Arabian mate puzzles
84 free arabian mate puzzles from real games, rated 678 to 2375. Solve them on the board below; your accuracy feeds your weakness map.
What is a arabian mate?
The Arabian mate is one of the oldest known checkmates: a knight protects the rook, which mates the king in the corner. The knight also covers the king's only escape square.
It shows up most often in endgames and late middlegames when the king has run to the corner for safety.
Common mistake
Checking with the rook before the knight is in place. The order matters.
How to spot it
Is the enemy king in or next to a corner?
Can your knight reach the square two diagonals from the corner (f6 vs. a king on h8)?
With the knight there, a rook check on the 7th rank or h-file is often mate.
Related themes
- Mate in 1One move, game over. Train the reflex.
- Mate in 2A forcing move, then the finish.
- Mate in 3Longer forcing lines. Calculation practice.
- Back-rank mateThe king trapped behind its own pawns.
- Smothered mateA knight mates a king boxed in by its own pieces.
Let the adaptive drill find your weakest pattern
Puzzles: Lichess puzzle database (CC0), filtered for popularity and play count. See how Weakspot works.