Mate in 1 puzzles

Every position here has a checkmate in exactly one move. It sounds easy, and many are - but these puzzles train the most valuable habit in chess: before anything else, look at every check.

Players of every level miss mates in one in their own games, usually because they were busy with a plan. Solving a few dozen in a row makes the pattern jump out at you.

How to spot it

• Look at every check first, even the ones that give a piece away.
• Count the king's escape squares. A mate is a check that leaves none.
• Queens and rooks on open files and ranks deliver most of them.