Hook mate puzzles
84 free hook mate puzzles from real games, rated 823 to 2410. Solve them on the board below; your accuracy feeds your weakness map.
What is a hook mate?
A hook mate is a rook checkmate where the rook is protected by a knight, and the knight is protected by a pawn. The chain of protection is what makes it work: the king can't capture the rook.
It's a frequent pattern in rook-and-knight middlegames and endgames, and a good test of whether you see piece coordination or just individual pieces.
Common mistake
Checking with an unprotected rook that the king can simply capture.
How to spot it
Is the enemy king near the edge with a rook check available next to it?
Would the rook be protected by a knight? Is that knight itself protected?
Pawn-supported knights on the 6th rank are the usual anchor.
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.