What are some checkmates with very few moves from the starting position?

Question

I would like to learn about a few checkmates using very few moves. I know one where you develop the knight and march it directly towards the King. Does anyone know the name of this mate and suggest others?

If you know the mate you're thinking about, can you post the moves? — Daniel, May 24 '12 at 14:38
@Daniel why did you change the wordings of the question ? #Admin why are folks editing the questions for no reason ? — Jay D, Mar 29 '18 at 17:00
1.e4 Nc6 2.Ne2 Ne5 3.c3 Nd3# or something like this might be the mate you refer to in the question, but it is too silly to have a name. — Hauke Reddmann, Feb 27 '21 at 07:56

score 47 · Accepted Answer · edited Oct 26 '21 at 11:12

47

There are probably as many quick mates as there have been first time players (since we all get caught in these at the start!) but here are a few common ones:

Fool's Mate

This is the shortest possible checkmate in a mere two moves:

1.f4 e5 2. g4 Qh4#

[FEN ""]

f4 e5 2. g4 Qh4# 0-1

White can also play f3 instead of f4 or move the g pawn before the f pawn.

Scholar's Mate

This mating pattern is also sometimes referred to as "Fool's Mate" and there are two main patterns:

1.e4 e5 2. Bc4 (2. Qh5 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Qxf7#) Nc6 3. Qf3 Bc5 4. Qxf7#

[FEN ""]

e4 e5 2. Bc4 (2. Qh5 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Qxf7#) Nc6 3. Qf3 Bc5 4. Qxf7# 1-0

The key is that f7 is insufficiently defended and mate is delivered there.

Légal's Mate

Légal's Mate (also spelled as Légall's Mate) is probably the mate referenced in the question:

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 d6 4.Nc3 Bg4 5.h3 Bh5? 6.Nxe5! Bxd1?? 7.Bxf7+ Ke7 8.Nd5#

[FEN ""]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 d6 4.Nc3 Bg4

5.h3 Bh5? 6.Nxe5! Bxd1?? 7.Bxf7+ Ke7 8.Nd5# 1-0

edited Oct 26 '21 at 11:12

Rosie F

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answered May 24 '12 at 06:51

Andrew

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Legal's mate is quite cute. Isn't it? – rpattabi Nov 18 '12 at 08:48
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Légal's Mate is the smartest mate on this page, I never thought about it. I could've mated at least 30 opponents with it! Damn I should have read your answer long ago. – Lynob Apr 08 '14 at 12:06
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is 5.h3 even necessary in Légal's Mate? why bother kicking the bishop at all? I see this line so often it'll be a great one to add to my repertoire. – Aug 29 '14 at 10:54
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After 6.Nxe5 black can reply with 6...Nxe5! which nets out to the loss of a pawn after 7.Qxh5 Nxc4 8.Qb5+. If white omits 5.h3, then the black knight on e5 will defend the bishop on g4 and white will be down a piece. – Andrew Aug 29 '14 at 12:33

ETD · Answer 2 · 2012-11-01T14:19:25.570

For a short mating possibility in a very standard mainline opening, one can look to the Smyslov-Karpov variation in the Caro-Kann Defense:

[FEN ""]
[Result "1-0"]
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Qe2 Ngf6?? 6.Nd6#

The most popular continuations are 5. Nf3, 5. Bc4 and 5. Ng5 (an aggressive try which Kasparov assayed a number of times against Karpov). The sneaky try 5. Qe2 just sets up a pin against Black's e-pawn, making the intended followup 5... Ngf6?? unplayable.

There are a mere 271 games in my database (out of several million) in which this 5. Qe2 appears, but one finds a few GMs giving it a go: Ivan Radulov, Oleg Nikolenko, Joe Gallagher (against as strong an opponent as IM Tibor Karolyi), even some guy named Alekhine (though, admittedly, only in a consultation game against a team of four amateurs). A 2300 player also tried it out against Yasser Seirawan on the black side; Seirawan didn't fall into the trap of course, but the 2300 did manage to get a draw out of the game.

If you're still reading, you're probably curious: out of the 271 games I have on record, in only 34 of them did black fall into the trap with 5... Ngf6. Alekhine's amateur foes were among the victims, and the highest rated victim was in a game Hans Speck (2140) - Nikolaus Mertens (2165) from the 1997 Liechtenstein Open. Most interestingly, on two of those 34 occasions, the white player failed to reply with 6. Nd6#. One was a player rated 1873 who went on to lose to his 2202 opponent; the other was rated 2264(!) and managed to win anyway against a 2113 on the black side.

