How to Use checkmate in a Sentence

checkmate

1 of 2 verb

• In fact, that's the only way to win a game of quantum chess, since there is no check or checkmate possible.
  — Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 11 Dec. 2021
• But Icahn saw that plan as an opening to checkmate his opponent.
  — Shawn Tully, Fortune, 5 Apr. 2022
• The Albertsons deal is the only way to checkmate their out-of-control growth.
  — Gretchen Morgenson, NBC News, 5 Nov. 2022
• The players also had the option to checkmate the king in just three moves with a much less familiar sequence.
  — Merim Bilalić, Scientific American, 1 Mar. 2014
• Brown checkmates most defensive backs and should still post big numbers if Philly’s offense runs smoothly.
  — Dan Pompei, The Athletic, 26 Aug. 2024
• Frye likened Lue as a coach to a chess player sacrificing a lesser piece to edge closer to checkmate.
  — Los Angeles Times, 15 Apr. 2022
• These are just the type of weapons China would need to checkmate the United States in Asia.
  — Elbridge Colby, Foreign Affairs, 15 Oct. 2018
• The object of the game is to checkmate your opponent's king by surrounding him with pieces that limit his movements.
  — Faith Karimi, CNN, 6 Dec. 2020
• As the board is set up in the initial shots, Xavier has made many sacrifices but is poised to checkmate Magneto.
  — Eliana Dockterman, Time, 7 June 2019
• In the last episode, Mya checkmated Tommy with one simple question and has proven her wisdom in the pretrial phase.
  — Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 17 July 2024
• There’s far too much yet to happen to know if there’s a chance Cleveland can checkmate the league, but at least the franchise seems to be playing the same game other smart front offices favored for years.
  — cleveland, 29 Mar. 2020
• Pelosi quickly secured the votes to prevent Republicans from overturning the agreement, thus checkmating the deal’s foes.
  — Jeet Heer, The New Republic, 23 Apr. 2018
• Who was the chess master, making each move with precision, making the right gambit, using his pawns, and waiting for the right moment to attack, and then simply calling checkmate?
  — Dan Freedman, Forbes, 22 Oct. 2024
• The Persian word shah mat, or checkmate, indicating a position of no escape, describes the plight of Talhand at the end of the third battle.
  — Diana Gitig, Ars Technica, 7 Sep. 2024
• That would effectively checkmate any effort to investigate, much less prosecute, anyone protected by the amnesty grant.
  — Pierce O'Donnell, The Mercury News, 12 Dec. 2024
• Jackson might be the first to checkmate NFL defenses primarily with his running ability.
  — Childs Walker, baltimoresun.com, 25 Oct. 2019
• The schedule includes no Texan with a solo speaking slot, and no signs of any focus on a state where a Democratic win would amount to checkmate in the Electoral College.
  — Todd J. Gillman, Dallas News, 14 Aug. 2020
• But in a category packed with word-of-mouth sensations, the addictive Queen's Gambit should simultaneously checkmate all four opponents.
  — David Canfield, EW.com, 22 Feb. 2021
• In the event’s final game, Nakamura caught headlines by theatrically throwing reigning Classical world champion Gukesh Dommaraju’s king into the crowd after checkmating him.
  — Eduardo Tansley, New York Times, 14 Feb. 2026

