A double check is a move that puts the enemy king in check from two pieces at the same time. It is the most forcing move in chess: no block and no capture can answer both checks, so the king has to move. The puzzles on this page come from real games, are matched to your puzzle rating, and all use a double check.
Almost every double check is a discovered check where the piece that moves also gives check from its new square. A bishop, rook or queen stands behind one of your pieces on a line to the king. That front piece moves to a square where it checks the king too, and now two pieces are giving check.
Because the two checks come from different directions, blocking one leaves the other, and capturing one checker leaves the other. The only legal answer is a king move. If the king has no safe square, a double check is checkmate, however many defenders are nearby.
A famous short game, Réti against Tartakower in Vienna, 1910, ends with a double check. After 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nf6 5.Qd3 e5 6.dxe5 Qa5+ 7.Bd2 Qxe5 8.O-O-O Nxe4, White sacrifices the queen with 9.Qd8+, and Black takes it with 9...Kxd8.
Now 10.Bg5+ is double check. The bishop checks from g5 along the diagonal, and moving it off d2 opens the d-file for the rook on d1. Black's only legal moves are the king moves 10...Kc7 and 10...Ke8. After 10...Kc7, 11.Bd8 is mate. After 10...Ke8, 11.Rd8 is mate. Black still had a queen and a knight, and neither could help.
Start the same way as for a discovered check: find your line piece aiming at the enemy king through one of your own pieces. Then ask whether that front piece has a square from which it also attacks the king. Knights are especially good at this, because a knight check cannot be blocked either.
Then look at the king's escape squares. If every square next to it is attacked or occupied by its own pieces, the double check is mate. Double checks are often worth a large sacrifice beforehand, as in the example, because the king cannot use its defenders to answer.
The attacker's usual mistake is settling for a single discovered check when a double check was available, which gives the defender the chance to block or capture. The defender's mistake is looking for a block or a capture that seems to save the position. Against double check there is none: only king moves are legal, so look at the king's squares first. In puzzles, a third mistake is refusing the sacrifice that sets up the double check because it gives away too much material.
In each puzzle, look for a line piece aimed at the king through one of your own pieces, then ask where that piece could land with check. If you are stuck, the hint shows the piece first, then the move. After you solve, the full line appears beside the board, so check which two pieces gave check and why the king ran out of squares.
For mixed tactics at your level, use Puzzle Training. Puzzle Storm trains speed, the Woodpecker Method repeats a fixed set until it is automatic, and Elo Maxing serves the motif you are weakest at. Pattern Drill works from positions in your own games. Double checks often lead into mate in 2 and mate in 3 finishes. To see how missed tactics add up in your own games, read how to learn from your chess mistakes.
A move that gives check with two pieces at once, usually a discovered check where the moving piece also gives check.
Only by moving the king. A block or capture can deal with one checking piece but not both.
No. It is checkmate only if the king has no safe square to move to. Otherwise the king steps away and the game goes on.
In a discovered check only the uncovered piece gives check. In a double check the piece that moved gives check as well.