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Mate Monster: Lawnmower mate (1)

You already know the lawnmower mate. You have learned that sometimes you have to move your rooks to the other side of the board before the king can attack them. From their new positions, you can safely apply the lawnmower trick.

In this lesson, you will learn a new technique: a waiting move. A waiting move is a move in which not much happens. You pass to the other player and then you can play a good move.

This may sound a bit vague, but by studying the examples you will come to see how useful a waiting move can be.

Lawnmower mates often involve waiting moves. Once you understand how these work, you are on your way to winning a lot of games!

What do you have to do?

Deliver a lawnmower mate and make use of a waiting move. Your goal is to find the quickest way to checkmate the king.

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White wants to deliver a lawnmower mate.
He would love to move the 6th-rank rook to the 8th rank, but the king will capture.
So, White tranfers his rooks one by one to the right. After that, checkmating is easy.

Suppose, Black were to move.
The king would have no other choice than to step to the right.
White could then move the 6th-rank rook to the 8th row and deliver checkmate.

White uses a smart waiting move to pass the position to Black.
White can move the king or the 6th-rank rook (arrows), but in a way that the mate square is still within reach.