A hook mate is a checkmate with a rook, a knight and a pawn working together, plus one enemy pawn that takes away a square from its own king. The rook gives check next to the king, the knight protects the rook, and the pawn protects the knight. Every puzzle on this page ends in a hook mate, comes from a real game and is close to your puzzle rating. Solving them moves the same rating as Puzzle Training.
The name comes from the shape the three attacking pieces make. Each one guards the next: pawn to knight, knight to rook. The king cannot take the rook because the knight defends it, and it cannot take the knight because the pawn defends that. Meanwhile the rook's lines and the knight's jumps cover the remaining squares, and the enemy pawn fills the one they do not reach.
Because every link matters, a hook mate is a good test of seeing the whole position. Remove any one of the attacking pieces or the blocking pawn and the mate usually disappears.
Black's king is on e8 with its own pawn on e7, and the f-file is open. White has a knight on d7, a pawn on e6 and a rook on f1. White plays 1.Rf8, and it is checkmate. The rook checks along the eighth rank. The king cannot go to d8, because that square is on the same rank behind it. It cannot go to f7, because the rook covers the f-file. The knight on d7 protects the rook on f8, the pawn on e6 protects the knight, and Black's own pawn on e7 blocks the last square.
Take away the pawn on e6 and play the same move: after 1.Rf8+ the king simply captures the knight on d7. That pawn looks like a bystander, but it is the link that holds the chain together.
The pattern does not only happen on the back rank. In many puzzles the king has already been driven up the board, often into the middle of its own pawns in an endgame. The same chain appears there: a rook checks from an adjacent square, a knight defends it, a pawn defends the knight, and one of the defender's own pawns blocks a square.
An advanced pawn is usually what makes it possible. A pawn that has pushed deep into the enemy half gives the knight a protected post next to the king, and the rook then only needs an open file or rank to arrive.
Go for the base of the chain. If the pawn that protects the knight can be attacked or exchanged, the knight becomes a target for the king and the mate falls apart. Keeping files near your king closed stops the rook from getting its check, and not letting an enemy pawn settle next to your king removes the knight's post. Remember too that your own pawns can become the blocker, so a king that walks in among them needs a free square to spare.
The usual error is checking with the rook before the chain is complete, for example while the knight is still unprotected. The king then takes a piece and the attack is over. Another is confusing the pattern with the Arabian mate, where the king sits in the corner and there is no pawn in the chain. If you are stuck, the hint shows which piece to move first, then the move.
Hook mates are one of the less common patterns, so it pays to meet them in puzzles before they matter in a game. Pair them with Anastasia's mate and the smothered mate, two more mates built around a knight, and with mate in 2 puzzles.
For mixed tactics at your level, use Puzzle Training. For speed, try Puzzle Storm, and to repeat a fixed set until it is automatic, the Woodpecker Method. Elo Maxing rates you on every tactical motif and serves the weakest next, and Pattern Drill builds practice from the patterns your own games show you miss. To see which patterns cost you games, read how to find your chess weaknesses.
A checkmate with a rook, knight and pawn, where the pawn protects the knight, the knight protects the rook, and one enemy pawn blocks the king's last square.
The rook, knight and pawn form a hooked chain around the enemy king, each piece protecting the next.
The knight usually stands next to the king. Without the pawn protecting it, the king would capture the knight and escape.
Attack or exchange the pawn at the base of the chain, keep files near your king closed, and do not let an enemy pawn settle next to your king.