The Scholar's Mate (Checkmate in 4 moves)

Описание: The Scholar's Mate (Checkmate in 4 moves)
In chess, Scholar's Mate is the checkmate achieved by the moves:
1. e4 e5 2. Qh5 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6? 4. Qxf7#
The moves might be played in a different order or in slight variation, but the basic idea is the same: the queen and bishop combine in a simple mating attack on f7 (or f2 if Black is performing the mate).

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. After 1. e4 e5 2. Qh5 Nc6 3. Bc4, if Black continues 3... Nf6? then White can end the game immediately with 4. Qxf7#. However, Black can easily avoid the mate: either 3...Qe7 or 3...g6 defend against the threat. If White renews the Qxf7 threat after 3... g6 4. Qf3, Black can easily defend by 4... Nf6 (see diagram), and develop the f8-bishop later via fianchetto (...Bg7).

Or White might try this sequence of moves: 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Bc5 3. Qh5 (threatening Scholar's Mate on f7) and now 3... Qe7! (see diagram; 3...g6? instead would be a big mistake, allowing 4.Qxe5+ and 5.Qxh8) and Black is not only safe, but will attack the white queen later with ...Nf6. Alternatively, Black could have stopped White's plans early on by playing 2...Nf6! instead of 2...Bc5.