Fool's mate

This article uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves.

Fool's mate. White is checkmated.For the Peter Hammill album of the same name, see Fool's Mate (album)

Fool's mate, also known as the "two-move checkmate," is the quickest possible checkmate in the game of chess. One example consists of the moves

1. f3 e5

2. g4 Qh4#

There are eight slight variations on the pattern — White might play f4 instead of f3 or move the g-pawn before the f-pawn, and Black may play e6 instead of e5.

The fool's mate received its name because it can only occur if White plays extraordinarily weakly, i.e. like a fool. Even among rank beginners, the mate almost never occurs in practice.

The same basic mating pattern may also occur later in the game. There is, for instance, a well-known trap in the Dutch Defence which occurred in 1896 between Frank Melville Teed and Eugene Delmar that runs 1.d4 f5 2.Bg5 h6 3.Bf4 g5 4.Bg3 f4; it seems that Black has won the bishop, but now comes 5.e3 (threatening Qh5#, the basic Fool's mate idea) 5...h5 6.Bd3?! (6.Be2 is probably better, but this move sets a trap) 6...Rh6? (defending against Bg6#, but...) 7.Qxh5+! Rxh5 8.Bg6#.

A similar trap once occured in a game between Gioachino Greco and an anonymous opponent.

1. e4 b6

2. d4 Bb7

3. Bd3 f5?

4. exf5 Bxg2

5. Qh5+ g6

6. fxg6 Nf6??

Now 6. ... Bg7! would have allowed the game to go on, as the move opens up a flight square for the king at f8. Black's greediness has gotten the better of him.

7. gxh7+ Nxh5

8. Bg6# (1-0)

Gioachino Greco – Anon.

Final position.More generally, the term fool's mate is applied to all similar mates early in the game; for example, 1.e4 g5 2.d4 f6 3.Qh5# - the pattern of the simplest fool's mate is maintained: a player advances his f- and g-pawns, allowing a queen mate along the unblocked diagonal. One such fool's mate is widely reported to have occurred in a possibly apocryphal 1959 game between Masefield (or Mayfield, depending on the source consulted) and Trinka (or Trinks or Trent) which lasted just three moves: 1.e4 g5 2.Nc3 f5 3.Qh5# (variants on these moves also exist).

Even more generally, the term "Fool's mate" is used in chess variants for the shortest possible mate, especially those which bear a resemblance to the orthodox chess fool's mate. Fool's mate in progressive chess, for example, is 1.e4 2.f6 g5 3.Qh5#.

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