what is mate in chess

In chess, mate or checkmate is a game position in which a players king is in check (threatened with capture) and there is no possible escape. Checkmating the opponent wins the game. The king is never actually captured, and the player loses as soon as their king is checkmated. There are many different ways to checkmate an opponent, including the Scholars Mate, Fools Mate, Back Rank Mate, Smothered Mate, Arabian Mate, Epaulet Mate, Opera Mate, Blackburnes Mate, and Bodens Mate.