In chess

Chess

Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...

, Scholar's Mate is the checkmate

Checkmate

Checkmate is a situation in chess in which one player's king is threatened with capture and there is no way to meet that threat. Or, simply put, the king is under direct attack and cannot avoid being captured...

 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).

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

Avoiding Scholar's Mate

Unlike Fool's Mate

Fool's mate

Fool's Mate, also known as the Two-Move Checkmate, is the quickest possible checkmate in the game of chess. A prime example consists of the moves:leading to the position shown...

, 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#. 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

Fianchetto

In chess the fianchetto is a pattern of development wherein a bishop is developed to the second rank of the adjacent knight file, the knight pawn having been moved one or two squares forward....

 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

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 opening

Chess opening

A chess opening is the group of initial moves of a chess game. Recognized sequences of opening moves are referred to as openings as initiated by White or defenses, as created in reply by Black. There are many dozens of different openings, and hundreds of named variants. The Oxford Companion to...

s. For example, after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 (the Two Knights Defense

Two Knights Defense

The Two Knights Defense is a chess opening that begins with the moves: in the late 16th century, this line of the Italian Game was extensively developed in the 19th century....

), White's most popular continuation is 4. Ng5 attacking f7, which is awkward for Black to defend. The Fried Liver Attack

Fried Liver Attack

The Fried Liver Attack, also called the Fegatello Attack , is a chess opening. This colourfully named opening is a variation of the Two Knights Defense in which White sacrifices a knight for a superficially impressive attack on Black's king...

 even involves a sacrifice

Sacrifice (chess)

In chess, a sacrifice is a move giving up a piece in the hopes of gaining tactical or positional compensation in other forms. A sacrifice could also be a deliberate exchange of a chess piece of higher value for an opponent's piece of lower value....

 of the knight on f7.

The Parham Attack

Parham Attack

The Parham Attack is an irregular chess opening beginning with the moves:The opening is named after American chess master Bernard Parham, the first master-level player known to have advocated it...

 (1. e4 e5 2. Qh5?!) and Napoleon Opening

Napoleon Opening

The Napoleon Opening is an irregular chess opening starting withIt is a weak opening because it develops the queen too early and subjects it to attack, and deprives the knight of its best square....

 (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

Hikaru Nakamura

Hikaru Nakamura is an American chess Grandmaster . He has been ranked among the top six players in the world by FIDE....

.

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
  Fool's mate
  Fool's Mate, also known as the Two-Move Checkmate, is the quickest possible checkmate in the game of chess. A prime example consists of the moves:leading to the position shown...
  
   is known as Scholar's Mate), Denmark, Hungary, Slovenia
  Slovenia
  Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
  
  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) .