How to Avoid a Fool's Mate in Chess

The Fool's Mate represents the shortest possible duration for a chess game--two moves. While it almost never occurs in practice, even among beginners, new players can still benefit from learning how to avoid it, since it offers some important strategic points to consider. This article illustrates the steps for performing a Fool's Mate while discussing the mistake made at each step. If you are not familiar with algebraic notation, you can either just follow along with the diagrams for each step, or see the Resource section below for an article which covers that topic.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. 

   White plays 1. f3. A very poor move. This move leaves an open diagonal line of attack against the king, and also blocks the king's knight from moving to the desirable f3. Much better for a beginning player is e4 which liberates the queen and bishop, and attacks the c5 and e5 squares. It also in no way blocks the knights.

2. 

   Black plays 1. …e5. A very solid first move for Black for the reasons given above.

3. 

   White plays 2. g4. White is basically trying to lose. S/he has created a totally open line of attack against the king that cannot possibly be blocked, since the g pawn cannot backtrack. There is also no escape route for the king which would have been created by moving the d or e pawns.

4. 

   Black plays 2. …Qh4# and it's over. New players should take a moment to convince themselves that White truly has no way out, and should think about what caused this, and what could have been done to prevent it.

5. Again, usually the best thing for a new (if not any) player to do is develop the center pawns, bring out the knights toward the center, bring out one or both bishops, and start clearing the way for a castling move. Get into the habit of checking to see if your king is in immediate or imminent danger, and make sure that you are not ruining your chances of blocking or escaping from potential attacks.

6. See the Resource section below for an article about the four-move Scholar's Mate. Unlike the theoretical Fool's Mate which never really occurs, many brand new players fall victim to the Scholar's Mate since it involves much more realistic moves. Have fun!

Resources

• How to Use Algebraic Chess Notation
• How to Avoid a Scholar's Mate in Chess

[sunshine11219]

on 1/6/2009 very cool thanx