Don't Fall Into the Scholar's Mate!
Really, only fools can fall into this one. This checkmate is so obvious before it even happened, and is so easy to prevent it.
Scholar's Mate
This checkmate pattern usually comes after the Bishop's Opening, and aims at the weak f2/f7 pawn. The f2/f7 pawns are really weak, because the only defender of the pawn is the king. Let's have a look at the checkmate!
If White didn't play Qf3 on the third move and instead threatened the f-pawn with Qh5, Black needs to be careful in what he plays, as Nf6, threatening the queen is so attracting.
As you can see, this checkmate is kind of silly. It requires the queen to be brought out too early, and if Black knows the trick, White would lose tempo. Let's have a look what Black could have done to prevent the checkmate.
But is there a better move for Black? Have a think!
If you got the answer, Nf6, then well done! Nf6 protects the f-pawn like a shield, at the same time preventing the queen from threatening the checkmate even more with Qh5! And another bonus, is that Black has developed one more piece, gaining an advantage in tempo!
So, next time you see your opponent getting his/her queen out that early, look out for this checkmate, and prevent it smartly, to gain a tempo advantage! Hope you enjoyed this blog!
