzzles

• Mate in one
• Mate in two
• Mate in three
• Fork
• Pin
• Skewer
• Discovered attack
• Double check
• Sacrifice
• Deflection
• Attraction
• Hanging piece
• In-between move
• Smothered mate
• Promotion
• Endgame
• Rook endgames
• Pawn endgames
• Zugzwang

The puzzles come from Lichess, fetched on October 2, 2026.

Updated November 6, 2026