The thing to keep in mind about these early smothered mates is to always be alert when an enemy queen is lined up against your king.

We will see this smothered mate theme a couple of more times in this article. The first time a player sees this checkmating pattern it leaves a long-lasting impression, and for good reason. If Black is not careful then they can get checkmated early, here is one example: The Dutch Defense begins with 1.f5 in response to 1.d4: The Dutch Defense weakens Black's kingside on move one.Īs you can see, 1.f5 takes control of the e4-square early but weakens Black's kingside. There are more than a couple of fast checkmates to know in this opening, including the five-move mate below. The Dutch Defense is an offbeat opening choice but it is employed by players at all levels, from beginners to grandmasters. Watch this great video lesson on Scholar's Mate if you'd like to learn more. Defending against Scholar's Mate is easy! How can you defend against Scholar's mate? Once White has attacked the f7-square with their queen, you simply defend the f7 square with Qe7 or Qf6 or block the queen's attack with g7-g6 (if White's queen is on h5). The bishop will always arrive at the c4-square, as it targets f7 from this square. The queen can go to either h5 or f3 to target the f7-square. This allows both the light-squared bishop and queen to develop on the following moves. After 1.e4, White can develop the queen or the bishop. In order to perform this checkmate, you must start with 1.e4. Here is Scholar's Mate in action: Scholar's Mate happens in only four moves! The concept is simple: White targets the f7-square with both their queen and bishop early, in hopes of delivering checkmate in four moves. Scholar's Mate is usually one of the first checkmates that players learn or experience. We will be seeing the Fool's Mate pattern more in this article. If you are going to move your g-pawn early to fianchetto your light-squared bishop, maybe try moving your g-pawn to g3 instead of the g4 square. This checkmate could have been easily avoided if White had played the normal Grob's attack move 2.Bg2-the checkmate above is just another reminder to keep your f-pawn at home at the beginning of the game.

Grob's attack is one of the few openings that can allow Fool's Mate on move two if White misplays. This is called Fool's mate for a reason-White must make two foolish moves in a row in order for Black to conduct this checkmate. These two moves fatally weaken the e1-h4 diagonal, which Black can move their queen to after moving their e-pawn on the first move. In order for Fool's mate to be performed, White must move their g-pawn up two squares and their f-pawn up one or two squares in the first two consecutive moves. Here is Fool's mate in action: Fool's Mate is the fastest checkmate possible. Don't catch yourself on the wrong side of these checkmating patterns, which all result in checkmate in eight moves or less.įool's Mate is the fastest checkmate possible in chess, and it occurs after only two moves! Don't worry, you can't be forced into this checkmate unless you make two bad moves in a row.

Whether you are a beginner, advanced beginner, or intermediate player, these 10 checkmates are extremely important to know. By learning the following checkmates, you can avoid some quick losses and maybe even notch some quick wins yourself! Learning basic checkmates is one of the most important things a chess player can do when starting their journey through the magnificent labyrinth of chess.

4 move checkmate in chess