checkmate

"I managed to checkmate myself," said Grant, "which as far as I'm aware, has never been done"

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

And even though a cellphone can now checkmate Garry Kasparov, artificial intelligence hasn’t managed to concoct a foolproof plan to win every time.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026

As Kagan put it, “if this isn’t checkmate, it’s close.”

From Salon ● May 12, 2026

But the moment Washington forced an error by the Broncos’ defense, the Huskies called checkmate.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 14, 2025

Galileo’s discovery of the moons of Jupiter was not like checkmate, or winning a race: he did not plan for it or see it coming.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

The finale presents a remarkable range of checkmates for the hapless Black king: 24.

From Washington Times ● Mar. 21, 2023

Rxa8, and White soon to be queened pawn will help deliver checkmates in a couple of moves.

From Washington Times ● Nov. 8, 2022

She exploits every scrap of ironic humor, as Richard gloatingly checkmates all who stand in her way.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 19, 2018

Karjakin threatened no less than four checkmates, and there’s no way Carlsen could have sidestepped them all.

From Slate ● Dec. 1, 2016

In sixty seconds flat, she checkmates her opponent’s king.

From "Warcross" by Marie Lu

But unlike the megahits “Cats” and “Phantom of the Opera,” “Chess” was checkmated shortly after it arrived in New York in a swell of London fanfare.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 22, 2026

"She's almost checkmated herself. She can't U-turn. And pressing on seems terminal too," a former Downing Street spinner observes.

From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2022

It insisted the game was a draw, even though I had thoroughly checkmated my kid.

From The Verge ● Nov. 5, 2021

The game overwhelmed her at first, so many pieces and movements, but years passed and progress was made, and eventually she checkmated her dad.

From Washington Post ● Jun. 14, 2018

Papa had just checkmated Jaja when we heard the martial music on the radio, the solemn strains making us stop to listen.

From "Purple Hibiscus" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

That is as humiliating as it gets — to have somebody say, “You suck, Uncle Jake,” spelled wrong while checkmating me.

From New York Times ● Jan. 27, 2024

Partly that was because of the checkmating defense by his old coach, Bill Belichick, and partly it was the pelting rain and chill winds, which had once been his home-field allies.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 4, 2021

Harris was also asked about Chargers receiver Keenan Allen’s dismissive comments about Harris last week after the Broncos star cornerback was primarily responsible for checkmating the league’s top receiver in Denver’s 20-13 win.

From Washington Times ● Oct. 15, 2019

They imagined they could corral him and use him to achieve their own purposes, such as checkmating labor unions and reasserting German strength.

From Washington Post ● Jul. 19, 2018

The other was under the command of Michael Roburoff, who was busy in America and Canada perfecting the preparations for checkmating the designs of the American Ring, which were described in a former chapter.

From The Angel of the Revolution A Tale of the Coming Terror by George Chetwynd Griffith