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Inchess,scholar's mate is thecheckmate achieved by the following moves, or similar:
The same mating pattern may be reached by various move orders. For example, White might play2.Bc4. In all variations, the basic idea is the same: the queen and bishop combine in a simplemating attack, occurring on f7 forWhite or on f2 for Black.
Scholar's mate is sometimes referred to as thefour-move checkmate, although there are other ways for checkmate to occur in four moves. It is used almost exclusively by beginners. Defending against it is very simple, and if it is parried, the attacker's position usually worsens.
Scholar's mate was named and described inThe Royall Game of Chesse-Play, a 1656 text byFrancis Beale which adapted the work of the early chess writerGioachino Greco.[1] The example given above is an adaptation of that reported by Beale.
The Schollers Mate.
White kings pawne one house.
Black kings pawne the same.
White Queen to the contrary kings Rookes fourth house
Black Queens knight to her Bishops third house
White kings Bishop to the queens Bishops fourth house
Black kings knight to the kings Bishops third houseWhite queen takes the contrary kings Bishops pawne gives mate.
— Beale,The Royall Game of Chesse-Play[2]
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 therules andtactics of chess, including concepts such asthe ability of a pawn to advance two squares on its first move, theen passant capture,forks, andexchanges.[3] However, the document treated a then-exotic subject during the early days ofprinting; consequently the publisher attached a list of errata at the back, following publication.[4] Thus, the text "one houſe" describing the first move (advancing one square) may have been a mistake.
According to an article published in the July 1879 issue of theBelgravia, the "mechanical chess-player"Mephisto mated an opponent after six or seven moves:[5]
(...) A few weeks ago he gave the form of mate known as the scholar's mate to a player who inadvertently left the mate open. (It was not given, of course, in the usual way which everyone knows; but still mate came at the sixth or seventh move.) On this Mephisto took his opponent's king from the board and tapped said opponent's nose with the piece, which to say the least did not imply respect for his opponent's powers.
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During the eighth round of theWorld Rapid Chess Championship 2023,Surya Shekhar Ganguly as White was checkmated in 8 moves byMukhiddin Madaminov in aScotch Game that ended in a scholar's mate pattern.[6][7]
Unlikefool's mate, which rarely occurs at any level, games ending in scholar's mate are quite common among beginners. It is not difficult to parry, however.
After 1.e4, Black can play asemi-open defense instead of1...e5. Openings such as theFrench Defense (1...e6) or theScandinavian Defense (1...d5) render the scholar's mate unviable, while other openings such as theSicilian Defense (1...c5) make 2.Bc4 a bad move (1.e4 c5 2.Bc4? e6, intending ...d5, gainingtime by attacking the c4-bishop and attaining easyequality).
Black's defense depends on whether White goes for 2.Qh5 (theDanvers Opening) or 2.Bc4 (theBishop's Opening).
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White does not threaten Qxf7# yet, but does threaten Qxe5+. The cleanest way to defend against this is 2...Nc6, developing a knight and protecting the pawn. (2...d6 is also good.) After 3.Bc4, Black can stop the mate with 3...g6; White can threaten mate again with 4.Qf3, but this can be stopped with 4...Nf6. Black can laterfianchetto the f8-bishop (...Bg7).
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The most popular response to 2.Bc4 is 2...Nf6, theBerlin Defense, which immediately renders the scholar's mate non-viable.
In the continuation 2...Bc5 (the Classical Defense) 3.Qh5, Black can defend against both scholar's mate and the threatened 4.Qxe5+ with 3...Qe7, intending to gain a tempo later with 4...Nf6. The further continuation 4.Nf3 (threatening Nxe5) Nc6 5.Ng5 g6 (diagram) 6.Qf3? Qxg5 7.Qxf7+ Kd8 leaves White with no checkmate and no good way to defend against both ...Nd4, threatening the c2-pawn, and ...Qf6, exchanging queens.
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 ofchess openings.[8]
Among English speakers, the scholar's mate is also known asschoolboy's mate (which in modern English perhaps better connotes the sense of "novice" intended by the wordscholar's) andBlitzkrieg (German for "lightning war", meaning a quick victory).[9]
The names of the scholar's mate in other languages are as follows:
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