The ladder mate with two rooks is one of the simplest endings there is. White to move. The two rooks mate without their own king taking any part: one cuts the king off along a line while the other checks from the next one.
White has the king on h1 and rooks on g1 and g2; Black has a lone king on e3. White to move, and the position is trivially won. The ladder works like this: one rook checks along the rank the king stands on, forcing him a step towards the edge; then the other rook checks along the next rank - and so on until the edge, where mate arrives.
The one rule is never to leave a rook where the king can attack it: if the king approaches, swing that rook to the far side of the board and carry on squeezing. This mate is worth drilling until it is automatic.
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.
Build your own position in the board editor, read up on the rules of chess or run a tournament on your own positions in the free app.
The Vibe Chess app opens from a link and needs no installation. Setting up a tournament takes a minute: pick the system, set the date, the venue and the time control - the app handles the rest.
Sign up to the Vibe Chess bot on Telegram - it carries the schedule of meetups and chess events across the cities we run in.
