chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

, the scholar's mate is the

checkmate Checkmate (often shortened to mate) is any game position in chess and other chess-like games in which a player's king is in check (threatened with ) and there is no possible escape. Checkmating the opponent wins the game. In chess, the king is ...

achieved by the following moves, or similar: :1. e4 e5 :2. Qh5 Nc6 :3. Bc4 Nf6?? :4. Qxf7 The same mating pattern may be reached by various move orders. For example, White might play 2.Bc4. In all variations, the basic idea is the same: the queen and bishop combine in a simple mating attack, occurring on f7 for

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

or on f2 for Black. The scholar's mate is sometimes referred to as the four-move checkmate, although there are other ways for checkmate to occur in four moves.

History

The scholar's mate was named and described in ''The Royall Game of Chesse-Play'', a 1656 text by Francis Beale which adapted the work of the early chess writer Gioachino Greco. The example given above is an adaptation of that reported by Beale. All of the details are coherent from the modern perspective except for the first moves by each player—if Black's pawn advances only one square, this prevents White's bishop from supporting the white queen to give mate. Beale's text was an early modern account of the

rules Rule or ruling may refer to: Education * Royal University of Law and Economics (RULE), a university in Cambodia Human activity * The exercise of political or personal control by someone with authority or power * Business rule, a rule pert ...

and

tactics Tactic(s) or Tactical may refer to: * Tactic (method), a conceptual action implemented as one or more specific tasks ** Military tactics, the disposition and maneuver of units on a particular sea or battlefield ** Chess tactics ** Political tact ...

of chess, including concepts such as the ability of a pawn to advance two squares on its first move, the '' en passant'' capture, , and exchanges. However, the document treated a then-exotic subject during the early days of

printing Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ...

; consequently the publisher attached a list of errata at the back, following publication. Thus, the text "one houſe" describing the first move (advancing one square) may have been a mistake.

Avoiding the scholar's mate

Unlike the

fool's mate In chess, the fool's mate is the checkmate delivered after the fewest possible moves from the game's starting position. It arises from the following moves, or similar: :1. f3 e6 :2. g4 Qh4# The fool's mate can be achieved only by Black, givin ...

, which rarely occurs at any level, games ending in the scholar's mate are quite common among beginners. It is not difficult to parry, however.

On move 1

After 1.e4, Black can play a semi-open defense instead of 1...e5. Openings such as the French Defense (1...e6) or the

Scandinavian Defense The Scandinavian Defense (or Center Counter Defense, or Center Counter Game) is a chess opening characterized by the moves: :1. e4 d5 This opening is classified under code B01 in the ''Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings'' (). The Scandinavian ...

(1...d5) render the scholar's mate unviable, while other openings such as the

Sicilian Defense The Sicilian Defence is a chess opening that begins with the following moves: :1. e4 c5 The Sicilian is the most popular and best-scoring response to White's first move 1.e4. Opening 1.d4 is a statistically more successful opening for White be ...

(1...c5) make 2.Bc4 a bad move (1.e4 c5 2.Bc4 e6, intending ...d5, gaining time by attacking the c4-bishop and attaining easy ).

On move 3

After 1.e4 e5 2.Qh5 Nc6 3.Bc4, the cleanest way to defend against the mate threat is 3...g6. Should White renew the Qxf7 threat with 4.Qf3, Black can easily defend by 4...Nf6 (see diagram), and develop the f8-bishop later via

fianchetto In chess, the fianchetto ( or ; "little flank") is a pattern of wherein a bishop is developed to the second rank of the adjacent b- or g-, the having been moved one or two squares forward. The fianchetto is a staple of many " hypermodern" ...

(...Bg7).

In other openings

Although a quick mate on f7 is almost never seen in play above beginner level, the basic idea underlying it—that f7 and f2, squares defended only by the kings, are weak and therefore good targets for early attack—is the motivating principle behind a number of

chess opening A chess opening or simply an opening is the initial stage of a chess game. It usually consists of established theory; the other phases are the middlegame and the endgame. Many opening sequences have standard names such as the "Sicilian Defen ...

s. *After 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 (the Two Knights Defense), White's most popular continuation is 4.Ng5, attacking f7, which is awkward for Black to defend. The Fried Liver Attack even involves a

sacrifice Sacrifice is the offering of material possessions or the lives of animals or humans to a deity as an act of propitiation or worship. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks, and possibly exis ...

of the knight on f7. *In the Frankenstein–Dracula Variation of the Vienna Game (1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Bc4 Nxe4), threatening a checkmate with 4.Qh5, similar to the scholar's mate, is the only way for White to play for an advantage. *The Danvers Opening (1.e4 e5 2.Qh5) and the Napoleon Opening (1.e4 e5 2.Qf3) are both aimed at threatening the scholar's mate on the next move (3.Bc4). Although the Napoleon Opening is never seen in high-level competition, the Danvers Opening has occasionally been tried in tournaments by GM Hikaru Nakamura to achieve a practical middlegame position for White.

Other names

Among English speakers, the scholar's mate is also known as ''schoolboy's mate'' (which in modern English perhaps better connotes the sense of 'novice' intended by the word ''scholar's'') and ''Blitzkrieg'' (German for "lightning war", meaning a quick victory). The names of the scholar's mate in other languages are as follows: * in Basque, Catalan, Czech, Dutch, Estonian, Esperanto, French, German, Portuguese, Slovak, Spanish, Turkish: ''shepherd's mate'' * in Czech, Croatian, Danish, German, Hebrew, Hungarian, Polish, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian: ''shoemaker's mate'' * in Belorussian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Russian, Ukrainian: ''children's mate'' * in Bosnian, Danish, Finnish, Macedonian, Norwegian, Serbian, Swedish: ''school mate'' * in Arabic, Greek, Persian: ''Napoleon's mate'' (''plan'', ''trap'', ''move'') * in Italian: ''barber's mate''.

References

Bibliography * * * {{Chess Chess checkmates Chess terminology