Scholar's mate

Animation demonstrating Scholar's Mate

In chess, Scholar's Mate is the checkmate achieved by the moves:

1. e4 e5 2. Qh5 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6? 4. Qxf7#

The moves might be played in a different order or in slight variation, but the basic idea is the same—the queen and bishop combine in a simple mating attack on f7 (or f2 if Black is performing the mate).

Scholar's Mate is sometimes referred to as the Four-Move Checkmate, though there are other ways to checkmate in four moves.

Avoiding Scholar's Mate

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

After 1. e4 e5 2. Qh5 Nc6 3. Bc4 g6 4. Qf3 Nf6, Black has successfully defended from Scholar's Mate.

Unlike Fool's Mate, which rarely occurs at any level, games ending in Scholar's Mate are quite common among beginners. After 1. e4 e5 2. Qh5 Nc6 3. Bc4, if Black continues 3... Nf6? then White can end the game immediately with 4. Qxf7# (diagram). However, Black can easily avoid the mate: either 3... Qe7 or 3... g6 defend against the threat. (If White renews the Qxf7 threat after 3... g6 4. Qf3, Black can easily defend by 4... Nf6, and develop his bishop later via fianchetto to g7.)

Or White might try this sequence of moves: 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Bc5 3. Qh5 (threatening Scholar's Mate on f7) and now 3... Qe7! (3...g6? here would be a big mistake, allowing 4.Qxe5+ and 5.Qxh8) and Black is not only safe, but will attack the white queen later with Nf6. Black could alternately have stopped White's plans early on by playing 2... Nf6! instead of 2...Bc5.

Openings

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Scholar's Mate

Though a quick mate on f7 is almost never seen in play above beginner level, the basic idea underlying it – that the f7-square, defended only by Black's king, is weak and therefore a good target for early attack – is the motivating principle behind a number of chess openings. For example, 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 of the knight on f7.

The Parham Attack (1. e4 e5 2. Qh5?!) and Napoleon Opening (1. e4 e5 2. Qf3?!) are both aimed at threatening Scholar's Mate on the next move (3. Bc4). Although the Napoleon Opening is never seen in high-level competitions, the Parham Attack has occasionally been tried in tournament games by Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura.

Names around the world

• In some regions, including France, Turkey, Germany and the Netherlands, as well as Spain, Portugal and Latin America, Scholar's Mate is known as Shepherd's Mate.
• In Italy it is known as Barber's Mate.
• In Iran, Greece and most of the Arab world: Napoleon's Plan.
• In Russia: Children's Mate.
• In Poland (where Fool's Mate is known as Scholar's Mate), Denmark, Hungary, Slovenia and Israel: Shoemaker's Mate.
• In Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark: School Mate.
• And it has also occasionally been given other names in English-speaking countries, such as Schoolboy's Mate and Blitzkrieg (German for "lightning war", meaning a very short and quick engagement) (Kidder 1960).

See also

• Fool's Mate
• Checkmate patterns

References

• Hooper, David; Whyld, Kenneth (1992), "scholar's mate", The Oxford Companion to Chess (2nd ed.), Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-280049-3 
• Kidder, Harvey (1960), Illustrated Chess for Children, Doubleday, ISBN 0-385-05764-4 
• Sunnucks, Anne (1970), "scholar's mate", The Encyclopaedia of Chess, St. Martins Press, ISBN 978-0709146971