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  • Lesson 29 of 32
  • Opening principles
  • 3 min

Fool's Mate: The Fastest Checkmate in Chess

Fool's mate is the shortest checkmate possible: Black mates on the second move. It needs White's help, two pawn moves that open the king to the queen, and that is exactly why it's worth knowing.

Step 1 of 5

  1. Two moves

    Watch: 1.f3 e5 2.g4 Qh4#. The f-pawn has left the diagonal from h4 to e1, and the g-pawn, which could have blocked on g3, has gone past it. The black queen checks along the diagonal. Nothing can block it, nothing can take the queen, and the king has nowhere to go: checkmate.

  2. What went wrong?

    Which of White's moves made this mate possible?

    Question

  3. Mate as Black

    You are Black, and the board has turned round to your side. White has played 1.f3 and 2.g4. Punish it.

    Your move

    Checkmate in one move.

  4. The same mate for White

    It works the other way round too. Black has played 1...f6 and 2...g5, opening the diagonal from h5 to the king on e8.

    Your move

    Checkmate in one move.

  5. Don't fall for it

    Back to White. You've played 1.f3, Black has answered 1...e5, and the queen on d8 now looks at h4. One more careless pawn move would lose on the spot.

    Your move

    Make a move that doesn't allow mate.

What you learned

  • Fool's mate: 1.f3 e5 2.g4 Qh4#, the fastest checkmate there is.
  • Moving the f- and g-pawns early opens the diagonal to your king.
  • If your opponent makes the same mistake, the queen mates from h4 or h5.

In this course

Unit 1The pieces

  1. The Chessboard and How to Set Up the Pieces
  2. How the Rook Moves in Chess
  3. How the Bishop Moves in Chess
  4. How the Queen Moves in Chess
  5. How the King Moves in Chess
  6. How the Knight Moves in Chess
  7. How Pawns Move and Capture in Chess
  8. Chess Piece Values: What Each Piece Is Worth

Unit 2Special moves

  1. What Is Check in Chess, and How to Get Out of It
  2. How to Castle in Chess: Kingside and Queenside
  3. En Passant in Chess, Explained on the Board
  4. Pawn Promotion in Chess: Turning a Pawn Into a Queen

Unit 3Winning the game

  1. What Is Checkmate? Learn to Mate in One
  2. Stalemate in Chess: Why It's a Draw
  3. How to Checkmate With a King and Queen

Unit 4Your first tactics

  1. The Fork: Attack Two Pieces at Once
  2. The Pin in Chess: Freeze a Piece in Place
  3. The Skewer in Chess: Attack Through a Piece

Unit 5Checkmate patterns

  1. Back-Rank Mate in Chess: Spot It and Stop It
  2. Smothered Mate in Chess: The Knight's Checkmate
  3. The Ladder Mate: Checkmate With Two Rooks
  4. How to Checkmate With a King and Rook

Unit 6More tactics

  1. Discovered Attack in Chess: Unmask a Hidden Attacker
  2. Double Check in Chess: Two Checks at Once
  3. Removing the Defender in Chess: Take the Guard

Unit 7Opening principles

  1. Control the Centre: A Chess Opening Principle
  2. How to Develop Your Pieces in the Chess Opening
  3. Scholar's Mate: How It Works and How to Stop It
  4. Fool's Mate: The Fastest Checkmate in Chess

Unit 8Endgame basics

  1. The Rule of the Square in Chess Endgames
  2. The Opposition in Chess: King Endgame Basics
  3. King and Pawn vs King: How to Win the Ending

Lessons for every game

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