This is an exact game sequence between GM Rapport and a 2050 odd player a few weeks ago. I can't imagine the horror. — RingMaster, Aug 18 '14 at 22:05

score 15 · Answer 3 · edited Nov 01 '12 at 13:53

The Scholar's and Fool's mates that others have cited are the shortest. They rely on two different but highly important principles chess players should remember. Scholar's mate relies on the opponent's insufficiently protected f2 (or ...f7) point, while Fool's mate relies on a weakening of the diagonal from h5 (or ...h4) to the opponent's king.

While you can actively try for Scholar's mate (and many weak amateurs fall for it), Fool's mate pretty much relies on very poor play by the opponent -- advancing the f and g pawns such that the critical diagonal is fatally weakened. A variant of Fool's mate is more likely to occur that involves several more moves and induces the opponent to make the required weakening moves. Consider the following sequence; White's fourth move is a fatal mistake leading to the loss of his queen or getting mated along the ...h4-e1 diagonal.

[FEN ""]
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nd2 e5 3. dxe5 Ng4 4. h3?? Ne3 5. fxe3 Qh4+ 6. g3 Qxg3#

An excellent old book that should probably be a new player's second or third book is "The Art of Checkmate", despite being so old it still uses descriptive notation:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Checkmate-Dover-Chess/dp/0486201066

White's fourth move is indeed fatal but 2.Nd2 is pretty terrible and the real cause of the problem. In general terms, it's bad because it blocks in the bishop; in this specific line, it blocks the queen's escape after 4... Ne3 and means the king has no escape either. — David Richerby, Aug 20 '14 at 07:49

Morten Zilmer · Answer 4 · 2015-12-29T07:30:16.810

14

A mate in 2½ move, derived from Wayward Queen Attack, occurs if black moves Ke7 as a panic attempt to "protect" the e5 pawn with the king, which may occur if young players move too quickly:

[FEN ""]

1. e4 e5 
2. Qh5 Ke7 
3. Qe5#

edited Dec 29 '15 at 07:30

answered Apr 06 '14 at 20:28

Morten Zilmer

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The king must have super powers to protect that pawn XD – ferit Dec 29 '15 at 06:30
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Step 1: touch the king and forget to say "j'adoube". – Federico Poloni Dec 11 '18 at 10:28
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"j'adoube": To adjust – Morten Zilmer Dec 11 '18 at 10:43
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@FedericoPoloni Yes, The correct procedure is: 1. e4 e5 (very reasonable moves). Then, while playing 2. Qh5, make a big circular movement which "accidentally" topples the black king. It is very likely that many black players would forget to say j'adoube in such a situation before placing the king upright again. – user1583209 May 11 '19 at 11:32
This is also probably more common than you may think, in older games. I seem to recall the penalty for an illegal move was at one stage to move the king – sjb-2812 Jun 09 '20 at 15:27

score 12 · Answer 5 · edited Jul 05 '19 at 15:27

12

[FEN "nbqnbrkr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/NBQNBRKR w KQkq - 0 1"]
[StartPly "3"]

1. d3 {Pyt Honisten eröffnet mit seinem Lieblingsbauern} g5 {Retho Riker antwortet mit seiner Standard-Antwort} 2. Qxg5# {Pyt Honisten ging zum nächsten Brett, während sich Retho Riker tränenreich vom Schach verabschiedete.}

With Chess960, also known as Fisher Random Chess, you can achieve it, too.

edited Jul 05 '19 at 15:27

Joseph Sible-Reinstate Monica

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answered Sep 30 '15 at 17:43

L'Fish

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score 12 · Answer 6 · edited Oct 26 '21 at 11:24

The Blackburne-Shilling Gambit could result in a quick loss for White if he plays some fairly plausible moves:

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 {Italian opening} Nd4 4.Nxe5 {Free pawn!} Qg5 5.Nxf7 {Forking the queen and rook.} Qxg2 6.Rf1 {Preventing Qxh1} Qxe4+ 7.Be2 {Qe2 Nxe2 drops the queen} Nf3#

[FEN ""]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 {Italian opening} Nd4 4.Nxe5 {Free pawn!} Qg5 5.Nxf7 {Forking the queen and rook.} Qxg2 6.Rf1 {Preventing Qxh1} Qxe4+ 7.Be2 {Qe2 Nxe2 drops the queen} Nf3#  0-1

score 8 · Answer 7 · edited Mar 03 '20 at 19:43

8

There's a 2-move checkmate, termed fool's mate:

f3 e5 2. g4 Qh4#

Fool's mate on Wikipedia

edited Mar 03 '20 at 19:43

PhishMaster

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answered May 24 '12 at 05:37

Caffeinated

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I played Fool's Mate when I was in the 7th or 8th grade. I decided that the chess match against a neighboring school was a really good time to "invent a new opening." I was wrong. – Tony Ennis May 27 '12 at 14:10
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I also lost to it in my bizarre-paws-opening period, a careless day :D (as a 1900 ^^) – Nikana Reklawyks Nov 29 '12 at 18:56

Allure · Answer 8 · 2019-05-11T11:02:57.397

To add to the Fool's Mate idea, this game left enough of an impression on me to remember it.