checkmate

2 of 2 noun

• The challenger can force a checkmate with his next move.
• And then in the third round of chess – checkmate.
  — Heather Abbott, CBS News, 17 Nov. 2025
• Here are three great options for time-stopping moves that may lead you to a checkmate.
  — Popular Science, 23 Dec. 2019
• And Callaghan made the two moves that put Canada in checkmate.
  — Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times, 18 June 2023
• Nobody pops out of the womb knowing how to pirouette or plot a sneaky checkmate.
  — Popular Science, 27 June 2020
• So the Olympics, okay, that’s checkmate, that’s the moment an athlete dreams about.
  — Maya Singer, Vogue, 9 July 2024
• So the Olympics, okay, that’s checkmate, that’s the moment an athlete dreams about.
  — Simmone Shah, TIME, 3 Aug. 2024
• But the game of chess scoffs at programmers trying to push it into checkmate.
  — Andrew Moseman, Discover Magazine, 13 Feb. 2011
• This is easily what put Joe Biden over the top here, the checkmate state.
  — NBC News, 8 Nov. 2020
• Perhaps then, there will be a vibe shift in the workplace next year with a clear winner who turns the stalemate into a checkmate.
  — Jane Thier, Fortune, 22 Dec. 2023
• That felt like checkmate again, although Cleveland was forced to return the same personnel.
  — Ben Golliver, SI.com, 30 May 2018
• The quarterback returned it to Harbaugh on the sideline only to have the coach call checkmate.
  — Teddy Greenstein, chicagotribune.com, 17 Nov. 2019
• The match continues — ring, board, ring, board — until there's a checkmate, knockout or a judge's decision.
  — Heather Abbott, CBS News, 17 Nov. 2025
• In that case, however, Anand managed to secure a checkmate after 29 days of play.
  — Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 21 May 2025
• Between sips of coffee, onlooker Joe suggested to George a move which led to a checkmate.
  — Matt Webb Mitovich, TVLine, 9 Mar. 2025
• Strength in numbers is the ultimate checkmate, giving us a distinct advantage.
  — Tom Green | [email protected], al, 19 Aug. 2020
• Beth Harmon makes every checkmate feel as thrilling as a final touchdown at the Super Bowl.
  — Vogue, 13 Nov. 2020
• Chess grandmasters have, in various epochs, played all the way through to the checkmate, rather than ending the game when an opponent resigns early to save face.
  — WIRED, 26 Sep. 2023
• His checkmate came after months of offscreen intrigue surrounding the mid-century thriller, which reached a fever pitch over the week ahead of its debut in Venice.
  — Nardine Saad, Los Angeles Times, 8 Sep. 2022
• Going small to exploit the clunky Timofey Mozgov in 2015 turned out to be checkmate.
  — Ben Golliver, SI.com, 30 May 2018
• In the end, that proves to be the winning play, letting the voices of Michele, Tveit and Christopher carry the show to a triumphant checkmate.
  — Dave Quinn, PEOPLE, 17 Nov. 2025
• Life is a game of chess for these calculating water signs, who are constantly plotting several steps ahead in order to orchestrate an eventual checkmate.
  — Aliza Kelly Faragher, Allure, 31 July 2020
• Life is a game of chess for these calculating water signs, who are constantly plotting several steps ahead in order to orchestrate an eventual checkmate.
  — Aliza Kelly Faragher, Allure, 31 July 2020
• In the second, Eze again ceded the advantage, but ruthlessly capitalised on a costly blunder with a rapid-fire checkmate to seal the win and the tournament.
  — Conor O'Neill, New York Times, 10 May 2025
• Simmons, a sophomore from Duncanville just south of Dallas, has certainly racked up his share of checkmates over the past two seasons with 20 total sacks.
  — Thomas Jones, Austin American Statesman, 28 Dec. 2025
• Online, giddy takes on Operation Epic Fury described it as a checkmate move against China, rather than a war of choice against Iran.
  — Andy Browne, semafor.com, 2 Mar. 2026
• What is missing is the recognition that Russia has been quietly engineering an energy checkmate that will culminate in the coming winter.
  — Steve Cicala, Forbes, 26 May 2022
• Because what seems like a brutal display of unrequited love was the second-smartest decision Rose made in the whole movie, right after leaving that nude portrait in the safe as a checkmate to her dirtbag fiancé.
  — Alexis Jones, Marie Claire, 22 Nov. 2018
• Del Norte High’s chess team members have increasingly declared checkmate against their opponents, with the team capturing a third-place regional tournament award just four years after it was formed.
  — Elizabeth Marie Himchak, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Feb. 2025
• The aspiring grandmaster eventually found checkmate.
  — Jared Weiss, New York Times, 31 May 2026