What's the difference between check, checkmate, and mate?

Question: What's the difference between check, checkmate, and mate?

Answer:

Don't confuse the terms check and checkmate. They mean two different things.

Check means the King is attacked by an enemy piece; we say that the King is 'checked' or 'in check'. The player whose King is attacked must escape the attack (must 'get out of check').

Checkmate means that the King is attacked and there are no moves to get out of check. The game is over. The player whose King is checkmated has lost. It is not possible to talk about further moves. There are none.

A player's King has to be in check at the time of checkmate. The same move that checkmates the King must be a check. They happen at the same time.

The King is never captured. The game ends when there is no way to prevent it from being captured.

Mate is a short form of the word 'checkmate'. Saying that a King is mated or is checkmated means exactly the same thing.

If a player has no moves, but the King is not in check, the game ends in a stalemate. A stalemate is a draw. Neither player wins. Both players receive 1/2 point for the game.

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