[FEN ""]
1. d4 f5 2. Bg5 {An enterprising line, threatening to weaken Black's pawn structure after the natural Nf6.} h6 3. Bh4 g5!? {This seems to trap the bishop, but the holes around the Black king are very dangerous. It is objectively OK, but only if Black does not play to win material.} 4. Bg3 f4? {This move is a definite mistake.} 5. e3! {Now fxg3 leads to Qh5#, and White threatens to rescue his bishop with exf4} h5 {Renewing the threat, now 6. exf4 h4 and the bishop is still trapped} 6. Bd3 {Objectively this move isn't the best, but it threatens Bg6#} Rh6?? 7. Qxh5+! Rxh5 8. Bg6#

This is the Teed vs Delmar game (1896). – Cyriac Antony May 02 '21 at 07:28 — Cyriac Antony, May 02 '21 at 07:28

score 7 · Answer 9 · edited Aug 20 '14 at 08:17

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[FEN ""]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 a6 5. Nc3 axb5 6. e4 b4 7. Nb5 Nxe4 8. Qe2 Nf6 9. Nd6#

edited Aug 20 '14 at 08:17

David Richerby

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answered Aug 20 '14 at 05:32

MichalRyszardWojcik

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score 4 · Answer 10 · edited Oct 26 '21 at 11:15

The Kieninger Trap in the Budapest gambit has trapped numerous amateurs but even some masters over the years. It involves a similar mating pattern to those found in some of the other answers. There are only so many ways to blunder a king early in the game.

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 Ng4 4.Bf4 Nc6 5.Nf3 Bb4+ 6.Nbd2 Qe7 7.a3 Ngxe5 8.axb4 Nd3#

[FEN ""]
1.d4 Nf6 
2.c4 e5 
3.dxe5 Ng4 
4.Bf4 Nc6 
5.Nf3 Bb4+ 
6.Nbd2 Qe7 
7.a3 Ngxe5 
8.axb4 Nd3#

Laska · Answer 11 · 2021-02-28T00:19:40.757

3

Here’s a simple example which I always like.

[FEN ""]
1. d4 e5 2. Bg5 Qxg5 3. Qc1 Qxc1#

edited Feb 28 '21 at 00:19

answered Feb 27 '21 at 07:13

Laska

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Yes thanks for pointing it out! Ok changed to another short one – Laska Feb 27 '21 at 16:50
Well, 2 Bg5 is quite a bad blunder. White needn't hang wQ & allow mate, but Black has an advantage whatever White plays. – Rosie F Jan 09 '22 at 13:44

score 3 · Answer 12 · answered Feb 27 '21 at 20:55

3

Against the Bird Opening (1.f4), black can play the From Gambit which threatens a kind of fool's mate:

[FEN ""]
1.f4 e5 2.fxe5 d6 3.exd6 Bxd6 4.Nc3? Qh4+ 5.g3 Qxg3+ 6.hxg3 Bxg3#

Instead of 4.Nc3, which is just an example move, 4.d4 and 4.g3 are common.

answered Feb 27 '21 at 20:55

RemcoGerlich

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Rosie F · Answer 13 · 2022-01-09T12:39:32.683

Légal's mate, which Andrew mentioned, can also occur in the Italian Opening, with a move order which is perhaps more credible:

1.e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 d6 4. Nc3 Bg4? 5. h3 Bh5? 6. Nxe5! Bxd1? 7. Bxf7+! Ke7 8. Nd5#.

Black has a similar trap in the Petrov:

1.e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 Nc6? 4. Nxc6 dxc6 5. d3 Bc5 6. Bg5? Nxe4! 7. Bxd8? Bxf2+ 8. Ke2 Bg4#.

John Coleman mentioned the Kieninger Trap, a Black trap in in the Budapest gambit. White has two traps in the Caro-Kann that are similar to this:

1.e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7 {Nf6 is better} 5. Qe2?! Ngf6? 5. Nd6#

This also works after 2. Nc3 d5 3. Nf3.

What are some checkmates with very few moves from the starting position?

13 Answers13

Fool's Mate

Scholar's Mate

Légal's Mate

Linked