4 move checkmate chess how to#

The disadvantage of this move is that it prevents the knight on f6 from developing and exposes the queen to attacks.Īll of these moves are better than playing Nf6, which allows White to play Qxf7# and deliver Scholar’s Mate. It also targets White’s queen (if it’s on f3), forcing her to retreat or swap. This move also defends the e5-pawn and protects the f7-pawn. The disadvantage of this move is that it prevents the dark-squared bishop from developing and exposes the queen to attacks. It also allows Black to later castle Queenside, which is safer than casting Kingside. This move defends the e5 pawn while simultaneously protecting the f7 pawn. If White continues with Qf3, Black can gain room and attack White’s bishop by playing Nf6 and subsequently d5. It also prepares to fianchetto the dark-squared bishop on g7, forming a solid pawn structure and controlling the long diagonal. This move eliminates the mate threat while simultaneously attacking the queen if it is on the h5 square. There are three main ways to defend against Scholar’s Mate: Black can take advantage of this by playing moves that counter White’s threats and also improve Black’s position. White is wasting time by moving the queen and neglecting the development of the minor pieces and the king’s safety. The first thing to notice is that Scholar’s Mate relies on White playing e4, Bc4, and Qh5 in the opening, which are not the best moves for developing the pieces and controlling the center. Therefore, inevitably your opponent will gain an advantage of lead in development or better control of the center. This will lead to a loss of time as that tempi could’ve been spent better in developing the pieces and castling. You will be forced to move the queen at some point. threatening a one-move mate on the f7 square. This is because once your opponent has successfully defended against your only threat, i.e.

4 move checkmate chess how to#

However, you should not rely on it too much, as it can backfire if your opponent knows how to counter it or punish your early queen moves. You can use it as a surprise tactic or a psychological trick to intimidate your opponent. The Scholar’s Mate can also be used as a weapon if you know how to set it up and recognize when your opponent is falling for it. How to use the Scholar’s Mate to your advantage? Here is an example of all the ways how the Scholar’s Mate can happen in a game: This strategy of Scholar’s mate is naïve and one-sided and can backfire easily as we will see later in the article. Is it worthwhile strategy to spend so many tempi to attack a point that might not even be helpful in the long run? You can attack points like b7 or h7 to win a pawn, but you must ask the question. This is the basis for the Scholar’s mate. Now thinking logically, we would get the most benefit by attacking the f7 point, Because the game’s ultimate goal is to checkmate the opponent king. When the game starts both white and black sides have certain weak points in their camp which are defended by only one piece.

The fundamental idea of Scholar’s mate comes from the concept of weakly defended points.

This delivers a checkmate, as the king cannot escape or block the attack. The basic idea is to move your queen to h5 (or h4 if you are black), then to threaten f7 (or f2) with the support of your bishop on c4 (or c5). The Scholar’s Mate is a checkmate pattern that involves attacking the enemy king with your queen and bishop, while the king has little or no protection from its pieces. In this article, we will learn everything about the Scholar’s Mate. But according to the database, nearly 700,000 games have ended with this checkmate! Finishing the game off in four moves might seem difficult and not so frequent. This is called the Scholar’s Mate, one of the most common patterns beginners fall for. If you’re new to chess, you may have heard about a quick strategy to win in four moves.