Mate with queen and king is the very first mate to master. The queen drives the lone king to the edge of the board, but cannot mate alone - the last step is taken by her own king, which defends her and takes the enemy king's escape squares away.
Here the black king stands on e8, at the edge. The white queen on e7 mates right beside the king, defended by her own king on e6 - so she cannot be taken. The squares d7, d8, f7 and f8 are covered too, and there is nowhere to go.
The important subtlety of this mate is avoiding stalemate: until the enemy king is at the edge, do not take all his squares away at once. First push the king to the rim with queen moves a knight's move away, then bring your own king up and mate.
Drag a piece onto the board, or click a piece and then click the squares. The cross beside the pieces sweeps every piece of that colour off the board, and a single piece can be dragged off the edge.
The pieces will be arranged into the chosen pattern.
It is the mating side to move. Find mate in one.
Openings, endgame positions and breakthrough studies - the set-up appears on the board.
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