In chess, Scholar's Mate is the checkmate achieved by the following moves, or similar: The same mating pattern may be reached by various move orders. For example, White might play 2.Qh5, or Black might play 2...Bc5. In all variations, the basic idea is the same: the queen and bishop combine in a simple mating attack on f7. Scholar's Mate is sometimes referred to as the "four-move checkmate", although there are other ways to checkmate in four moves.
Unlike Fool's Mate, which rarely occurs at any level, games ending in Scholar's Mate are quite common among beginners. It is not difficult to parry, however.
On move 1
After 1.e4, Black can play a instead of 1...e5. Openings such as the French Defense or the Scandinavian Defense render Scholar's Mate unviable, while other openings such as the Sicilian Defense make 2.Bc4 a bad move.
On move 2
The most common response to the Bishop's Opening is 2...Nf6, which also renders Scholar's Mate unviable.
On move 3
After 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nc6 3.Qh5, the cleanest way to defend against the mate threat is 3...g6. Should White renew the Qxf7 threat with 4.Qf3, Black can easily defend by 4...Nf6, and develop the f8-bishop later via fianchetto. If Black played 2...Bc5 instead of 2...Nc6, then 3...g6 is a blunder because it doesn't defend the e5-pawn. The best move is 3...Qe7, protecting both the f7- and e5-pawns; and now Black threatens 4...Nf6, gaining a tempo by attacking White's queen. Play might continue 4.Nf3 4...Nc6 5.Ng5 Nh6, when White has no way to keep up the pressure and will soon have to pull their exposed pieces back.
In other openings
Although a quick mate on f7 is almost never seen in play above beginner level, the basic idea underlying it—that f7 and f2, squares defended only by the kings, are weak and therefore good targets for early attack—is the motivating principlebehind a number of chess openings.
After 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6, White's most popular continuation is 4.Ng5 attacking f7, which is awkward for Black to defend. The Fried Liver Attack even involves a sacrifice of the knight on f7.
The Danvers Opening and the Napoleon Opening are both aimed at threatening Scholar's Mate on the next move. Although the Napoleon Opening is never seen in high-level competition, Danvers Opening has occasionally been tried in tournaments by GMHikaru Nakamura to achieve a practical middlegame position for White.
Name in other languages
In some languages, including Catalan, Dutch, Esperanto, French, German, Czech, Latvian, Portuguese, Spanish and Turkish: Shepherd's Mate
In Italian: Barber's Mate
In Persian, Greek and Arabic: Napoleon's Plan
In Belorussian, Latvian, Russian and Ukrainian : Children's Mate
In Croatian, Danish, German, Hebrew, Hungarian, Polish, Slovakian and Slovenian: Shoemaker's Mate
In Danish, Finnish, Swedish and Norwegian: School Mate
Scholar's Mate has sometimes also been given other names in English, such as Schoolboy's Mate and Blitzkrieg, meaning a quick and short engagement.
