Chess checkmate moves how to#
Chess checkmate moves professional#

As mentioned earlier, exposing the e1-h4 diagonal is never ideal!īlack sacrifices a pawn, but gets their pieces to good squares.

Chess checkmate moves professional#

The Bird’s opening isn’t very popular in professional circles, and there’s a good reason for it. White now checkmates withĪ similar story. Instead, it was better to play 3…Nf6, once again blocking the Queen from attacking the f7-square. Young Beth (the lead character in the TV-series) doesn’t notice it and plays Once again, White is threatening a mate on f7. It’s similar to the one given above but is slightly different. There’s also the popular Queen’s Gambit edition of the Scholar’s Mate. 3) Scholar’s Mate (Queen’s Gambit Edition) Once again, the key is to block the queen from attacking f7-square, which is the weakest spot for Black in the opening.įor more information, see our guide on the Scholar’s Mate. White can play 4.Qf3, renewing the threat of mate, but it’s met with 4…Nf6 now! Instead of 3…Nf6, they could’ve defended the mate after 3…g6! cutting off the Queen from attacking the f7-square. White is aggressive right from the word go!

Chess checkmate moves how to#

Beginners often fall into both the checkmates.īut don’t worry, here I will show you how to refute both of them. This mate has 2 variations - One which they show in Queen’s Gambit, and the other which is a more direct approach. For more information, see our guide on the Fool’s Mate. In the opening, it’s always important to prioritize piece development.Ī beautiful mate! The e1-h4 diagonal is so weak that none of White’s pieces can jump in, despite surrounding the Black king. This makes it impossible to defend any checks on the weakened diagonal.īetter is to play 2.e4 and open the position of the Bf1. Instead, it’s better to play 1.e4, 1.d4, 1.Nf3, or 1.c4 which leads to standard openings.īlack responds smartly opening the diagonal for his queen.Ī horrible blunder. This mate shows exactly why you shouldn’t do it. As a rule, you should never expose the weak e1-h4 diagonal very early in the game. This is one of the worst ways to start a game of chess. As per conventional chess wisdom, only a fool would fall for such a mate. It happens in only 2 moves from the starting position. This is officially the shortest checkmate in chess. 3) Scholar’s Mate (Queen’s Gambit Edition).The On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences. ^ Averbakh, Yuri Lvovich Beilin, Mikhail Abramovich (1972).

^ Fischer, Bobby Margulies, Stuart Mosenfelder, Donn (1972).

Chess: 5334 Problems, Combinations, and Games.

^ a b Hooper, David Whyld, Kenneth (1992).

There are other possible three-move mates for White, such as 1. Further, a similar mate can occur in From's Gambit: 1. Qh5# has been attributed to Masefield and Trinka, although the first player's name has also been reported as Mayfield or Mansfield and the second player's name as Trinks or Trent. Qh5 #.Ī possibly apocryphal variant of the fool's mate has been reported by several sources. This game took three moves!!' One possible sequence leading to the position is 1. The solution in Fischer's book bore the comment 'Black foolishly weakened his King's defenses. A board position illustrating White's version of the fool's mate-with White to mate-was given as a problem in Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess, and also as an early example in a compendium of problems by László Polgár. In both cases, the principle is the same: a player advances their f- and g-pawns such that the opponent's queen can mate along the unblocked diagonal. When the roles are reversed, however, White requires an extra third turn or half-move, known in computer chess as a ply. White can achieve a checkmate similar to the fool's mate. A player may also suffer an early checkmate if the f- and g-pawns are advanced prematurely and the kingside is not properly defended, as shown in historical miniature games recorded in chess literature.Ī problem with White to mate instead, given by Fischer and Polgár. The mate is an illustration of the kingside weakness shared by both players along the f- and g- files during the opening phase of the game. Even among rank beginners, this checkmate rarely occurs in practice. Black can be mated in an analogous way, although this requires an additional move, with White's queen delivering checkmate on the third move. The fool's mate received its name because it can occur only if White commits an extraordinary blunder. The fool's mate can be achieved in two moves only by Black, giving checkmate on the second move with the queen.

It arises from the following moves, or similar: In chess, the fool's mate is the checkmate delivered after the fewest possible moves from the game's starting position. 1620), via Francis Beale (1656)īarnes Opening, Bird Opening, or Grob's Attack