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Scholar's Mate

The four-move checkmate every beginner meets, how it works, and the simple moves that stop it cold.

Beginner6 min

The target: f7

Scholar's Mate is the most common trap in beginner games. White brings the queen to h5 and the bishop to c4, and both aim at f7, the square beside Black's king that only the king protects. Step through the demo to see Black develop a knight, miss the threat, and lose in four moves.

The target: f7 abcdefgh12345678

See it from White

Your turn

Black just played knight to f6. Find White's checkmate.

Show the answer

Queen takes f7 is mate. The bishop on c4 protects the queen, so the king can't take her, and every escape square is blocked.

See it from White abcdefgh12345678

Stop it

Your turn

You are Black. Stop the checkmate on f7.

Show the answer

Pawn to g6 blocks the queen's diagonal and attacks her, so White loses time moving her again. Queen to e7 also works: it guards f7 and keeps the e-pawn safe.

Stop it abcdefgh12345678

The queen comes back

Chased from h5, White's queen often goes to f3 to aim at f7 again. Now knight to f6 is the perfect answer: it stands right on the f-file between the queen and f7, and it develops a piece toward the center at the same time.

The queen comes back abcdefgh12345678

Punish the wandering queen

Your turn

White's queen moves for the third time to aim at f7 again. Make her pay.

Show the answer

Knight to d4 attacks the queen and threatens knight takes c2 check, forking the king and the rook on a1. White has spent three moves with the queen and now has to defend everything at once.

Punish the wandering queen abcdefgh12345678

Check yourself

Question

With White's queen on h5 and bishop on c4, why is knight to f6 a blunder, when it was a great move against the queen on f3?

  • A knight on f6 doesn't stand between h5 and f7, so the mate still works
  • Knights should never go to f6 in the opening
  • The knight on f6 can be captured by the bishop
Show the answer

A knight on f6 doesn't stand between h5 and f7, so the mate still works

Right. The queen reaches f7 along the diagonal through g6, and the knight on f6 is not on that road. Against the queen on f3 the knight blocks the f-file.

Check yourself abcdefgh12345678

More in Checkmates

Back-rank mate A castled king behind three unmoved pawns can be mated by a single rook. Learn to deliver it, and to avoid it. Smothered mate A knight checkmates a king that is boxed in by its own pieces, often after a stunning queen sacrifice. The Arabian mate A rook and knight team up to trap a king in the corner. One of the oldest mating patterns there is.