What Does "Check" Mean in Chess?
Check means your king is under direct attack by an enemy piece. You must deal with it immediately, you cannot ignore check or make any other move. Understanding check is fundamental to chess.
The definition
A king is "in check" when it is attacked by an opponent's piece. The attacking piece can be any piece: queen, rook, bishop, knight, or even a pawn. When you are in check, you must escape the check on your very next move. No other move is legal.
Your three options
When in check, you have exactly three possible responses:
- Move the king to a safe square that is not attacked.
- Block the check by placing a piece between the attacker and your king (only works against rook, bishop, or queen checks, not knight or pawn checks).
- Capture the attacking piece with any of your pieces (including the king, if the attacker is undefended).
If none of these three options is available, it is checkmate and you lose the game.
Check vs checkmate vs stalemate
- Check: king is attacked, but can escape.
- Checkmate: king is attacked and cannot escape, game over.
- Stalemate: king is NOT attacked, but has no legal moves, draw. See our full stalemate vs checkmate guide.
Special check rules
You cannot castle out of check. You cannot move into check voluntarily. A discovered check occurs when moving one piece reveals an attack by another. A double check (two pieces giving check simultaneously) is the most dangerous, the king must move because you cannot block or capture two attackers at once.